Target Audience, Market, and Persona Vocabulary

Target Audience vs Market

• Recap focus: strategy and planning, setting goals and measures (KPIs).

• KPIs must be defined to measure effectiveness; without targets, productivity and ROI suffer.

• Importance of a call to action (CTA): without a CTA (e.g., click here, share, follow), response is less likely.

Distinguishing Market, Audience, and Campaign Audience

• Market vs. target market:

  • Market is the broader universe for your marketing objective; it defines where you compete and who could be reached.

  • Example: geographic scope (America, North America, Georgia, Kennesaw) and distribution reach.

  • Social media can be thought of as a market area; digital marketing differentiates online reach from physical geography.

• Target market vs. target audience:

  • Target market is the broader group you could reach; it’s where you draw your audience from.

  • Within that market, you may have multiple audiences for different campaigns or messages.

  • Online, your audience, campaign audience, and market can diverge (e.g., general online market vs. specific platform users).

• Campaign audience:

  • The specific group you target for a given campaign or communication, which may be smaller or differently defined than the broader market.

Target Persona and Customer Avatar

• Terminology:

  • Persona, customer avatar, buyer persona are commonly used in digital marketing.

  • Persona = one individual representation of a segment; multiple personas may exist per segment.

• What is a persona?

  • Represents demographics and psychographics: what makes the person tick, what they value, habits, needs.

  • Helpful in tailoring messaging and content to a specific, relatable individual.

• How to build personas:

  • Identify potential customers or stakeholders in social channels.

  • Choose one representative individual per segment (the persona).

  • Include demographics, lifestyle, interests, behavior patterns, and context.

• Personal roles and situational triggers:

  • Personal role: e.g., Student, Professional, Parent, etc.

  • Situational triggers: circumstances that prompt engagement or purchase.

• Messaging objectives for personas:

  • Write problem-solution statements to connect needs with brand offerings.

  • Example: a cafe targeting Stacy the student might frame benefits around a quiet study spot, affordable pricing, and convenient location.

• Buyer’s journey and discovery path:

  • Understand how the persona discovers your brand online and offline.

  • Identify channels and touchpoints along the journey (awareness, consideration, conversion, retention).

Why Understanding Your Ideal Customer Matters

• Benefits and interests inform positioning and value proposition:

  • Align benefits with what matters to the customer; influence how you position your brand in their minds.

• How/where/when they engage:

  • Platforms they use (e.g., TikTok, Instagram) and how they engage (scrolling, commenting, sharing).

  • Content formats that resonate (short-form video, memes, testimonials, long-form content).

• Content formats and platform fit:

  • Match content to audience preferences and platform quirks (e.g., trends, humor, value-based content).

• Marketing mix and content relevance:

  • Ensure content formats and messages fit audience behavior; avoid mismatches that reduce engagement.

• Risk and crisis considerations:

  • Brand crises are common online; marketing teams often handle front-line responses on social and digital channels.

• Audience overlap and platform dynamics:

  • Some audiences are multivariate (e.g., creators, critics, spectators) while others are more passive (spectators, joiners).

The Audience Ladder (Platform Behaviors) and Percentages

• The ladder concept (2010 US Internet users) illustrates different online behaviors; percentages denote share of users in each category (overlap is common; sums exceed 100% because people can belong to multiple groups):

  • Creators: 24\%

  • Active in publishing content, possibly influencers or trendsetters.

  • Conversationalists: 33\%

  • Post updates, keep conversations going; not necessarily content creators.

  • Critics: 37\%

  • Leave reviews and comments; engage critically with content.

  • Collectors: followers/subscribers who track accounts or content (RSs, feeds).

  • Joiners: maintain profiles across platforms; presence varies by platform.

  • Spectators: consume content; high in research and consideration phases.

  • Inactive: 17\%

  • Minimal online activity; may become active later with right triggers.

• Practical takeaway:

  • Targeting should consider that audiences span these categories; campaigns may need different content and messages for each group.

  • Overlaps mean you can influence through multiple angles (e.g., engaging creators who mobilize spectators).

Case Study: Cherokee County Humane Society (Thrift Shop Campaign)

• Campaign objective:

  • Increase revenue and foot traffic to the relocated thrift shop (prime location off of 92 in Woodstock area).

• Secondary goals:

  • Awareness and local/geographical reach online.

• Initial questions and planning:

  • What are our marketing goals and objectives? How can social media achieve them?

  • Identify audience within the local area and surrounding neighborhoods.

  • Determine opportunities and “low hanging fruit” (quick wins) based on geography and demographics.

• Audience segmentation and opportunities:

  • Primary audience: local residents within the surrounding area; analyze demographics, income, and thrift-shop value proposition.

  • Secondary audience: high school, middle school, and college students; likely responsive to trendy, platform-specific content (TikTok/short-form).

  • Consider influencers or champions in the community who can drive foot traffic and donations.

• Content and platform strategy:

  • Content should align with audience interests and platform trends; keep content relevant, timely, and actionable.

  • Consider content types: awareness-raising posts, local event announcements, donation drives, and shop-specific features.

• Content partnerships and opportunities:

  • Explore collaborations with local schools, student groups, and community organizations.

  • Promote donation drop-offs and volunteer opportunities alongside shopping promotions.

• Platform dynamics and content fit:

  • TikTok and Instagram may favor trendy, short-form, visually engaging content; local credibility and storytelling can work well.

• Potential hurdles:

  • Ensure messaging avoids misalignment with local sensibilities; maintain authenticity and transparency.

  • Understand legal/regulatory considerations (e.g., local advertising rules, charity promotions).

• Process and next steps for the course:

  • Begin target audience research and persona development; conduct audits of current audience data.

  • Apply insights to build the media mix and craft messaging objectives.

  • Use upcoming AI prompts to assist with persona creation and content ideas.

Tools, Data, and Platforms for Audience Insights

• Listening and social listening tools (free versions available):

  • Track brand mentions, hashtags, and conversations.

• Audience data and insights on platforms:

  • Most platforms offer audience analytics (time of day, days of week, engagement patterns).

• Google tools:

  • Google Analytics, Google Search Console (free) for understanding traffic, behavior, and organic search terms.

  • Use Search Console to identify search phrases and pages that attract visitors; analyze product pages and cart activity.

• External data sources:

  • Sprout Social: has platform-specific demographics and content recommendations; useful for cross-platform planning.

  • Statistica: large dataset repository for marketing insights; free for students.

  • Google Scholar for research on behavior (secondary).

• Example usage:

  • Analyze “How is Gen Z using TikTok?” or “Georgia residents on TikTok” to tailor content to regional and age-specific trends.

• Platform-specific targeting nuances:

  • Targeting options differ by platform and change frequently due to policy updates and regulations.

  • Example: Facebook (Meta) targeting restrictions (e.g., cannot target based on certain sensitive attributes like religion or health status in some cases).

  • Some platforms offer location-based or geofence-like targeting (paid or organic) to reduce ad fatigue and improve relevance.

• Organic vs paid targeting:

  • Organic posts can use geographic targeting on some platforms (e.g., Facebook), useful for local campaigns without paid spend.

  • Paid targeting may offer richer granularity (but subject to platform policies and current regulations).

Marketing Personas: A Practical Example

• Persona elements to capture:

  • Personal role: e.g., Student, College Student, Undergraduate.

  • Age range, gender, education level, income, and budget considerations.

  • Daily life, routines, and media habits; the persona’s life stories.

  • Marketing platforms used (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).

  • Needs, pain points, and what would influence their decisions (discounts, deals, study-friendly spaces, etc.).

  • Influencers and sources of information they trust (friends, magazines, blogs).

• Example persona breakdown (Stacy the student):

  • Daily life and routines; budget-conscious; freelancer; uses social platforms for discovery.

  • Platform preferences: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram; enjoys coupons and new experiences.

  • Needs: quiet study space, charging stations, deals, job board for freelance gigs.

  • Solutions offered by a cafe: funky inviting atmosphere, deals, on-site job board, cozy seating, online ordering, loyalty incentives.

• Messaging objectives for personas:

  • Define how the brand will address Stacy’s needs and trigger action (e.g., visit, join online community, make a purchase).

Messaging, Problem-Solution, and Discovery

• Problem-solution statements:

  • Map a problem a persona has to a solution your brand offers.

  • Example for a Humane Society: people want to adopt pets; the solution is that you have cats, dogs, and other animals available for adoption.

  • Example for a campus cafe: students need a place to study, eat affordably, and stay connected; the solution is a cafe with a welcoming environment, deals, and a conducive study setup.

• Buyer’s journey and channels:

  • Identify daily routines and discovery paths; plan content to align with the journey (awareness to conversion).

• Messaging goals vary by campaign:

  • Awareness campaigns vs. direct sales campaigns require different content strategies and CTAs.

What to Do Next Week (Hands-On Plan)

• We will begin target audience research and persona development in class.

• Practical steps include auditing current audience data and building sample personas.

• We will explore prompts and basic AI-assisted methods for persona development (Gen AI/ChatGPT prompts).

• The goal is to translate insights into a concrete media mix and messaging objectives for upcoming campaigns.

Quick Takeaways

• Always differentiate market, target market, audience, and campaign audience.

• Build personas that represent a single segment and justify their demographics, psychographics, and daily routines.

• Use data and tools to tailor content and posting schedules to audience behavior.

• Be mindful of platform-specific targeting rules and the regulatory environment.

• Align content with the buyer’s journey and craft problem-solution statements that resonate with the persona.

• Local, real-world contexts (like the Humane Society case) help ground strategy in practical opportunities.

• Social media is a long game: plan, implement, measure, optimize, and iterate.