Target audience

A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message. In marketing and advertising, it is a specific group of people within the target market at which a product or the marketing message of a product is aimed (Kotler 2000). For example, if a company sells new diet programs for men with heart disease (target market), the communication may be aimed at those men but also perhaps at their spouses (target audience). Targeted marketing and targeted advertising strive for narrowcasting rather than broadcasting.

A target audience can be formed of people of a certain age group, gender, marital status, etc., e.g. teenagers, females, single people, etc. A combination of factors, e.g. men aged 20–30 is a common target audience. Other groups, although not the main focus, may also be interested. Discovering the appropriate target market(s)and determining the target audience is one of the most important activities in marketing management (Niewenhuizen et al. 2000). Perhaps the biggest mistake it is possible to make in targeting is trying to reach everybody and ending up appealing to no-one.