2.2 Finding Your Audience

By this point, the term “target audience” has appeared multiple times. These are the people that you’re speaking to, whose attention, purchasing power, and brain space you’re trying to obtain. In the previous section, you articulated why your business exists - the question now is why your audience should care. Your mission statement reveals your own goal in building a business, but it also reflects your audience as they’re the people who are most likely to resonate with that purpose and mission.

Your target audience shouldn’t be everyone - that’s too broad. No message or positioning will convincingly appeal to every person as people vary in priorities, needs, wants, and willingness to buy for different categories. If your business targets everyone, it’s probably not very differentiated or memorable.

You want to focus on the minority of people who will get the most out of what you provide. These are the people who’ll be more willing to engage - and re-engage - with your business. Who are the people who will be the happiest after experiencing your product or service? Who are the people likely to interact with your brand the most?

If your business attracts different groups of people, you might have both a primary and a secondary target audience. These tend to be distinct groups but can share the same needs and values. Or, you might only have one core audience. You should have an idea of how your audience lives, what they need and want, and how they spend their time. Understanding your target consumers helps you better tailor your offerings and message (not only what you say but also how you say it). Think about creating a persona representing a segment of the audience, like in the example below.

📌 Example: Atirom | Atirom is a high-end Japanese restaurant in Tokyo centered around the concept of Gomi, or the five tastes. Their target audiences are mapped out:

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