Analysis of the perception of advertising information by the target audience on the Internet. What is the target audience (CA) and how to define it: examples and methods
Or a service in demand? In today's world, any financial expenditure, whether it's going to a supermarket, visiting a museum or relaxing at a resort, is perceived by people as an investment that must necessarily solve a problem, generate income or have an ultimate goal. And the more attractive from the point of view of the result this or that investment is, the more money willing to spend a person.
What is the target audience?
In order for your product to become a way for someone to achieve a real goal, you need to know how to define it. To begin with, let's understand the essence of this concept.
The target audience is a set of potential consumers, that is, those people whose problem your service or product can solve. To more accurately determine the needs of a particular group, the entire population of individuals is usually divided into segments by gender, age, social status and financial status.
When introducing a new product to the market, all manufacturers dream of making it popular and successful. But, unfortunately, few people know how. Determining the target audience of the product means laying the foundation, on the basis of which it will be possible to build a reliable advertising campaign slowly and at no extra cost.
Limit or generalize?
When determining target audience many experts make a common mistake. Unfortunately, it can have negative consequences. For example, they believe that clearly limiting a certain group of people as a target audience and focusing promotion policy only on them will expose the product to the risk of losing consumers who could make a spontaneous purchase.
But this is a myth. To date, the share of random purchases on the market is extremely small. Its percentage is steadily falling, which is explained by a decrease in the income of the population and, accordingly, more precise planning of costs. That is why it is very important to correctly determine the target audience, and correctly target the promotion specifically to it.
Characteristics of the target audience
Knowing the main characteristics and criteria will help you easily figure out how to determine the target audience. This group of people has the following characteristics:
- Interest. People should be interested in the product, seek information. It is difficult to sell a car to someone who does not know how to drive and is not going to learn.
- The ability to acquire. The group targeted by the advertising message must have the means to purchase and have the need to make it.
- Willingness to change loyalty to the current seller when applying marketing pressure. Fanatic adherents of the brand cannot be interested in even the most iron arguments. In order to respond to your message, the buyer must be ready for dialogue.
The correct definition of the target audience implies its compliance with all three parameters at the same time, since an interested consumer who is ready to move from a competitor to you may simply not have sufficient financial opportunity. Or, conversely, have money and need a product, but be a strict adherent of a different brand.
More criteria!
The second, no less common mistake made in the process of identifying target groups is the insufficiency of the criteria used. To correctly identify and take into account the needs of a particular person, it is not enough to know his age, place of residence and gender.
Within one can meet consumers with diametrically opposed hobbies, different psychological characteristics and lifestyles. The deeper you dive into the world of potential buyers, the more you will learn about them. And better understand what their problems you can solve.
Ask yourself the right questions
For a clearer idea of how to define your target audience, experienced professionals recommend making a list of questions. By answering them in detail, you will be able to imagine the end consumer in as much detail as possible and find the shortest path to it.
- Determine the gender of your consumer, decide for whom you are producing your product. Winter shoes can be created for both sexes, but for ladies they will be elegant boots, and for men - practical boots.
- Identify the age group of the people you work for. Try not to spray. The clearer the border, the more accurate the direction of the message. Model winter boots with thin stiletto heels are unlikely to suit older women, and teenagers prefer sneakers even in winter.
- Where do your customers live? And if they use your products, how? It is much easier to determine the target audience of a product if you understand that leather insulated winter boots are good for a city in the middle lane, and high fur boots for a village in the far north.
- What does he do Where and in what position does he work? From the level of education and social status a person directly depends on his motivation in the decision-making process. A wealthy executive lady can easily decide to buy a second or even a third pair of winter boots, while a trolley bus driver barely has enough money and imagination to buy one weekend shoe for each season.
- What worries your consumer? What are his problems? Does he want to dress warmer in winter? Or maybe become more stylish? Or just feel comfortable and cozy in good shoes in a slushy winter? The answers to these questions are also important.
Create a description
Replying to questions asked, make a description of the consumer. Analyze the lifestyle of your addressee: where does he go, what TV shows do he watch? Drive a car and listen to the radio? Or maybe he reads an advertisement on the rear window of a trolleybus? What restaurants does he take his wife to, what kind of films does he like to watch with his children?
A detailed story about the person for whom you created your product will quickly help you understand: where and what kind of advertising should be placed, in which news blocks to insert a promotional video. And also where to put the booklet: in the mailbox or on the table of the nearest beauty salon. Are you still wondering how to define the target audience? Then we consider special cases.
Definition of the company's audience
Setting up your own business, especially initial stage requires from it not only material, but also intellectual costs. And not in the last place, along with the ability to competently draw up a business plan and develop a development strategy, there is such a need to determine the target audience of the company. That is, to understand who your efforts will be directed to.
A feature of determining the target audience of a company is the choice between an individual buyer and a business as a consumer. The analysis of the first group is more complicated. The market to which it is oriented is subject to significant fluctuations, and, therefore, is characterized by low stability. The choice of the second segment as the target audience is less volatile, but requires significant development costs.
Target audience for the site
The specifics of determining the target audience of an Internet resource lies in a clear understanding of who and for what purpose this or that content may be interested in. When developing a site, it is important to take into account not only the gender, age and income level of potential users of the resource, but also the operating system and browser they use. And such a factor as place of residence, on the contrary, will not be of paramount importance.
Features of the promotion of Internet resources dictate the need for a more thorough study of the interests of the audience. But, on the other hand, they provide an opportunity to attract so-called casual consumers. For example, by promoting on the request “self-repair of a car”, you will attract to your site not only representatives of your target audience, but also users who entered “car repair” or “self-repair” as a query.
Another method that will help you quickly navigate how to determine the target audience of the site will be the use of key phrases with low and medium frequency and competitiveness when planning promotion. In order to be as specific as possible to your group, do not use an all-encompassing "window". Select, for example, " wooden windows with double-glazed windows.
How to determine the target audience of the service?
Determining the target audience is a laborious process that requires special education and considerable experience. The success of an advertising campaign directly depends on how competently and accurately potential consumers are identified and how their needs are identified and taken into account in detail. And the return on investment in promotion.
In addition, knowing how to identify the target audience and analyze the behavioral characteristics of the group will make it possible to create a service in the best possible way. problem solving consumers and outperform competitors. In addition, it will be possible to predict changes in consumer preferences. As well as the behavioral characteristics of the target audience. Based on this, the manufacturer will adjust the features of the promotion in time. He will have the opportunity to identify and apply the most effective motivation that allows him to influence the addressee's decision to purchase.
Conclusions on the first chapter:
Advertising information is distributed in various ways, in any form using various means, aimed at attracting the attention of an indefinite circle of people, as well as maintaining interest in the object and promoting it on the market. Target advertising information- convey information from the advertiser to the target audience. Advertising information aims to encourage the target audience to choose services or goods, make purchases, as well as generate interest and draw conclusions about the advertiser company. The choice of means of dissemination of advertising information is one of the stages in the process of planning the advertising activities of an enterprise, the implementation of which is complex and multifaceted.
FEATURES OF PERCEPTION OF ADVERTISING INFORMATION BY TARGET AUDIENCES
Identification of the target audience and market segmentation
Before developing an advertisement, it is necessary to collect information about the most promising buyers of the advertised product in order to compose an advertising message that meets their interests, tastes and desires. Even at the stage of marketing research, special surveys are conducted and a “portrait of a potential buyer” is drawn up. In advertising agencies, when developing scripts for commercials, sometimes a real portrait of the buyer is drawn. He is given a name, his lifestyle, daily routine, relationships in the family and at work are recreated. This approach allows you to create a commercial or a product that can draw the attention of the target audience, namely, with these features. Such videos work much better than commercials addressed to a general audience.
In terms of the frequency of use of a particular product category, it is customary to distinguish between active and passive consumers. In many product categories, it is found that the consumption of the bulk of the goods falls on the share of a small part of the population. So, in the book of C. Sandage, Freiburger and Rotzoll “Advertising: theory and practice”, the following data are given: 88% of hair dyes are bought by only about 11% of the population, 93% of the sales of headache pills are provided by 52.6% of people, 89 % of car rental services account for only 3.6% of people. This means that many products have a relatively small group of active consumers. Most often it turns out to be reasonable to focus the main advertising efforts on them, so it is necessary to make an accurate portrait of active consumers of a particular group of products in order to use the most appropriate arguments for them and the most appropriate advertising media. However, in some cases it is more profitable to expand the target audience of a particular product by reaching out to its passive consumers or to those who do not use products of this kind. This happens, for example, in an advertisement for the Clerasil cleansing lotion, which is now advertised for all teenagers, and not just for those who have acne, as well as in an advertisement for Johnson's baby oil, which is now on the market. and as a feminine cosmetic.
Depending on a person’s readiness for trial purchases of new goods, the following groups are distinguished (according to the book by C. Sandage and others):
- 1) innovators - 2.5%, these are risk-averse people, they are the first to try new brands of goods;
- 2) early adopters - 13.5%, such people accept new items quickly, but with some caution;
- 3) early majority - 34%, these people acquire a novelty before the average buyer, but only after a long deliberation;
- 4) belated majority - 34%, this group includes those who are not satisfied with advertising, but wait until public opinion recognizes the goods worthy of purchase;
- 5) lagging behind - 16%, these are those who stubbornly oppose change.
Percentage of persons owned different groups, is indicated in the book of C. Sandage not for our market, but their general ratio is indicative.
The following set of parameters is distinguished by which potential customers are described:
- 1) geographic parameters (location of groups of potential consumers, typical areas of their residence and places of purchase);
- 2) demographic parameters (age, gender, nationality);
- 3) parameters of social status (social origin, education, occupation, source and level of income, belonging to one or another social class and social environment)
- 4) parameters of marital status (presence of a family, number of children and their age, stage life cycle families, etc.);
- 5) psychographic parameters (character traits, life position, dominant behavioral motives, lifestyle, value system, etc.);
- 6) parameters of consumer behavior (dominant purchase motives, adherence to certain brands, frequency of use of a particular product, ability to respond to new products on the market, etc.).
Most differences in purchasing preference are described using these parameters. In terms of the specified set of features, the so-called market segmentation is specified.
Any segment of the market is associated with one or another group of consumers, characterized by general ideas about the product, general requirements to him and common desires. For example, the Procter & Gamble company, wishing to cover the entire market, offers various brands of washing powder, which are based on the same detergent, but different additives are used: one of the brands softens water more, another is designed specifically for children's underwear, the third is for washing in water of any temperature, the fourth has an increased deodorizing effect, etc.
Market segmentation is the strategic process of dividing customers into groups that have common product requirements and similar purchasing preferences.
Any segment of the market is associated with one or another group of consumers, characterized by common ideas about the product, common requirements for it and common desires. M. Sherrington's "5W" method: firstly, what - what - type of product - tea in bags, loose, in paper bags or in gift boxes; secondly, who - who - the type of consumer - women, children, adolescents; thirdly, why - why - type of motivation - price, product originality, vital necessity; fourthly, when - when - at what moments the purchase takes place - in the evening, at holidays, in season; fifthly, where - where - channels for the sale of goods - a stall, a supermarket, an elite salon.
Narrowness of the target audience: Nestle surveyed more than two thousand respondents in order to segment the snack food market. As a result, 30,000 "possible reasons to eat" were identified, on the basis of which the exact target audiences of various products were found. In particular, studies have shown that expensive boxes of chocolates, which are usually promoted as gifts, have such a target audience as "depressed chocolate lovers" (in Nestle's terminology). These are young women who love chocolate and buy it to unwind when they are depressed or miss their evenings at home. The taste and quality of chocolate is very important to them, so they choose sweets in expensive boxes. In addition, for them it is a way of self-affirmation and self-esteem. Orientation of advertising promotion to this target audience has significantly increased the sale of expensive boxes of chocolates.
The example shows the need to accurately represent the nature of the consumer. It also shows that there is no need to be afraid to “narrow down” the target audience of the product. On the contrary, the narrower the segment, the clearer you can build a promotion strategy. Accordingly, the cost of promotion will be significantly reduced, and sales will increase.
Breadth of the target audience: The target audience can include not only direct consumers, but also those who make a purchase decision, for example, an advertisement for men's shirts, the target audience will include women, since it is they who in most cases are the initiators of this purchase. So, for example, doctors can play the role of “communicators” for prescription drugs, teachers for textbooks, housewives for most of the food consumed by the family. In other cases (especially those related to the advertising of services), the target audience may be the firm's own employees. McDonald's distinguishes at least three of its audiences: franchisors, consumers, and employees. The target audience can also be opinion leaders or influencers, such as artists or politicians. Even advertising agencies can deal with more than just a group of target consumers, trying to please the consumer or future customers with their resourcefulness.However, primary audiences usually include those in the relevant market segment.
Behind each of the developed brands there are certain consumer requirements and preferences (thus a certain group of consumers). This is how market segmentation and differentiation of goods within a product category occurs.
So, the target audience is the people to whom the message is addressed. Common Mistake advertising campaign - the selection of a single large audience. Appeal to all at once does not work in a row simple reasons. And the first of them is that almost any advertising campaign, to one degree or another, affects different audiences: company employees, business partners, law enforcement agencies, competitors. Each has its own target groups. So, for example, the company's customers can be divided based on the following criteria: first, different needs. In the same product or service, different things are important for everyone: everyone needs an orange, but some to eat its pulp, and others to make candied fruits from its peel; secondly, the different status - real and potential clients. Some are already buying a product or using a service. Their loyalty must be maintained by communicating, for example, how the company takes care of them, providing convenience and saving time. Others are potential clients or consumers. They need to be convinced; third, different social status, income level, etc. Someone needs to be informed that the product is of high quality and at the same time cheap, but it is important for someone to hear that it is made from selected natural products. For example, this happens with Wimm-Bill-Dann juices: Lyubimiy Sad juice is for buyers with low incomes, and J7 is for people with an average income level; Fourth, the size of the audience. An appeal to a mass audience is built differently than, for example, to a small group. In the first case, it is worth relying on eternal values or paying tribute to fashion trends, in the second case, relying on the personal preferences of the elite.
Students aged 18-25 who buy cheap tickets. This is the "lower part" of the fourth, mass audience. It is important for them that it is cheap, fun and fashionable. In short, we had fun, and at the same time flew. In advertising, they will be inspired by the image of a curvy stewardess distributing beer without restrictions, trendy music in headphones, action movies on the screen and a cheerful party with a lot of interesting guys and girls on the seats next to them.
Businessmen with higher education, 40-50 years old - fly expensive business class on business. This is the first audience with high and super-high earnings, although it is possible that among this audience there are also persons from the third category. One way or another, a wide selection of drinks and menus, a separate room behind a curtain, an opportunity for work: a socket for connecting a computer, a comfortable table are important for these people. As business people, they consider the profitability of the flight and look at the price-quality ratio and buy a partnership with transport company in transporting yourself to the right place for the right money.
Pensioners over 60 fly to children abroad "cheaply to visit." This is also the "lower part" of the fourth, mass audience, but let's be clear: its requirements for the company's product and services are strikingly different from the requirements of students. It is important for pensioners to fly simply (so that it is easy to navigate in time and space, no flight transfers, everything is simple and does not require effort), comfortable (a blanket, a large distance between the seats so that you can stretch your legs, a comfortable chair, etc.) and most importantly, quiet (think about the students :)). Their dream flight is a cheap, non-shaky flight in the front of the non-smoking part of the cabin under a warm blanket in an ergonomic (only they don’t use such words) chair, a caring stewardess in a nurse’s uniform and a dietary lunch.
And all these people, mind you, will fly in the same plane. As you understand, they do not buy a ticket, but the sensations during the flight. For these three categories, you obviously need to do three different ads. The question remains how to realize the promises of advertising when they are all in the same salon. Obviously, a “skate step” is needed here, one cannot drive such an uneven distance on one leg. But we have already taken the first few steps: we understood who is going, why and how. Now the main thing is not to rush to draw linear conclusions, but to thoughtfully integrate and/or separate these three images.
Thus, the selection of the target audience and segmentation of the market allows you to communicate more effectively with representatives of different segments. At the same time, you can figure out how to position a new or existing product, how best to “communicate” it to consumers who adhere to a certain lifestyle (probably, the efficiency here is higher than using demographic indicators alone). The main idea of the method is to look beyond the standard variables, present the product in accordance with the actions, hopes, fears and dreams of the target audience. Next, consider the psychological aspects of advertising impact on target consumers.
Hello! In this article, we will talk about how to determine the target audience of your product or service.
Today you will learn:
- What is CA;
- Why is it so important for any business to determine the target audience;
- How to write a portrait of your client.
What is the target audience
Target audience (TA) - a specific group of people for which a particular product or service is designed.
The people included in the target audience are united by a certain need, problem or need, which the proposed product intends to solve. To more accurately determine the needs of the group, it is divided into segments by gender, age, financial position, field of activity and so on.
Not everyone can be a client of a company or a buyer of a product. Each product has its own target audience with unique characteristics.
Example. The target audience of a women's fitness club can be formulated as "girls aged 18-30, with a small income, seeking to spend a minimum of time on training (living near the club), attending classes in the evening after school or work and on weekends."
Target audience should be:
- Interested in the product. Auto parts are not needed for those who do not have a car.
- Able to purchase it. Fashion boutique inappropriate near the hostel.
- Receptive to marketing pressure. Sometimes adherents of one brand cannot be lured to the side of another even by the most effective methods.
Why define the target audience
A clear definition of the target audience of the product is a logical and therefore common requirement of all marketers. Before proceeding with the creation, you need to describe as accurately as possible a portrait of those who should be interested in it.
The narrower the circle of potential customers, the more effective it will be to work with such a target audience in the future.
The importance of target audience is often underestimated, however, this is the starting point of any. Even fishermen choose their tackle and bait depending on the fish they want to catch. So it is in the service and trade sectors - the work strategy depends on the portrait of a potential client.
Knowing your target audience allows you to:
- Increase loyalty - customers will come back and recommend the product (service) to their friends.
- Find new customers faster and cheaper. Advertising costs are significantly reduced when the marketer knows where and when to look for buyers.
- Form proposals that meet the needs of the audience.
Methods for determining the target audience
The definition of the target audience begins with a simple question: “Who needs my product (service)?” The answer to this problem will give only the first push in . Further, the question is concretized, clear features are added to the portrait of the buyer.
Approximate questions when compiling the target audience may be as follows:
- How old are my potential clients;
- What gender are they?
- What are their financial capabilities;
- What are they interested in;
- What are their problems;
- What do they dream about?
- What is their style of thinking and communication.
The target customer is identified after a thorough analysis of the market and its segment in which the product is presented.
At first, you have to be guided by the questions “who and why should buy my product?”, But the greatest accuracy can be achieved by studying your existing customers (or customers of direct competitors). To do this, marketers conduct various audience research, observation and surveys of regular consumers.
In English-speaking countries, the popular theory of target audience segmentation is called 5W, according to the first letters of the questions:
- What? (What?). What product or service the customer is purchasing.
- Who? (Who?). What are the characteristics of the consumer, his gender, age, and so on.
- Why? (Why?). What is his motive. It could be profitable price, convenient packaging, uniqueness of goods.
- When? (When?). When the purchase is made and how often.
- Where? (Where?). The client makes a purchase in a store near the house, in a large hypermarket or via the Internet.
There are a lot of methods for determining the target audience. Most often, polls, questionnaires, interviews, and the collection of statistics on the Internet are used. Experienced marketers sooner or later develop their own algorithms.
Preparatory stage - determination of the purpose of the study
The first stage in determining the target audience is preparatory. To more confidently start identifying a client, you need to figure out which direction to go.
The first step on the way is the goal of finding the target audience:
- Definition of the target audience for the existing offer (dependence on the product);
- The choice of target audience for the introduction of a new product or for expanding activities (dependence on the market).
In the first case, the classical scheme operates. There is a product, there are buyers. It is necessary to make a portrait of existing customers in order not to lose them and attract new customers with the same characteristics and needs.
In this case, the order of work will be as follows:
- Comparative competitive analysis of goods.
- Study of loyal consumers (survey to identify the motivation to buy).
- Segmentation of regular and potential customers.
- Drawing up a marketing plan.
In the second option, it is only to be changed or expanded through new proposals. The definition of target audience depends on the market.
Example. An already existing toy store plans to expand its scope of work. To do this, the marketer needs to identify all possible target audiences and choose the most profitable of them: with the largest check, lowest costs, and high frequency of demand. For example, our toy store might decide what to add to its assortment study guides and workbooks for early child development, including wholesale for kindergartens and creative sections.
The procedure for determining the target audience depending on the market:
- Complete segmentation and market analysis.
- Identification of the most profitable segments.
- Drawing up a detailed portrait of representatives of the selected segment.
- Formation of a further plan of work with the audience.
To identify the needs and other characteristics of existing customers, they can be offered questionnaires or participation in a survey.
Such interviews must include the following questions:
- Gender, age, social and financial status, profession.
- How often are purchases made?
- Reasons for choosing this particular product.
- Where did the customer learn about the product or service?
- Overall rating of the product.
The second stage is the division of customers into consumers and businesses. Not every product has an end consumer - individual. You can also sell and provide services to other businesses.
In this regard, the TA will have to be sought in different areas:
- . The most stable segment. It is easier to correctly determine the target audience of the consumer-business, it is less subject to fluctuations in the future. All information about such clients is in the public domain, which means there is no need for time-consuming searches.
- , where the end buyer is a private individual whose interests and needs are not so stable. Fluctuations in the consumer audience can be caused by changes in politics, fashion, innovation. Seasonality and competition also strongly influence demand.
Last third step preparatory phase answers the question: what is the problem to be solved? Which of the business parameters needs to be worked out?
- What to sell? It is necessary to identify the needs of the formed target audience and create a profitable offer based on them;
- Where? It is necessary to determine the advertising and promotion channels that will be most effective for the desired target audience;
- When? The phrase “everything has its time” is true for business as well. Advertising for schoolchildren is useless to run on TV during the daytime school hours. Skis are best offered in winter, and sunscreen in summer. Promotions for alcoholic drinks in the restaurant are more in demand on Friday and Saturday evenings.
We found out how to tune in to the study of the target audience, how to identify the tasks that need to be solved. Next, let's proceed directly to the methods of audience segmentation.
Drawing up a client profile
All potential or existing customers should be divided into groups and described in detail. Only after all the portraits are outlined, you can decide which of them is better to work with, whom to focus on.
For example, a computer games store might have the following customers:
- Fanatics who devote all their free time to computer games, buying up all the new items and rare editions;
- Schoolchildren and students who do not have their own income, choosing inexpensive but popular games for donated or accumulated money;
- Parents of teenagers who are not versed in the industry, buying games as a gift for their children, focusing on reviews and advertising;
- And so on, there can be a lot of potential target audience.
A complete description of the target audience should contain:
- Socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, social status);
- Geographical position;
- Psychographic data (for example, the desire to stand out, establish yourself or surround yourself with comfort);
- Hobbies, hobbies and leisure activities;
- Problems and needs.
What to do after determining the target audience
The target audience is defined and narrowed as much as possible. It's time to work on the proposals.
Search for places of interaction with the target audience.
In order to identify the “habitat” of your customers, you must:
- Describe a typical shopper's day. If necessary, you can make separate plans for weekdays and weekends, holidays. Based on the plan, it becomes clear when the client has free time for impulsive purchases, when he is most susceptible to advertising, when his demand for a particular product is aggravated.
- Schedule the client's actions after the need arises. For example, the washing machine broke down. A potential client turns on the computer, goes to the Internet and types in the search engine "urgent repair of washing machines in Moscow." In order to "catch the bait" of this potential client, repair companies.
- Try to anticipate what the customer was doing before the need arose. This is not always possible, but it is very necessary for the timely offer of their services. For example, before a young mother goes to the store for diapers, she will be in the maternity hospital and in the antenatal clinic, which means that you can start offering goods from there.
Proposal formation.
Talk to potential customers in their language. For example, young people are more accustomed to slang, and older people subconsciously reject any neologisms. Men think more concretely, they prefer facts, women tend to react emotionally.
To make a proposal, you must first determine:
- Needs, "pains", problems of a potential client.
- The fears of the client, on the basis of which objections are born.
- Primary and secondary selection criteria.
- Emotions involved.
They strive to look spectacular, to impress not only in life, but also in in social networks(actively use Instagram) - we will conduct the main advertising campaign on the Internet.
The choice is based on the popularity and prestige of the brand. The main fear is to acquire a fake or cheap stuff - in the offer we focus on celebrities, certificates and participation in international fashion exhibitions. We put the emphasis on admiration, fame, delight.
Common Mistakes
In order to avoid annoying mistakes, you need to know about them and avoid these rakes.
When determining the target audience, beginners often make the following mistakes:
- Too wide TA. You can't please everyone, you can't sell to everyone. Women from 20 to 50 years old is too wide for the working target audience. It is a mistake to believe that by limiting the target audience, the seller will lose some of the potential buyers. Random purchases in our time are increasingly receding into the background, so it is not very advisable to rely on them. A large gathering of random people will never give a seller as many buyers as a specialized fair that brings together only interested citizens.
- One-time selection of target audience. Depending on the area of business, its customers can be a relatively stable group or, conversely, changeable. In any case, studies of the target audience and its needs are recommended to be carried out once every 1-2 years. People themselves change, fashion changes, new competitors appear - and the portrait of a buyer of the same product can change from year to year.
As a result of mastering this chapter, the student should:
know
- what is the target audience of advertising messages;
- what kind psychological factors must be taken into account when creating advertising;
- modern methods evaluating the effectiveness of advertising;
be able to
- present a portrait of the consumer for a specific advertising campaign;
- highlight the main components of the consumer's socio-psychological attitude;
- draw up a plan for evaluating the effectiveness of an advertising campaign;
master the skills
Analysis and comparison of the behavioral characteristics of the audience for advertising campaigns in various business segments.
Target audience of advertising messages
Any advertising message, regardless of the channel of its distribution, must first of all take into account the addressee, i.e. to whom it is directed. In this regard, the addressee is not a personified unit, but a certain group, therefore, as a rule, it is defined as the target audience of advertising. Target group, target audience of advertising ( target group, target audience) is the main and most important category of recipients of an advertisement for an advertiser. Marketing classic Philip Kotler believes that it may consist of: potential buyers of the company's products; consumers; those who make the decision; those who influence decision making.
Audience Represented individuals, groups, a certain circle or the whole society. The sender's decisions about what, when, where and how to address the target contact audience are determined by its specific features.
Determining and searching for the target audience of a product is the most important issue already at the stage of formation and development of any business. This issue remains a priority when promoting this product. An accurate representation of who is the consumer of the company's products or services, knowledge of the nature, habits, consumption parameters allow you to most clearly present the product in advertising, speak with the consumer in a language that he understands, and therefore contribute to the perception of the appeal. An incorrect definition of the target audience entails either the failure of the product on the market, or, which most often happens in practice, a significant increase in budgets for the creation and promotion of the product.
The target audience is distinguished from the general audience, taking into account various characteristics related to geographic, demographic, economic, psychological and behavioral characteristics of consumers.
Segmentation of target audiences
As we have already said, goods and products on the market can be offered for use in a particular business sector, as well as for the personal use of consumers. On this basis, two main types of target audience are distinguished:
- target audience in business b2b– business for business);
- target audience in the field of individual consumer (62s – business for users).
Marketers and advertising specialists believe that determining the target audience in the sector b2c harder than in b2b. This is due to the fact that b2b The sector is more stable, not subject to strong fluctuations in demand, completely different technologies are used here to promote products. Most often we are talking about direct sales, working with databases. Therefore, for 626, it is important to correctly identify the target audience from the very beginning, and then slightly adjust it. AT b2c-sector, the target audience may change due to various circumstances. The target audience segment may be subject to changes, sometimes quite significant, due to the appearance of new offers on the market, fashion trends, climate problems, etc. Therefore, it is important to constantly monitor the slightest fluctuations in demand, find their cause and, in accordance with this, change the promotion policy, and possibly clarify the parameters of the target audience.
Example
In the summer of 2010, sellers of air conditioners and fans faced a truly rush demand. Demand was due to the unprecedented summer heat. According to market participants, not only the volume of equipment sold has changed, but also the portrait of the consumer itself. Among them were people whom the sellers themselves did not consider their target consumers.
The principles of segmentation of the target audience are developed in sufficient detail and presented in specialized literature on marketing and advertising. The target segment is considered to be the group of people who are most interested in buying the proposed product and have their own ideas about its appearance, packaging, distribution areas, etc. In this regard, the technique proposed by Mark Sherrington, the founder of the international consulting firm, is considered quite practical for segmentation. added value. The technique for ease of understanding is named 5W- by the first letters of five English question words that Sherrington considers basic when segmenting the consumer audience.
M. Sherrington's technique:
- what (what?);
- who (who?);
- why (why?);
- when (when?);
- where (where?).
It is difficult to disagree with the presented question scheme, because the answer to each question is very important for understanding the target audience. The answer to the first question gives an understanding of what product we are promoting on the market, how it is designed, how it is packaged. It can, for example, be loose sweets; they can be packaged in transparent 200 gram bags or in beautiful gift boxes. The second answer gives an idea of who might be the consumer of the product. In this case, we are interested in gender, age, income level. You need to know why the audience chooses a particular product, what is the motivation for purchasing it. In one case, it will be the price, in the other - the originality or non-standard of the goods, in the third - a vital necessity or something else. The question "when?" is also important for understanding consumer behavior. Some products are purchased more often for the holidays, others - in a certain season. Sometimes a consumer buys something in the evening - it's more familiar, but something in the morning. And finally, the fifth question implies that when promoting and advertising a product, we must understand where it is purchased - in a stall, supermarket, store near the house.
It is clear that in order to determine the target segments, research is needed that can give a better idea of the structure of the target group, its preferences and habits, tastes and motivations.
Example
In order to segment the light snack market, Nestle surveyed more than 2,000 respondents. As a result, 30 thousand "possible reasons to eat" were identified". On their basis, the exact target audiences of various products were identified. In particular, studies have shown that expensive boxes of chocolates, which are usually promoted as gifts, have such a target audience as "depressed chocolate lovers" (according to Nestle terminology). These are young women who love chocolate and buy it to unwind when they are depressed or miss their evenings at home. The taste and quality of chocolate is very important to them, so they choose sweets in expensive boxes. In addition, for them it is a way of self-affirmation and self-esteem. Orientation of advertising promotion to this target audience has significantly increased the sale of expensive boxes of chocolates.
The example shows the need to accurately represent the nature of the consumer. It also shows that one should not be afraid to "narrow down" the target audience of the product. On the contrary, the narrower the segment, the clearer you can build a promotion strategy. Accordingly, promotion costs will be significantly reduced, and sales will increase.
To the target audience, as we noted earlier, may include not only direct consumers, but also those who make the purchase decision. For example, women rightly attribute many goods for men to the target audience, because in many cases they are the initiators, inspirers and participants in the purchase. Another case that today is completely shamelessly used by manufacturers and sellers of medicines, namely, inclusion in the target audience medical workers who sometimes simply recommend, and sometimes impose the drug on their patients. In some cases (especially those related to the advertising of services), the target audience may be the firm's own employees. McDonald's defines at least three of its audiences: franchisors, consumers, and employees. The target audience can also be thought leaders or influencers, such as artists or politicians. However, as a rule, it is customary to refer to primary audiences those consumers who are in the corresponding market segment.