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What is a target audience? (Definition and examples)

Learn what a target audience is, how to define your target audience, and examples of real creators’ target audiences.

What is a target audience?

Your target audience is the specific group of people who will be most interested in your content, products, or services. These are the potential customers you try to reach through your marketing efforts.

Target audiences are usually defined by common characteristics, including:

  • Demographic information (age, location, education level, income level)

  • Psychographic factors (goals, pain points, values)

  • Interests and hobbies

  • Creators they follow and businesses they buy from

Examples of a target audience might include "working parents looking for easy weeknight meals" and "millennial women worried about budgeting".

You need to know who your target market is before you try to grow your audience. You want people to find your content and say, "this is for me!" — but when you try to appeal to everyone, it's hard for people to connect with you and your content. 

When you create content with a specific group in mind, the right audience can find and connect with your work more easily. 

Defining your target audience also helps you choose the best media channels and social media platforms for building your audience and reaching new customers.

How to define your target audience

Here are some tips to help you define your target audience:

  • Ask yourself, "who can benefit the most from my content, products, or services?" In other words, who is your ideal customer? If your content and products are based on your own experience or the challenges you've overcome, your target audience might have a lot in common with you (or your former self).

  • Look at other creators in your niche. Who engages the most with their content on social media? What do those audience members have in common?

  • Check out forums and online communities centered around the same subject as your content. (Subreddits are a great place to start.) Who is active in those communities? 

When you know your target audience, you can create content and products that resonate with them. Figure out what your audience needs — then show them that you understand and can help them through your content, products, or services.

Target audience examples

VegiVale

Valeria Hernández is the founder of  VegiVale , a plant-based health coaching business. When Valeria began coaching, she decided to focus on serving women of color because she noticed these clients often faced the same issues she’d experienced firsthand.

Valeria customized her programs to help women of color incorporate their cultural cuisines into their meals. She believes that serving a specific niche is part of what makes her brand stand out.

While she never pushes anyone away and enjoys working with clients from all walks of life, having a smaller, more specific audience makes it easier for Valeria to master her marketing messages and create digital products her clients love.

"It’s a lot more powerful when you can focus on a smaller group of people that you have built community with… because they know that you are talking specifically to them," she explains.

Read more about Valeria's creator journey and coaching business .

Becky Mollenkamp

Becky Mollenkamp is a mindset coach who helps people make the shift from “small business owner” to CEO. Through her Gutsy Boss brand, she has helped thousands of clients define success on their terms.

After 7+ years of coaching, Becky is honing in on a more specific target audience: Midsize business owners. This audience aligns more closely with her experiences as a business owner — and it's the work she enjoys most.

That said, Becky plans to continue serving her broader audience, even if they aren’t the right fit for one-on-one coaching. Now, Becky's customer base fits into two audience segments:

  1. Potential coaching clients

  2. Individuals who can benefit from Becky’s self-service products, which include a mini-course, self-study program, and digital downloads

Getting more specific with her target audience helps Becky provide the right content and services to the right people — and do more of the work she loves.

Learn more about Becky's evolving business, including how she uses automation and segmentation to better serve her audience .

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