Better Customer Engagement: Creating the Right Content with Perfect Target Audience Analysis

Successful companies know the wishes and needs of their customers and offer content that is tailored accordingly. To gain this knowledge, a target group analysis is recommended. In this article, we present different methods of target group analysis and show you how to combine them.

The Importance of a Professional Target Group Analysis

A target group analysis is essential for every enterprise. Whether you are just starting out in business or already running a successful company – you should always keep an eye on your target groups. People and business orientations change. Therefore, target group analysis must be conducted regularly and compared with previous results.

If you are just starting out, the basic definition of your target group is paramount. Who is your ideal customer? Do you want to appeal to a specific type of customer or would you like to structure your company to appeal to various types of customers? Describe your ideal customer. Defining an ideal customer does not mean excluding potential customers who might also be interested in your products/services. Rather, this approach gives you the opportunity to shape your customer communication from the start and to tailor your content to your target audience.

If you are already running a business and want to ensure that you are offering your prospects and customers the best possible content, you should determine whether you are reaching your desired target group or if other groups are engaging with your content.

A target group analysis conducted to find audience-specific content can be divided into the following three steps:

• Step 1: Data Collection

  • Step 2: Evaluate

  • Step 3: Derive Ideas

Data Collection as the Starting Point of Every Target Group Analysis

The better you know your target group, the easier it will be to engage them. But to properly analyze your target group, you must have sufficient data about them. Tools like Google Analytics, AT Internet, and Webtrekk can help you learn more about your website visitors.

If you do not have data available yet, other options are available. In addition to market analysis, you can conduct surveys directly among your website visitors. If your website is still under construction, carry out these surveys on platforms where you are already active (social media channels, forums, etc.), or set up a dedicated landing page for this purpose. Be creative here.

Initially, it's key to determine the 'hard facts', such as demographic data like gender, age, social environment, location, life situation, and any basic interests, including income. Try to segment this data. The required information will depend on your business. If location and/or income are irrelevant to your business model, then omit these. For a brick-and-mortar store with an online shop, location is much more relevant than for a purely online shop.

Is there a group that is disproportionately represented (Male, single, between 25 and 34 years old from North Rhine-Westphalia with an income between 40,000 and 60,000 euros; Women, living in a partnership but not married, between 35 and 44, living in a large city, with an income between 20,000 and 40,000 euros, etc.)?

Evaluation

To evaluate the collected data, the following two approaches are suitable: the Limbic Map and the Empathy Map. Both methods can be used individually or in combination. However, combining them is preferred to maximize potential.

Determining Customer Type with the Limbic Map

The Limbic Map is considered a leading approach to neuropsychological target group segmentation. This approach was developed in the late 1990s by psychologist Hans-Georg Häusel. With the Limbic Map, every purchasing behavior and customer's value system and character can be explained and categorized.

The Limbic Map is based on the premise that, in addition to basic needs like sleep, food, and sexuality, humans are mainly driven by the following three instincts: Stimulance, Dominance, and Balance. These form the three fundamental motivations for human behavior. Dominance encompasses growth, status, power, and control. From Stimulance comes curiosity, the pursuit of rewards, and a thirst for new experiences. In Balance, there is a manifest desire for safety, stability, order, risk assessment, and cost/benefit analysis.

Fig. 1: The Limbic Map; Group Nymphenburg

Depending on the product and personality differences, these three core motivations vary in strength. As current research suggests, a person's personality is 50% innate and 50% shaped by their social environment, resulting in theoretically numerous specific customer types. Häusel specifically identifies the following seven customer types:

• Balance + Discipline/Control = Traditionalist

  • Mainly Balance = Harmonizer

  • Balance + Stimulance = Open

  • Mainly Stimulance = Hedonist

  • Stimulance + Dominance = Adventurer

  • Mainly Dominance = Performer

  • Balance and Dominance = Disciplined

The advantage of the Limbic Map is that it goes beyond a sociodemographic segmentation of the target group. Here, customers are sometimes classified based on attributes like gender, age, and income. This classification, however, overlooks actual lifestyles. For example, a 60-year-old DAX executive lives a different life and has a different value system than a 60-year-old artist. While the DAX executive is more likely to be among Traditionalists, Performers, or Disciplined types, an artist is more likely to have a measure of hedonism or openness. Additionally, the Limbic Map is not a theoretical concept but is based on long-term observation of life environments.

To categorize customers into one of these areas, try to identify their ten most important values listed in the Limbic Map. Then see if a certain centrality is evident.

Identifying Customer Desires with the Empathy Map

With the help of the Limbic Map, you can understand which customer types you already appeal to or wish to target. To better determine the specific needs and individual desires of your target groups, the Empathy Map is recommended.

The advantage of the Empathy Map is that it incorporates important areas such as the social environment and daily life, as well as hopes, concerns, and desires. This enables you to formulate important hypotheses about your target group and to develop a concrete profile. To clearly identify customer needs in a related topic area, you should ask and answer the following six questions:

• What does the target person feel and think?: What is truly important to them? What moves them? What are they concerned about? What desires do they have?

  • What does the target person see?: How do they perceive their environment? What does their environment specifically look like? Who are the key people in their environment?

  • What does the target person say and do?: What do they engage with? Do they follow through on resolutions? Who do they influence?

  • What does the target person hear?: What does their environment say about their work, hobbies, etc.? What are the key influencing factors? What specifically influences them?

  • What fears and frustrations are present?: What obstacles must they overcome to achieve their goals? What (negative) consequences do they fear?What desires and goals does the target person have? What motivates them?: What do they truly want to achieve and why?

Fig. 2: The Empathy Map; Own Illustration

Depending on the character, the answers vary. An adventurer has different goals than the Disciplined, for example. The Traditionalist fears different consequences than the Open. Therefore, try to create a specific map for every relevant type. Upon completing this step, you'll have a clear understanding of your desired or existing target group.

Deriving Ideas

Once you have a clear view of your target group, you can proceed to content creation. The first step is to define whether you want to build reach or increase revenue. Once the goal is defined, consider who exactly the content should appeal to. Emotion-driven customers, such as Harmonizers, Adventurers, and Hedonists, should be addressed at this level. More rationally inclined people (Open, Performers, and Disciplined) require logical arguments to make or want to make decisions. Once you have answered these two questions, position your target group accordingly. If you need to cater to heterogeneous target groups, try to find intersections or focus on the most promising target group.

Fig. 3: Content Approach Matrix; Own Illustration

With this classification, you know how to best address the relevant target group with the type of content and can systematically tackle content creation. If your goal is brand awareness and your target group requires an emotional approach, then create engaging content. Such content can include podcasts, photo series, online surveys, and quizzes. If your target audience is more rationally inclined, then focus on educational content like step-by-step guides, infographics, and online courses. Conversely, if purchasing is the focus, content with stimulating effects (testimonials, case studies, etc.) is needed. Whitepapers, online presentations, and list articles are ideal if you want to persuade rationally inclined people to buy. Consider these examples as guidelines only. With a bit of creativity, you can craft any format to be successfully applicable in all categories.

What We Can Do For You

Do you already have an online business or are in the process of setting one up? But struggle to pinpoint your target group and offer suitable content? We support you with professional target group analysis, work with you to develop an editorial plan, and create the necessary content upon request. If you have difficulty collecting and evaluating the required data, we also offer professional assistance here. Contact us.