Target group – what is it?

In marketing, a target group refers to a group of market participants who respond to marketing measures. They represent a smaller portion of the total market participants and have similar characteristics and interests, and therefore respond more homogeneously to external influences.

In order to make marketing measures as efficient as possible and avoid wastage, it is important to know what the desired customers respond to best. To do this, a target group is defined on the basis of market segmentation using relevant characteristics. There are different types of target groups, based on characteristics that are taken into account.

1. Sociodemographic target group: Characteristics include age, income, or gender.
2. Behavior-oriented target group: Characteristics include purchasing behavior (impulsive or deliberate, first-time purchase or repeat purchase, etc.).

Numerous other integrations are conceivable. Examples include media usage, i.e., how best to reach potential customers. It is also possible to form target groups based on psychological factors: For example, are market participants more security-oriented or adventurous?

Every company should conduct a target group analysis at the beginning of its history and tailor all marketing measures to these desired customers. In the long term, this will minimize wastage in advertising measures, which in turn saves money. Social media channels are well suited for targeted advertising measures, as a target group can be defined here. This means that customized advertisements are displayed to specific users who meet the desired criteria.