Here’s the Difference Between Target Audience and Target Market
Before communicating anything, a PR consultant must first understand the audience. The term “audience” here is more commonly known as “target audience.” Without the right target audience, the message won’t reach its intended goals. However, as a PR consultant at a Jakarta PR agency, one must be familiar not only with the term “target audience” but also with “target market,” since these two concepts almost always go hand in hand.
In reality, however, many people still cannot distinguish between “target audience” and “target market” because the difference between the two terms is very subtle. To gain a deeper understanding, let’s explore the definitions and differences between “target audience” and “target market,” which Media Buffet PR will discuss in this article.
As Neil Patel puts it, a target audience is a group of people who are “expected” to be interested in buying our products. The target audience also encompasses the scope of who our message is directed toward. Meanwhile, according to Marketing Evolution, the target market consists of people who are directly targeted to purchase and use the products being offered. The target market itself can be identified by gender, age, characteristics, and so on.
For example, Media Buffet PR was tasked with running a campaign for the Wise app to increase brand awareness around Wise—an app that facilitates money transfers from various countries to Indonesia and vice versa. Therefore, the target audience for this campaign consists of people who frequently send money from abroad to Indonesia or vice versa, while the target market consists of Indonesians living abroad who have family in Indonesia and frequently send money to Indonesia or to various other countries.
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To better understand the difference between target audience and target market, let’s examine the following second example. Media Buffet PR was tasked by one of its clients, Shell Indonesia, to develop a communication strategy to find business partners—gas station dealers—as a long-term investment. Therefore, the target audience for this communication campaign consists of those interested in investment, business, and real estate. Meanwhile, the target market comprises individuals who already own a business, hold specific professional positions, and possess land or property ready for long-term investment.
Now we can distinguish between the target audience and the target market; although the two are very similar, they are in fact different. By understanding the difference between the target audience and the target market, it will be easier for a PR consultant to determine which strategy to use next when communicating a message tailored to the intended audience.
Written by Shely Mariatur Rohmah, Public Relations Intern at Media Buffet PR
