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Marketing your business takes a lot of work, whether you're using social media, placing ads, sending out flyers or emails, or a combination of various tactics. Whatever your marketing strategy includes, it's essential that you reach the right people - people who you want as your customers, and who are likely to want your services too.

A clear definition of the people you want to reach will affect every other aspect of your marketing - and we'll be covering all of that in our Marketing Masterclass Marketers around the world agree that understanding an audience is the key to success: it helps you tailor every message and promotion to best appeal to that audience, and to focus your marketing efforts on the things that will be more profitable.

Here are five simple steps to help you define your audience so you can tailor-make a great strategy:

1. Location

• Where are you based?
  
• Where are your customers based?
  
• How far does your message need to reach, and do you need to use local channels like newspapers or a community website to reach them?
  

2. Demographics

These are details like age, gender, occupation, income level, and anything else that tells you more about the people you want to reach.

Remember that you can target more than one demographic although this often requires different marketing tools and tactics.

For example, one audience could be women, age 50+, who are looking for anti-ageing treatments. Another could be men who want a "macho" manicure.

It's a good idea to estimate your audience's budget here too - how much do they spend per month or per treatment?

Another top marketing tip: compare the demographics of your current customers with your ideal customers. If they are different, how can you appeal more to the customers you really want?

3. Popular Treatments

Which treatments and services that you offer are currently the most popular with your audience?

Which ones are most popular with your ideal audience?

Do you need to learn some new skills to provide what they need, or are there gaps in the market that you can fill (a treatment for which there is a lot of demand, but that isn't available in your area)?

4. Media

Which websites, newspapers, newsletters, and other media do your customers see regularly? How about your dream audience; is there something different that they're reading?

These could be big publications, although advertising in those is more expensive, or "smaller" channels that are still very effective - church newsletters, school magazines, community websites... have a good look around!

Also consider the different social media channels. Are your customers more likely to be on Facebook or LinkedIn? Or do they only use TikTok?

5. Their Needs

What does your audience really need? Think about the treatments and services you offer, but you could also look at these from different perspectives:

• Do your customers want to look younger?
  
• Are they more concerned with wellness?
  
• Do they enjoy being the first to try something new?
  

Do they have any concerns that you should be aware of? Perhaps there are issues that you should avoid mentioning in your marketing, or is there something to reassure people about, such as the safety of a treatment?

Once you have defined your current audience and your ideal audience (if these are different) you should have a good sense of what those people need to see, what will make them take notice of the treatments you offer, and what will best appeal to them.

This target audience exercise is worth doing every 6 months so you can adjust your marketing if there are any changes. We trust it will be helpful for everyone, whether or not you're enrolled in our Marketing Masterclass! The class begins in November, so there's still time to sign up and take your business strategy and earning potential to new heights.