A look into the ways of Identifying and Analysing Target Audience

It is important for any business to gains its customers’ satisfaction. That is the goal of any company. But for this to happen it is important to know the groups that you are developing your product for. You should know what your customers are interested in buying and what solutions they are looking for. Once you know this, you are several steps closer to them. As a result of which you build your products in a way that appeals to its users. 

Target group analysis is a crucial step concerning customer satisfaction. So, we are here with a step-by-step guide on how to do a successful target group analysis in 7 simple steps:

• The right target group

You want to address your product to the people in the market. But who are these people and how do you know them? Well, this group of people are called the target audience or target group. As the name suggests, your products and services will be targeted at this set of people. As there are several demographics to the bifurcation of these target groups, you can define your own set of a target groups to advertise your products to. For example “Men within the age of 40-60 with a minimum income of 7LPA”

Apart from these, there are other demographics like marital status, lifestyle, education, occupation, etc. that will help define your target audience in more detail. After all, the more detailed the target audience is, the more effective your marketing will be. 

• Purchase behaviour of the target group

Given all the demographics of the target group, the marketing strategy mainly depends on the lifestyle and the behaviour of the target group. What do they buy? Why do they choose to buy that? What are their needs? Answers to these questions will define the nature of your target audience. Some of the common questions you can ask about your target group are:

• How is their life situation?
• What are their needs?
• What influences their purchase decisions?
• How often do they buy the product?
• Are they willing to buy your product given the competitors?
• How do they choose their product?

• Connect with the customer

To get the answers to all of the above questions, you need to KNOW your target group. But how do you do that? Obviously by interacting with them. Now, this doesn’t mean go and talk to every one of them. But there is various way of getting their information. A common method is by using primary data. There are various instruments of data collection like conducting surveys, taking interviews, polls, questionnaires, etc. that will get the customer base to respond to them. This is the easiest way to know your target group. 

Apart from this, you can make use of secondary data. This means, make use of the information that is already available to you. Study the customer base of similar products. Learn the information of the customers that you already have. 

• Conduct online surveys

As discussed earlier, surveys are the easiest and effective way to connect to your target group. Make an effective questionnaire for the survey which will have its focus mainly on the questions to which you want the answers to.

Along with the market surveys, it is important to conduct customer satisfaction surveys as well. It is a good practice to keep track of how your customer is feeling about your products and services. 

Include questions like:

• On a scale of 1-10, how much will you rate our product?
• Will you recommend our product to your friends?
• What changes would like us to bring in the product?
• Specify your top 3 preferred products.

• Make questionnaires 

There are various survey tools to conduct your online surveys with ease and effectiveness. The key to making the best out of those surveys is to frame proper questions. Decide if your survey is going to be a qualitative one or a quantitative one. In the case of qualitative, ask the direct questions to which there is a specific answer. 

Keep in mind the following tips while framing your survey questions:

• Ask clear, firm and limited questions. 
• The customers should not be confused while answering the questions, or else it is likely that they will leave the survey mid-way. 
• Choose a large and sufficient sample size to conduct your survey. 
• The questions should be in an easy and simple language that is understandable by the customer. 
• Frame limited questions that focus on the objective of the survey.

Some of the demo survey questions are:

• How would you rate the (business) relationship with company x / brand x all in all?
• How often have you contacted company x / brand x with inquiries or complaints in the past year?
• Were your inquiries or complaints answered in an appropriate period?
• How satisfied were you with the answers or suggestions for solutions that brand x offered you?
• How satisfied were you with the customer service of brand x / company x all in all?
• If you have additional suggestions or criticism for the customer service of brand x / company x, you can name them below.

• Include qualitative surveys

While conducting a survey, it is always advisable to make use of open-ended questions. Qualitative data give you the information in a large size and descriptive manner. 

It allows the customers to express their thoughts freely. You can make use of this section of the survey in any way you want, you can ask them to report their problem by actually showing the video of the product and its issues. 

This way the customers feel more open and expressive in the survey and there are chances they will stick to the survey till the end. 

• Create user profiles

Creating user profiles refers to the practice of analysing the survey data and making a user perspective or profile on that basis. It helps you understand how the user sees your product and what they need. 

One user profile can be created for each target group or a group representative of the population. Make sure to update the user profiles on regular basis along with your follow-up surveys to keep their needs and views updated with your product.