In relation to advertising, nearly nothing is extra essential than figuring out your target market.

However what if I informed you over half of entrepreneurs are lacking important info on their shoppers?

In our annual survey of over 1,200 entrepreneurs, we discovered that simply 42% know the essential demographic info of their target market, like their title, gender, and placement.

And, the info hole does not cease there:

• Lower than half of entrepreneurs know their viewers’s pursuits and hobbies, procuring habits, the merchandise they’re thinking about shopping for, their buy historical past, and the place they eat content material.

• Solely 31% know the net communities their target market is part of and even much less know the challenges they’re going through.
• Only one-fourth of entrepreneurs know the social causes their target market cares about – an enormous missed alternative relating to expressing your model’s values, particularly when advertising to Gen Z and Millennials.

So why are entrepreneurs having such a tough time getting these knowledge factors?

Let’s check out the most important challenges entrepreneurs face in getting the info they want and focus on some options to the disconnection entrepreneurs are seeing with their viewers.

The Greatest Challenges Entrepreneurs Face in Understanding Their Goal Viewers

A whopping 82% of entrepreneurs say having high-quality knowledge on their target market is essential to succeeding of their function – however greater than half of them say they’re lacking key info.

So why is it such a problem for entrepreneurs to get the info they want?

The largest challenges entrepreneurs face in understanding their goal boil down to 2 foremost points:

1. New Information Privateness Measures

Information privateness rules are lowering entrepreneurs’ entry to the patron knowledge they want. On the identical time, shoppers are much less trusting in sharing their private knowledge.

This leads to entrepreneurs lacking out on important knowledge on their target market, from their procuring and media consumption habits to their fundamental demographic info.

2. Evolving Viewers Targets

Customers’ lives have modified drastically over the previous few years, and with a looming recession, their habits, attitudes, and preferences are prone to proceed shifting shortly.

The 2 challenges above are tough to beat as a result of they’re actively creating as knowledge privateness rules tighten and unprecedented occasions that change shopper habits proceed.

So, what can entrepreneurs do now?

How Can Entrepreneurs Enhance Their Information Technique?

1. Collect First-Celebration Information

An excellent answer to elevated knowledge privateness rules like Google’s deliberate phase-out of third-party cookies is gathering your personal first-party knowledge.

First-party knowledge will be collected from many sources – your web site, surveys, electronic mail, SMS, your CRM, and extra.

Since first-party knowledge comes straight out of your prospects, it affords high-quality insights about your viewers and permits you to create a personalised expertise for them.

2. Use a Single Supply of Fact for Advertising Information

Solely 27% of entrepreneurs say their advertising knowledge is totally built-in with their methods and instruments, and as we noticed earlier, knowledge not integrating properly is a prime problem for entrepreneurs making an attempt to know their target market.

Disconnected advertising knowledge is problematic since you don’t have the complete context wanted to make data-driven selections. However, a single supply of reality affords a holistic view of your target market by connecting all the info factors you could have.

A single supply of reality additionally improves effectivity by making advertising knowledge extra simply accessible for entrepreneurs and their collaborators.

3. Maintain Your Information Contemporary

We talked about how shoppers’ lives are altering quickly and entrepreneurs want up-to-date knowledge as a way to sustain.

The pursuits, habits, and attitudes of your target market most likely modified a number of occasions over the course of the pandemic. And with a recession looming, your viewers will doubtless change once more – so no matter knowledge monitoring methodology you employ, be sure that your knowledge is recurrently up to date to maintain a pulse in your prospects in real-time.

Another excuse you want up-to-date info in your target market is so you may pivot your advertising technique and messaging in response to the modifications your prospects are experiencing.

Not solely did over half of entrepreneurs pivot in 2021, 83% of those that pivoted modified course 2-4 occasions in a single 12 months. And 20% of entrepreneurs have already pivoted in 2022 attributable to a possible recession, so chances are high 2023 shall be no completely different.

For sure, you want a plan for when issues go astray. When the following unprecedented occasion or sudden problem arrives, will you could have the info you might want to adapt?

In a super world, you’ll have all the info factors you possibly can ever need, however that isn’t at all times sensible. So let’s finish by having a look at which knowledge factors entrepreneurs say are most useful to have.

The Most Useful Varieties of Viewers Goal Information

Entrepreneurs say the pursuits or hobbies of their target market is probably the most useful knowledge level, carefully adopted by shoppers’ procuring habits, the place they eat content material/media, and the merchandise they’re thinking about shopping for.

Fundamental demographic info, buy historical past, and the net communities their target market is a part of are additionally worthwhile knowledge factors.

A Disaster of Connection

If you happen to’re realizing you is perhaps lacking important info in your target market, don’t fear, you aren’t alone.

Many companies are at present experiencing a Disaster of Disconnection, and it goes far past poor buyer knowledge. Learn extra concerning the challenges on the horizon and the way your organization can navigate them in our collection on The Disaster of Disconnection.