9 Free Tools to Successfully Target Your Audience

Marketing is all about getting your message to the right people, aka your target audience. To improve your marketing, you should strive to improve your understanding of your target audience through research. This type of data is valuable, but not always free. Luckily for you, I've compiled some free resources and tools you can use to help you get to know your target audience better. With these tools, you can focus your marketing efforts on the right people and reach them in the most effective way.

VALS

VALs, or Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyle, is a framework often used in marketing to better understand your target audience. VALs divides adults in the US into eight distinct types or "mindsets," using a specific set of psychological traits and key demographics that drive consumer behavior, according to the VALs website. Knowing and understanding your audience's VALs can help you to create content that is more relevant and effective. When you understand what is important to your audience, their lifestyle habits, and how they feel about different things, you're better able to recognize the value that your brand/product/service can provide them.

The eight VALs types are Innovators, Thinkers, Believers, Achievers, Strivers, Experiencers, Makers, and Survivors. Learn more about each type here to determine which group your audience members fall into. Then, use a search engine to further research effective strategies for reaching that VALs group!

WIIFM?

WIIFM? is a question we regularly ask ourselves, whether consciously or subconsciously; what's in it for me? This is the question that you should imagine your audience asking with every piece of content you produce. What provides value to your audience? What do they get out of the brand interaction? If the value provided by your brand is clear, people are more likely to engage with your brand.

FOMO

One way to create clear value for your audience is by utilizing FOMO, or the "fear of missing out." Everyone has something that they value enough they don't want to miss out on it. By finding out what this is, you can encourage your audience to take a desired action, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. Some ways to induce FOMO in your audience are:

1. Creating exclusivity: make people feel special through limited-editions or VIP experiences

2. Use testimonials: show that other people are interested in your brand as a form of social proof

3. Creating urgency: encourage people to act by making limited-time offers

4. Use scarcity: limit the availability of your product/service, which can make people feel like they must act quickly to secure it

If things started to sound a bit gimmicky there, it's because using FOMO can be. Make sure you are acting ethically when attempting to create FOMO; you don't want to induce actual anxiety in your audience. Be sure to always use these techniques in a way that is authentic and aligned with your values.

Personas

A persona is a tool used in design to help create the best outcome possible for the consumer. It is essentially a made-up person that is meant to be representative of a member of your target audience. The idea is that with a specific person to refer to throughout the design process, you are better able to tailor your design to meet the needs of an actual person. Here are some things you should give your person:

• A Name (use a baby name generator if you're struggling to come up with this)

• Demographic Information (age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, income, education, living situation, sexual orientation, relationship status, and family size are a few examples of this)

• Geographic Information (where your persona lives)

• Psychographic Information (personality, lifestyle, interests, values, opinions; think VALs)

• Current Mindset (what does your persona currently think about your brand)

• Desired Mindset (what do you want your persona to think about your brand)

• A Picture (find a stock photo that works; for some great free stock photo sites check out my recommendations here)

All of this information should be decided with your actual target audience in mind. Your persona should clearly fit into your target audience, but can have more fleshed out details then your overall target may. Once you've created your persona, refer to it frequently, by name! How would "Jenna" feel about this ad? What do we want to really emphasize for "Darius" in this design?

A persona helps you (and your team) keep the needs of your audience front and center. It's easy to get distracted from this as you get further into a campaign, but your audience should always come first.

General REsearch

Here are some more places for you to do general research into your target audience and niche!

• Social Media Platforms (they often offer free analytics and insights into your audience)

• Google Trends (gives you an idea of interest in search terms over time and region)

• Bureau of Labor Statistics (measures labor market activity, working condition, price changes, etc.)

• US Census Bureau (data about people and the economy in the US)

• Pew Research Center (nonprofit data about issues, attitudes, and trends shaping the world)

Have more questions? Want some help with all of this research? I've got you. I offer all kinds of services all centered around helping you reach your brand goals! Contact me here for more information.