The Importance Of Targeted Marketing

Claire Singleton
Nov 2, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Nov 18, 2020

Targeted marketing campaigns are key in getting your content or adverts in front of the right people. Anyone can post an advert but it’s carefully thought out targeting which ensures your ads generate quality leads.

By targeting I mean segmenting your audience into groups who share the same interests, characteristics, buying behaviours and attitudes (what I call customer profiles). Then identifying locations where you will target these groups. If you’re trying to reach everybody, you're going to have a difficult time reaching the right people. Not using a targeted approach and running a sporadic campaign means your ad could be seen by a lot of people but not the right people. This causes the following problems;

Your campaigns are seen by people who are not seeking your product and find the advert irrelevant. Therefore they will not engage with the campaign but you’ve spent money reaching them.

You generate poor quality leads, this means people who are not seeking your products or services are reacting to your campaigns. You may be reaching people that don’t understand fully what you do and they are unsure of what they’re looking for. These people will enquire about your services but they will waste yours and your sales peoples time.

What is targeting in marketing?

Targeting is a marketing strategy that breaks a large audience into smaller segments to concentrate on a specific group of customers within that audience thus making your marking efforts more effective. It defines a segment of customers based on their unique interests, characteristics, attitudes, ethos and buying behaviours. Instead of trying to reach everyone and hoping your target audience sees your ad, a marketer uses target marketing to put their energy into connecting with a specific, defined group within that market that are actively seeking your products or services.

The main types of marketing segmentation are:

Geographic Areas: postcode, town, city, region, county, country, etc.
Demographic segmentation: age, gender, education, general social-economic grade, marital status etc
Behavioural segmentation: purchasing or spending habits (buying behaviours), user status, brand interactions, etc.
Psychographic segmentation: values, beliefs, interests, personality, lifestyle, attitudes etc.

If your customers are B2B then you can go even deeper and group your audiences by industry, sector, company size, company ethos and corporate responsibilities, revenue and position within the market.

Why is targeting so important?

As previously mentioned targeting ensures your campaigns are being seen by the right people thus generating quality leads. Targeting is important because it impacts the return on investment. Essentially if your ad isn't being put in front of the right people then you're wasting money. When you focus on target market segmentation, you can do the following:

Attract and convert high-quality leads. Speaking directly to the people you want to target means you are more likely to attract the right people. Targeting the right people increases conversion rates because you have reached people that are actively seeking your products and services. These quality leads are more likely to end up as paying customers.

Create relatable marketing messages. Segmenting your audience into target groups allows you to create marketing messages suitable to that group of people. Audiences react better to marketing messages and content when they can relate to it personally. If a person can relate to marketing content and material they are more likely to trust that a business understands their needs. They are more likely to be convinced a business can deliver products or services that are relevant to them.

Understand how to speak to that audience. Grouping your audience by demographics, behaviours and interests allows you to understand how to speak to that group. People react differently to certain tones, language and images. For example, some people react more to soft tones and descriptive text. Others react more to louder tones and short descriptions. This helps you to include the appropriate text in your marketing campaigns specific to that group of people you are trying to reach.

Differentiate your brand from competitors. When you stop trying to speak to every customer in your market and start focusing on smaller segments, you start to stand out from competitors. Customers will choose you over a competitor that isn't demonstrating they clearly understand the consumer's needs. You'll stand out and appear more relatable.

Keeps you focused. Finally, targeting in marketing benefits your team. It allows you and your team to understand your audience on a deeper level. You will understand the market inside out. Ultimately it helps you build better products and services because you know exactly what your audience wants. It keeps you focused on your vision, company goals, initiatives and marketing strategies.