Chapter 3:Identifying Target Audiences

By: Michael Rizzo

Activity

• Write down 3 reasons why you would check the weather/forecast.

The Target Audience

• The consumers!

Personas

Demographics Constraints

Needs & Wants

Persona Makeup

Demographics

• Age• Gender• Income• Education• Ethnicity• Occupation

Constraints

• Technological• Personal

Needs & Wants

• Activities• Attitudes• Beliefs• Philosophy• Interest• Opinion• Traits• Values

Making the Persona

• Michelle Golden – Three-Step Persona Development Cycle

Identify Persona Roles

List Needs & Situational

Triggers

Create Messaging Objectives

Persona Roles

• Who makes the decisions to buy?

• Be specific!

Needs & Situational Triggers

• What do they want?• How do they get it?

• Example Persona: Prospective Graduate StudentsProspective Undergraduate Students

Messaging Objectives

• Relevancy to address the needs!

• Apply product to the needs of target audience!

…Let’s narrow it down!

• What differentiates your personas?

Need

InterestAffordability

Optimal Target Audience Secondary Target Audience

Optimal vs. Secondary

• Don’t disregard the Secondary! They’re important too.

• Requires special focus and attention

The Bigger Picture

• All seems arbitrary and vague

BECAUSE IT IS!

Let’s Specify

• Activity Part 2! Let’s categorize personas!

Discussion

• What messages can we create to target these personas? What are the messaging objectives?

• What are the demographics? The Constraints? Needs? Situational Triggers?

Going Deeper• Narrow down and specify further! Humanize.

Graduate Students

MA Communication Graduate Students

MA Communication Graduate Students with Full-Time Job

MA Communication

Graduate Students with Full

Time Day Job

The Cruise Industry

• Who is the audience? • What are their needs? Constraints?

Demographics?• What are the personas?• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkUTFCCL

pE0

Cruise Ship Marketing

• Krieger, B., Moskowitz, H., & Rabino, S. (2005). What Customers Want from a Cruise Vacation: Using Internet-Enabled Conjoint Analysis to Understand the Customer' s Mind. Journal Of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 13(1), 83-111. doi:10.1300/J150v13n0106�

What they found…

• Cruise vacations are appealing because of:– Stimulus– Expectations– Convenience of pieces

• Audience:– Escape Reality– Romance– Group Memories– Offers a getaway for prolonged period of time.

Your role on social media

• In groups of 2, take 5-10 minutes to discuss what you do on social media. (Hint: Anything)

Social Technographics Profile

• Charlene Li & John Bernoff• Consumer Behavior on Social Media– What, Where, & When

Climbing the Ladder

Creators

Conversationalists

Critics

Collectors

Joiners

Spectators

Inactives

24%

33%

37%

20%

59%

70%

17%

Audience Participation

• “Join the Conversation!”• Sound natural, and talk how they talk.

• Example: Royal Caribbean International