Who Are You Targeting?

Who is your target audience? And how do you figure out who that is?

I ask these questions because when I am providing guidance to individuals publicizing a product, service or organization, it's clear that many don't have a good grasp of who is most likely to need or want what they're promoting.

Here are a few questions to help you determine if you're going after the right customers with your promotional messages:

1. How would you describe the person who is most likely to be interested in your message? Does gender matter? What about age or ethnicity, profession, income level or location? Write down as much as you know about this person.
2. What thought-leader influences this person? Who does this person look to for guidance (real or imagined) when making a purchasing decision? Those influencers might be local or national and in some situations, could be celebrities.
3. Who are your current customers? What can you learn from them? What do they all have in common? How can you find more people just like them? And...do your current customers look a lot like the person you described in point 1?

It's crucial that you know as much as you possibly can about your target customer because it's the only way you'll know how to get your messages in front of the right people.

What targeting successes -- and failures -- have you experienced? We'd like to hear your stories.