The Importance of Understanding Your Audience

11 October 2022

Our screens are saturated with competitive, sometimes pushy advertising. Your content needs to do more than just stand out to be in the mix. You should strive to demonstrate a proper understanding of your audience's needs. This is an area we believe is commonly overlooked. 

Before developing a campaign, thinking about who you specifically want to target is not just good practice; it's vital. 

First, you need to know if your audience is still the same post-pandemic as it was formerly. Understand their interests, the brands they admire, the influencers they follow, and the platforms they use. Did your original audience pick up new traits or have a shift in attitudes towards purchasing? 

Now’s the time to think about these things, but to also think about your competitors, there’s every chance you have some new ones and with their own dedicated audience. A social media audit (like the one we do at Navigate) is always a great place to find out more about changing habits, but so are your ticket sales and reviews.  

So, how can you use things like reviews?

They’re the perfect place to find the hurdles your customers are facing, the solutions they need and the language they use to talk about you. Customer feedback is a fast-track to getting to know your audience better, and even if you’re aware of a problem you’re facing, maybe you weren’t aware quite how pressing an issue it was. Even your best reviews let you know what your audience needs and now might be a good time to chuck any frequently used words in your copy.  

All of the questions mentioned so far are still great for your previous audiences and your new ones. There is just more opportunity and accessibility than ever before to reach them; use it to your advantage. 

Whilst audience profiling and producing customer personas used to be expensive and time-consuming, digital channels can now build a clear, relevant picture of audience behaviours. Use them to ensure your content is appealing, engaging and reaching the audience you need it to be. 


Photo by Louis Endelicher
Photo by Gaétan Meyer
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe

Facebook Ads

Facebook ads can get you the most bang for your buck from the get go, and target three different audience types. Core audiences target a direct criteria or interest, custom audiences get you back in touch with those who have already engaged, and lookalike audiences reach new people with similar interests to your most engaged customers. You can target your ads based on criteria from geography, to connections and behaviour. 

Methods like these have seen a significant improvement in helping the performance of digital advertising and we’ve even seen a 30% improvement in performance through clarifying a persona, using insights in targeting. It may seem frustrating to pick apart your audience before launching a campaign, but time and effort equals benefits.

What now?

Here at Navigate we believe that nothing reveals more about your audience than good old fashioned psychology. We love to find out what makes your customers tick and what your competitors are doing to achieve this. We help you mind the gap and navigate those difficult waters. 

Get in touch: [email protected]