What is a Target Group?

A target group, or target audience, is the specific group of people a business aims its product, service or marketing message at. Defining your target group precisely is the basis of effective marketing: the sharper the target group, the more relevant the message and the lower the CPA.

Defining your target group

You describe a target group by demographic characteristics (age, gender, location, income), psychographic characteristics (values, interests, lifestyle) and behavioural characteristics (buying behaviour, media use, search intent). In B2B you also describe the target group by firmographic characteristics through the ICP.

Target group versus buyer persona

A target group is a broad demographic or firmographic group. A buyer persona is a detailed profile of a specific individual within that group. Use the target group for targeting and the persona for messaging.

Target groups in advertising

In Meta Ads you select your target group based on interests and behaviour. In Google Ads you reach your target group indirectly through the keywords they use. The sharper your target group, the less waste and the higher the conversion rate.

How small can a target group be?

In Meta Ads, a target group of at least 100,000 people works best for automated optimisation. For niche B2B it can be smaller.

Can I serve several target groups at once?

Yes, but communicate with a separate message for each segment. More at developers.google.com/search.