Targeting aims to increase relevance for the consumer and efficiency for a particular brand. By tailoring outreach to align with a target audience’s interests, needs, and values, marketers can boost engagement and conversion rates. Brands first identify their ideal buyer personas based on demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and other attributes.
Common targeting factors include age, gender, location, income level, job role, company size, interests, pain points, and shopping habits. For instance, a brand selling luxury watches may target affluent individuals aged 30-50 who value exclusivity and craftsmanship. The brand would then tailor its messaging to highlight these attributes, thereby appealing directly to the interests and preferences of its target audience. Targeting helps businesses optimize the use of their marketing resources. By narrowing their focus to specific segments, companies spend less on reaching consumers who are unlikely to convert. This improves the return on investment for each marketing dollar spent.
Targeting also helps create a more personalized customer experience. When consumers receive offers and content tailored specifically for them, it increases brand relevance and loyalty. Such a strategy is supported by data from McKinsey & Company, which shows that personalization can deliver higher marketing ROI and reduce the cost of customer acquisition by up to 50%.
Targeting involves segmenting the overall market into groups based on relevant characteristics like demographics, interests, behaviors, and location. Businesses then develop marketing messages and strategies tailored to each segment. For example, an online retailer may target separate segments for men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing. Each segment would receive different product recommendations, promotional messages, and emails. Proper targeting allows businesses to focus their marketing efforts on the groups most likely to be interested in and purchase their products or services.
Targeting is used in a variety of marketing channels, including:
Online advertising: Advertisers can use targeting to show their ads to people most likely to be interested in their products or services.
Email marketing: Marketers can use targeting to send email messages to people who are likely to be interested in the content of their emails.
Direct mail: Businesses can use targeting to send direct mail pieces to people who live in a specific area or who have previously shown an interest in their products or services.
Social media marketing: Marketers can use targeting to show their social media posts to people interested in the topics they post about.
Targeting is getting more challenging with additional privacy legislation, guidelines, and platform restrictions. Contextual targeting is getting more important, and platform-defined audiences can help.