Customers will sometimes tell me that they want to reach everyone with their products or services, and I will tell them that it is impossible for anyone to succeed without a specific target audience, as saying that everyone is your target audience implies that your product or service appeals to no one specifically at all. As a business, you definitely cannot speak the same language to a wide range of people, and if you try to reach everyone with the same marketing message, you will end up with a brand that nobody can engage with. Let me explain why.
Your Target Audience Is the One That Is Most Likely to Buy with Your Marketing Budget

It only makes sense to narrow your audience to one which you think will most likely respond to your products and services, as every company will have a set of marketing budget that is set aside per year. For instance, if you have $1,000 to spend on Facebook ads a month, choose up to 2 or 3 target audience profiles to run your ads, test and then put your remaining budget into the target sector that gives you the best conversion rates.
There Are Some Sectors Who Will Never Buy From You At All
Truth is, no matter how much you market to some sectors, they will never buy from you. They might not have the money, or they might not understand how your products or services can help them, or their features, or how they can help save them time and money.
Defining Your Buyer Persona
There could be indeed some businesses whose products or services appeal to everyone, but if that is the case, you still need a customised solution or message that talk to each of your target audience. At this stage, you need to define your buyer persona, which is basically a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. Hubspot has a great template for you to create your buyer persona.
How then do you create your buyer persona? Here’s a simple list that will help you.
- How old are my customers?
- Are they male or female?
- Are they married or single?
- What are their income?
- What are their occupations?
- What are their hobbies?
- Where do they usually hang out?
- What are their goals in life?
- Where do they live?
- What are their educational levels?
- What magazines, books, or websites do they like to read or browse?
- Do they drive or commute via public transport?
There are more questions that you can think of, and the more detailed you are, the better.
And again, you cannot please everyone, nor should you try to do so. Spending your resources and marketing dollars on people that are not interested and will never be interested in your products or services is a waste of your money and efforts. By defining your target market, you will be able to focus your marketing budget where it matters.
Contact us for a chat using the form below – we’ll be able to offer some tips to increase your revenue!