Targeting is a mechanism that segments the target audience, focusing on several groups that are valuable to the business. This allows the marketing team to develop a comprehensive product positioning program for each of the segments.
In simple terms, targeting is the selection of potential customers to whom a company wants to sell a product or service.
Where to start and how to set targeting correctly? Usually, this process consists of three stages: segmentation → targeting → positioning.
Segmentation is the division of the target audience into parts based on demographic, geographic, behavioral, and other characteristics.
Targeting is a mechanism for customizing the display of ads to certain segments according to the selected parameters. The key point is to determine which segment (or several) will be most beneficial for targeting. The following aspects should be evaluated: 1) the size of the segment; 2) the willingness of the audience of this segment to buy a product/service; 3) your own ability to reach the segment through available marketing channels.
Positioning is the creation of individual messages for the segment. This step is necessary to distinguish a product or service from competitors and encourage the target segment to buy.
How does targeting work?
The user’s personal data is key in this process. For example, when a person browses a product or service on a website, searches in a search engine, or is interested in certain products on the Internet, their browser collects this data and transmits it to advertising networks. The information is stored in a cookie, which is a piece of code. When a person visits a website from the same ad network, they may see ads for a product or service that is relevant to their search history or interests.
To better understand how targeting works, let’s take an example of a sports shoe brand. Let’s say we have an audience that we can divide into segments: 1) those who are not fond of sports; 2) those who run; 3) those who do yoga. For business, the second group of users is of the greatest value. To narrow down the targeting, you can set additional parameters such as age, gender, social status, and then prepare advertising creatives and messages that are relevant to each subgroup. This way, women and men can be directed to different landing pages and different models of sneakers can be used in advertising, young people can be shown brighter products, and older people can be shown more restrained ones, etc. Next, ads are placed on platforms where representatives of a particular segment are most likely to be found, such as Facebook or a sports website.
Goals and objectives of targeting
The main goal of targeting is to simplify the promotion and increase the distribution of the company’s products/services by focusing marketing efforts on certain groups of consumers.
Additional targeting goals:
- To stand out among competitors. People choose companies with a personalized approach and relevant offers. An effective targeting strategy allows you to leave your competitors behind.
- Loyal customer base. Targeted work with an audience that is interested in a product or service and shares the company’s values saves money and effort on advertising. With the help of advertising targeting, messages are more likely to resonate with the person who is interested.
- Attracting quality leads. Proper targeting will increase the chances of getting high-quality and qualified leads that will turn into customers.
- Improving product quality. In-depth audience analysis will allow you to learn more about the needs and pain of customers. This is a growth point for the company.
- Strengthening the focus. A focused approach to marketing and business in general will help optimize resources, time, and budget.
The main tasks that targeting solves
- Increase the number of sales. This happens by segmenting the target audience and working with those segments that have already shown interest in the product or service.
- Motivation for the target action. In addition to making a purchase, potential customers from the selected segment can take other targeted actions, such as participating in a promotion, leaving contacts, registering on a platform, or downloading an app.
- Increase brand awareness. With the help of advertising targeting, you can strengthen positive associations with the brand.
- Portrait of an ideal customer. Thanks to targeting, you can get to know your customers better and create several portraits of them to better understand who needs the company’s product or service.
- Budget savings. Only those users who are interested in the product see ads, and the number of non-targeted impressions is reduced with effective targeting.
- Increase the effectiveness of advertising. Taking into account the characteristics of the target audience, you can prepare individual offers and provide a personalized approach.