Defining
your target audience is a crucial part of the planning
phase of your website, just as it is any marketing campaign
or even basic business plan. All content decisions and considerations
without fail relate back to your target audience. You must ask
yourself: What do they want? What do they need? What appeals to
them?
Although
this sounds like an elementary concept, more often its not quite
so simple. In the excitement and fervor of brainstorming it is
easy to get caught up in the possibilities and lose sight of the
site's objectives and target audience.
Ironically the most fruitful brainstorming sessions involve an
unrestricted whirlwind of ideas. Afterwards, however, the target
audience and the purpose of the site will serve as checkpoints
to help filter out those ideas which will not be appropriate.
Developing
a profile for your target audience is the first step in effectively
defining them. This profile should be flexible enough that as
new information is learned it can be added and fine tuning can
occur continually.
To
begin your target audience profile, ask yourself the following
questions and be as specific as possible:
1. Who are they?
In
the most general of demographic terms, is your target audience
male, female or both? Which gender holds the majority? What
is their age bracket?
[<18], [18-24], [25-36], [37-40], [40-50], [50-65], or 65+
2. Where do they live? (be specific)
Is
your market local, regional, national or global?
Are these folks concentrated in the most affluent communities?
Are they clustered in family-oriented communities, perhaps near
schools? Are they renters or owners? Are they urban, suburban
or rural dwellers?
3. Where do they work?
Are
the commuters? Are they small business owners?
Do they often work in any particular industry or sector?
What do you know about their work habits?
4. What groups are they active in?
Are
they often affiliated with any particular club, group, or organization?
Are their affiliations often professional, social, civic or
special interest?
5. What types of recreational activities do they
ffffshare
an interest in as a group?
Do
they like to attend Festivals? Concerts?
Conferences? Seminars? Community Fund Raisers? Etc.
6. What do they care about most passionately?
Politics?
Family? Taxes? Religion? Education?
Personal Liberties? Career Advancement? Social Status?
Regardless
of whether you are a small community plumber or a multinational
corporation, all of this seemingly irrelevant information can
in fact be far from mundane and directly impact the success of
your project if utilized prudently.
Now
as you are developing this profile, keep in mind that your marketing
or web presence investment can be significantly better spent when
working with a narrow scope of people. The more precise the target
the better we will be able to develop concepts that produce the
results you are looking for. Broad, mass market appeals can be
expensive, and most often may not provide the return on investment
required unless sustained over an extended period. Make best use
of your budget by focusing in on key segments of your market.
Sometimes
filling in the blanks on your target audience profile can be challenging.
Consider surveying your existing clientele. A short, unintimidating
survey either by phone or mail can produce phenomenally enlightening
data.
