Rethinking How We Define Our Target Audience 🎯
Defining a target audience can feel like navigating a maze, especially when we rely heavily on demographic or performance data. It's a big responsibility because these decisions drive campaigns, influence performance, and determine where resources go.
Traditionally, many of us look at our highest spenders or most loyal customers, searching for common traits using rational data: age, gender, location, income. But is this enough?
Listening to Fred Reichheld, the creator of the Net Promoter System (NPS), I’m reminded of his focus on earned growth. His idea is simple but profound: growth isn’t just about acquiring new customers—it’s about creating such a great experience that customers come back for more and, crucially, bring their friends and family with them. Earned growth reflects the power of word-of-mouth (WOM), the kind of recommendation money can’t buy.
Similarly, Rory Sutherland, a behavioural economics champion, highlights the psychology of consumer behaviour. He argues that buying decisions aren’t always logical, they’re emotional, contextual, and social. Influencing behaviour isn’t about hard selling; it’s about subtly nudging customers in the right environments where they feel inspired or reassured to act.
This made me question: Are we missing part of the picture by focusing only on demographics and performance data to create our target audiences? Should we shift our focus to where word-of-mouth is happening and where buying behaviours are shifting?
Instead of just asking: Who are our customers?
We should be asking: Where are they talking about us? How are they influenced to buy? What role does social proof play in their decision-making?
By understanding the dynamics of WOM, we can identify the social "hot zones", both online and offline, where people naturally share and recommend products.
Our goal shouldn’t just be to fill a funnel with leads; it should be to create meaningful relationships that spark organic growth. Demographics tell us who, but behavioural insights tell us why, how, and where the magic happens.
What are your thoughts? Are we over-relying on traditional data at the expense of deeper behavioural insights? Let’s discuss!
#BehaviouralMarketing #CustomerAcquistion #JustAddHerdify
