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QUESTION. Why are you offering a service to define consumer Audiences?

ANSWER. Many people are not aware that they can define and reach audiences based on a wide range of features and attributes. However, most of them are inexperienced in defining audiences accurately and substantiating that the definition will support both short-term and long-term growth needs. Furthermore, there is little practical knowledge on how to make these definitions interoperable across various media channels. As a result, organizations often rely on simple demographic descriptors or trust in their partners to define audiences.

QUESTION. What key considerations go into properly defining consumer Audiences?

ANSWER.

· The Audience definition is clearly articulated in writing, no black boxes!

· The Audience definition profiles to validate accuracy and highest quality.

· The Audience size will deliver profitable, efficient growth at needed sales levels.

· The Audience starts with the broad opportunity and segments from there.

· The Audience includes consumers who can be taken from the competition.

· The Audience will be able to find their way to existing or new purchase channels.

· The Audience can be modified as it changes composition and/or changes to the offering.

QUESTION. What is wrong with relying on Audience definitions developed by qualified marketing partners?

ANSWER. Let me start by saying “absolutely nothing!” They are not at all mutually exclusive. The marketing partner might target a subset of your overall Audience opportunity. For example, a marketing partner may target a certain demographic or precisely defined behavioral segment. The portion of the demographic target or behavioral segment that purchase your offerings will surely be subsets of the overall Audience. What you need to know is what portion of the overall Audience opportunity is being reached and what portion is being left on the table. Once that is determined and defined, you can find partners with targeting capabilities that match your needs.

QUESTION. How are you able to define an Audience for a product or service that doesn’t yet exist?

ANSWER. During the early 1990s and beyond, a question that frequently came up was how to define audiences for various projects. This question has been the primary reason for most of my past Audience projects. Audiences can be defined by any feature or attribute, and if the product or service doesn't exist yet, we refer to the audience as a prototype. The accuracy rate of these prototype definitions has been 90-98% following a comparative analysis from new customer acquisitions.

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QUESTION. Do you have any interesting examples of successful prototype Audiences?

ANSWER. There are many cases where companies needed to define their target audience in order to succeed. For example, Excite@Home had to identify an audience that would subscribe to high-speed internet service before it even existed. EPIX wanted to know which specific audience would subscribe to their premium movie channel subscriptions based on the content genres they planned to offer. Ooma created a voice-over-internet product that was unlike anything else on the market. By identifying their target audience early on, these companies were able to raise venture capital and build successful national brands.

QUESTION. What are some of the warning signs that my Audience definition may need a makeover?

ANSWER.

Here is a list for you to consider:

- If your product or service has undergone changes or improvements, or if it has become more expensive, your target audience may have changed as well.
- If you are experiencing unexplained losses in customers or sales, it could be due to missed opportunities to reach your target audience through advertising or other means.
- Another important measure to consider is your cost per sale. If your cost per sale is significantly higher than the average for your industry, it may be time to rethink your target audience.

QUESTION. What is an Audience persona and how should it be utilized?

ANSWER. Personas have gained popularity in recent times, especially among advertising agencies. They use personas to get a comprehensive understanding of the people they will be marketing and communicating with. Personas can help improve the results from copy, tone, style, visuals, value propositions, and more. However, it is important to exercise caution while creating personas. Ensure that the persona represents the overall audience opportunity or else divide it into individual audience personas that make up that opportunity.

QUESTION. If overall Audiences can be segmented or fragmented by media channels, how can overlap be measured and degree of unique Audience reach, and frequency be kept in check?

ANSWER. This is a challenging task that requires some effort. I have designed models that can estimate the number of individuals reached and the frequency of exposure across different marketing channels and audiences. These models have proved to be quite effective for strategic planning purposes. To begin with, it is advisable to ensure that your marketing decisions encompass at least 30% of your audience definition or, ideally, more. This will help you achieve better reach and increase your spending efficiencies.

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QUESTION. Why do some products fail to sell despite all the evidence to the contrary?

ANSWER. The main reason why potential customers may not be purchasing your offering is that they are interested and engaged but have not yet formed the intention to buy. Another possible reason is that your offering is new, different or requires an explanation. It is essential to evaluate your marketing strategy to ensure that it effectively and strategically leads consumers from awareness to interest, from interest to engagement, from engagement to forming intent, and finally, from intent to purchase.

QUESTION. How are internal disagreements regarding Audience composition best addressed?

ANSWER. To settle an argument, one should rely on verifiable facts. If the audience composition is based on supposition without any supporting measures, then the chances are that it will be faulty. In my experience, it is best to define audiences in ways that clearly qualify them for the offering and establish audience profiles that undeniably represent the best future customers. If there are sufficient numbers of these people to drive the business model, then there will be no argument.

QUESTION. What does it mean to ‘scale an Audience?’

ANSWER. This refers to adjusting the size of a target audience based on specific characteristics or attributes. It's important to prioritize the overall audience as the primary measure and then adjust or expand based on factors like ethnicity, demographics, gender, quality levels, and more.

QUESTION. How are multicultural Audiences reconciled to the overall Audience?

ANSWER. It is certain that any audience can be broken down into five groups - White, African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Other - and the total percentage of these groups will always add up to 100%. Therefore, as long as you are categorizing your overall audience into these groups, you can be confident that you are following a solid approach.

QUESTION. What is the difference between an overall Audience and a target Audience?

ANSWER. The "Overall Audience" refers to all the individuals who are likely to purchase the product or service either now or in the near future. On the other hand, the "Target Audience" is a subset of the Overall Audience that businesses decide to focus on because they believe that this group of people represents the best potential for sales volume and efficiency in the short term.

QUESTION. What is the difference between primary and secondary Audience research?

ANSWER. Primary research involves surveying adults who meet specific qualifications or criteria. This type of research generally includes measures that are not found in secondary surveys. On the other hand, secondary research allows you to define audiences based on surveyed brands and potential populations. Once the audiences have been defined in secondary research, they can be profiled and sized across thousands of different measures. When the primary survey is structured correctly, it can be an excellent complement to syndicated secondary research sources.

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QUESTION. What makes an optimal Audience centric marketing mix optimal?

ANSWER. I think the best approach to marketing is to use common sense. Take an objective look at all your marketing plans and try to imagine how your customers will find their way to purchase your products or services. Most experts suggest that you should have a certain number of tactics in your marketing mix. While this is true in some cases, in others, fewer tactics can be just as effective based on predicted results. For instance, if you plan to do a direct mailing promoting a website that links to a world of sights, sounds, reasons, answers, and offers, and your metrics and forecasts support your case, this one scenario could be enough to generate the results you need. On the other hand, if you are planning a TV campaign that raises awareness but offers no call to action, common sense and my audience buying process visualization would assign a relatively poor score to the TV campaign option.

QUESTION. How can Audience research and enhanced customer databases be combined?

ANSWER. Creating cohorts that are defined in both the audience research and the database files is the best method. Let's consider a simple example of a cohort of women aged 18-24 in the audience research that can be isolated within the customer file. The answers to the audience research questions can be matched and added to women aged 18-24 in the customer database file. Although there are more sophisticated fusion methods, you can still append your audience research results to your customer file if the matching definitions are true for both files.

Question. What are best use cases of Audience geographical datasets such as by DMA, state, county, zip code and block groups?

Answer. Here are some important ways in which spatial audience datasets can be used:
- Selecting priority markets for media, distribution, and local promotions
- Using site selection technologies
- Choosing outdoor advertising avails
- Running retail sell-through push campaigns
- Targeting markets for distribution of printed materials
- Selecting marketing/sales partners within audience-rich markets
- Geo-targeting digital and mobile advertisements
- Analyzing BDI/CDI
- Identifying distribution channels and rollout locations

Question. What is the difference between my Audience and my current customers?

Answer. It's important to remember that your audience consists of both your current and future customers. Your current customers are those who are currently using your product or service. If you compare your current customers with your future customers, you'll discover some similarities, but also some differences. By identifying these differences, you can make strategic decisions that will help you grow and attract more future customers.

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Question. How many competitors do you have and what is your unique selling proposition?

Answer. It's interesting how this question has been the most common of my career. First of all, I'd like to mention that many organizations, especially those in consumer packaged goods, excel in Audience targeting. There are also various consultants, agencies and data vendors who are experts in Audience targeting techniques. However, my unique value proposition is that I offer Audience-focused design and solutions expertise across various sectors. I also concentrate on providing world-class products at affordable prices to the entry level and middle markets.

QUESTION. What if I do not know the answers to your questions needed to effectively define my Audience?

ANSWER. No problem at all! In order for me to better assist you, it would be helpful if you could provide me with a clear understanding of your product or service offering. Additionally, if you could share your business and growth objectives in broad terms, it would allow me to develop a variety of possible definition scenarios and test them all before coming back to you with a recommendation. If you are unsure about your business objectives, we can rely on the audience to inform us of what these objectives should be. After we validate and size each of the definition options with relevant profiles, we will provide you with a recommendation which may include options for you to consider. If we are not successful in our search, we will keep trying until we find a solution and then get back to you.

QUESTION. Will I be required to retain your services ongoing or pay license fees?

ANSWER. I don't require any license fees or retainers for any of the solutions I offer. I have already obtained the necessary licensing permissions to provide my services. In case I suggest any additional consulting hourly time or fixed fee projects, it will only be upon your request and for the purpose of ensuring that you get the maximum benefit from the contracted deliverables.

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