Subject areaProcess and organisation
Also known astarget audiencetarget market
The target (the audience an offer is aimed at) is the group of people or companies to which an offer or a message is addressed, chosen because its members share needs, behaviour, role or size.
In B2B (selling between companies) the target is described by sector, size and the function of the person who decides; in B2C (selling to consumers) by age, habits and the channels they use.
In the articles of the site the target appears as an interlocutor that keeps changing: the consumer becomes a smart buyer, someone who uses artificial intelligence to ask targeted questions and get exhaustive answers, and companies must adapt messages and channels to that change.
The target describes a group, the buyer persona portrays a single typical character, and segmentation is the work that divides the market into groups. The same word also means the numerical goal to reach, such as a quarterly sales target: the context tells which of the two senses applies.
An example
A company that makes components for mechanical engineering picks as its target the purchasing managers of medium and large manufacturing firms. From this choice follow the language of the emails, the channels to appear on and the trade fairs to attend; an enquiry from a retail shop falls outside the perimeter and receives a courteous, quick reply.
Enrico Giubertoni. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: you may quote, translate and adapt this entry with the author’s name and a link, stating any changes. For commercial use, write to info@enricogiubertoni.com
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