Identifying the Marketing Strategies based on your Audience

Identifying a strategy based on your audience is the key to marketing success, let us delve into and demystify identifying your audience.

Let's help you identify and find your market and determine the right approach to generating more leads and sales, tailored to their needs!

My name is David, and I will be sharing my experience of over three decades working in and across many fields, including marketing. I have worked for high-profile design houses and B2B as well as B2C services, and I have run my own successful entrepreneurial services and companies.

Welcome to this in-depth article on strategies based on your audience's needs and how we can market to them. We will explore this approach from different aspects, demonstrating how planning well in advance can save time and money.

This ensures you have a targeted approach for acquiring new leads and increasing sales, while also achieving satisfaction for your existing audience. Are you ready to change and adapt to this new approach? If the answer is yes, let us move on...

You might know of the Why-How-What model for marketing by leadership expert Simon Sinek and the Golden Circle. This forms a workable method for approaching marketing to a targeted audience.

My opinion alters this slightly towards online products or courses, but the end goals are still achieved. This same model can be applied not just to marketing but to any kind of thought process.

Identifying the Marketing Strategies Based on Your Audience

This article is my own personal viewpoint, but of course, these things change constantly based on new trends and technologies.

To be fixed to just one point of view and process is to constrain your creativity and miss the opportunities the market can open to us.

That being said, there are common threads that will remain the same regardless of market trends or changes. Let's get started...

My Version of the Why-How-What - the What-Why-How

Introduction to my thought method: I consider you know WHAT you're selling, but maybe not in detail. The point is, you're not going to just make it up, are you?

So, WHAT is already assigned? My view is to first look at the WHY, then next look at the WHAT, delving into and finalizing the WHY. The HOW, in my opinion, comes last—HOW do we do this and HOW is it delivered?

I want to reiterate it's a constant update as you uncover the ideal strategy going forward, and nail down your understanding of your audience and their needs.

Marketing Strategies - What the Why and the How

Now we will look at the What, Why, and How. You might have heard of these three key points before, but how do they relate to the marketing strategies we can employ?

You will find that in any kind of marketing, research is a key aspect. These three points will drive everything we do from this point on because they are you, and you are them

The What - Your Service or Product

In this case, the What is your offering? What is it, and how can it make a difference to your users? It doesn't matter if it's a physical product or a digital service; it really makes no difference.

The Soul of Your Product

The What is, in essence, the soul of your offering, and we are channelling everyone into this. It is important that it is unique and has something of value.

It must solve a problem or need. Try not to make it a regurgitated service or product of something that already exists; the key here is having something special.

Now Let Us Clarify This as You’re Already Confused, Right?

Having something unique is hard! No, you’re wrong! If we look at this carefully, even if your product or service is already out there, you might think you have nothing new.

But you are not looking closely enough because what is unique is you! This is especially important if you are an online teacher, but it also applies as the figurehead of physical products as well.

The big mistake people make is not building any connection with their product or service. Not doing this can make the online course or product seem sterile. Give it a face or a story, and things start to change.

The Why - What is the VALUE?

Now we move on to the Why. What is it? Why do you need the Why (hehe)? Sounds funny, right? The Why is the most important aspect because it answers the question: WHY DO PEOPLE WANT IT?

If there is no purpose, then there is no market—it's that simple!

Why do your audience need this? What pain points does it address, and why is it so important for your marketing strategies?

The Why should be addressed:

What pain points do your users have
Why they cannot afford not to have it
How it will make a difference in your users' lives

You have to make sure that whatever you are offering, whether it be an online course, a digital product, or a physical product, solves a problem, makes life easier, or in the case of learning, makes it more profitable long-term for your customer.

The How - Planning the Product Delivery

How do you intend to do it? Maybe you're mass-producing a product or using drop shipping, or in the case of online courses, you're selecting the right platform for delivering your courses or live sessions.

This blog is from us at Zenler, so if it's online courses, consulting, or coaching, you know what I am going to say next: choose Zenler. It's simply the best option.

No hard sales are needed—we have many blogs telling you all about the platform.

Just see if it's a good fit for your online course or membership, or check out our reviews on G2 or Trustpilot.

If you're producing a product, you'll need to go through the whole process of distribution and manufacture, but that's out of the remit of this post.

Your end result: have the product or service ready!

What's Next for Planning the Strategy

Now we know the What-Why-How, let's move on and address other important aspects you can introduce into the model.

Marketing Strategies - Your Product and USP

You need to ask yourself: what is your product? I can hear you already shouting, "I can see it; I know what it is," but do you really?

I will give you an example:

First Example Generalization:
Your Product: Training Course for Dogs

Ok, so it’s a training course for dogs, right? Wrong. People will see this as just another training course for dogs, one of the millions they can find on the internet for free.

Now if you said this:
Your Product: Training for Dogs Suffering from High Anxiety

You have a USP—something unique. You cut out 90% of the competition by targeting your niche. Further note, it is not a generalization, so this means you open yourself up to more courses in the future!

Now look, I am talking about online courses, but this could just as well apply to a product. Let me show an example.

First Example Generalization:
Your Product: Nail Clippers

Wow, there are so many to see on the internet, and most are very bad and break easily.

How about this as a way to target the USP.

Second Example targeting your USP (Focused Approach):
Your Product: Military-Grade Nail Clippers

This one sentence opens people up to understanding they are of higher quality. Maybe they have a clipping collection built-in, in other words, a unique USP.

Are you getting the idea

Stand out from the crowd

Offer something of extra value.
Find weaknesses or a pain point in the market and address these.

Marketing Strategies - Identifying Your Audience

Identifying who you are selling to is key. This is your audience. You need to analyze their age, income, and gender, as well as their interests, and understand how this relates to your product.

Often, people will build a persona or avatar so it's easier to see who your ideal customer is.

But how do you know? You can't just make it up, right? Well, consider that you are one of these people, or at least you were. You have been the idealization of your avatar at one time or another!

You can see what interests are popular on social channels and engage. You could check your analytics or research the web to find the age and genders interested in your niche.

The main point here is to have something ideal, which could of course change over time.

I used AI to generate questions that should be asked here, just because it saved me time :)

Questions that should be asked - The Avatar

These questions will help you build a comprehensive and detailed avatar or persona, which can guide your marketing strategies, product development, and customer service approaches.

Demographic Information:
1. What is the age range of your target audience?
2. What is their gender?
3. Where do they live (urban, suburban, rural)?
4. What is their marital status?
5. What is their education level?
6. What is their occupation and income level?

Psychographic Information:
1. What are their interests and hobbies?
2. What are their values and beliefs?
3. What are their lifestyle choices?
4. What are their attitudes towards products or services like yours?
5. What are their aspirations and goals?

Behavioural Information:
1. What problems or pain points do they have that your product/service can solve?
2. How do they usually discover new products or services?
3. What type of content do they consume (blogs, videos, podcasts)?
4. What social media platforms do they use?
5. How do they prefer to make purchases (online, or in-store)?
6. What factors influence their purchasing decisions (price, quality, brand reputation)?

Needs and Challenges:
1. What are their primary needs related to your industry?
2. What challenges do they face that your business can help overcome?
3. What objections might they have to using your product/service?
4. What are the most common questions they have about your product/service?

Brand Interaction:
1. How do they prefer to communicate with brands (email, social media, phone)?
2. What kind of customer service do they expect?
3. How often do they interact with brands in your industry?
4. What kind of experiences have they had with similar products/services?

Purchasing Behavior:
1. What triggers their decision to buy?
2. How often do they purchase products/services in your category?
3. Are they influenced by discounts, promotions, or loyalty programs?
4. Do they prefer one-time purchases or subscriptions?

Example Persona Description:
1. What is their name?
2. What does a typical day in their life look like?
3. What are their favourite brands (related or unrelated to your industry)?
4. What are their media consumption habits?

Download this Avatar/Persona sheet

Marketing Strategies - The Audience Give them Value and address their Needs

This is so crucial to the big picture I will say one statement!

Whatever you do Give them VALUE!

Value does not mean a low price tag! Value means you are making their life better. You are, in essence, showing them a better way and changing their futures by addressing their pain points!

Whatever you do, it should do the following:

Address pain points they are having
Make a meaningful change in their lives
Show them a better future
Energize and motivate them
Service their particular needs
Open opportunities

Now I don't expect you to hit all these points, but try to hit as many as possible. These points should run and be highlighted in all you do—social media posts, on your website, and sales pages. This is the key to driving sales.

Marketing Strategies - The Customer Journey

The student or customer journey is something a lot of business owners forget. What is it?

You need to step into the shoes of your customer and check the process as a test customer. Not doing this is the number one mistake new business owners make. It is so important to make the process frictionless and clear!

Things you can do at this stage:

Go through the whole process yourself
Give select people access and get feedback
Refine to make it clear at each stage
Make it as frictionless as possible
Draw out a simple customer journey sheet and see how you can improve it

Research and feedback are critical before launch. Check that you have clear messaging that tells people what you are selling in less than 3 seconds!

Don't go into your life story—people do not care! They want the VALUE (this does not mean you shouldn't have a page about you, of course, you should, but just don't blur the objective!).

Marketing Strategies - Your Goals

We have looked at all the points you need to be successful. Armed with this data, will make your goals and objectives easier to plan for.

Please be aware that marketing strategies and planning strategies are closely aligned. Personally, I see no difference, as you are dipping from one to the other constantly.

Setting goals is good because it pushes you to exceed.

Here are some key goals:

Set a monthly amount you want to achieve
Set and monitor your social growth
Keep increasing your goals
Be realistic but still aim high!

By setting goals, you have milestones you want to reach.

Final thoughts - Identifying the Marketing Strategies Based on Your Audience

We hope you have a clear understanding of this prep work and the initialization period of your project. Think of this as the foundation for what comes next in your journey!

We have many other blogs that extend to every area covered here today, but this is the foundation, and from this, everything can be built. It’s your core and it’s your VALUE!

At Zenler, we believe in you and your success. We all wish you the very best in your ventures, and if you are an online instructor using Zenler, we will continue to support you and push you towards all your dreams and ambitions.

We hope you enjoyed this article from us at Team Zenler.

Categories: : Zenler Marketing Help/Advice