Why "everyone is our customer" doesn't work
A cafe owner in Tashkent says anyone can walk in. True, but a student grabbing coffee on the way to class and a family choosing a Saturday lunch spot want different things. The first cares about speed and price, the second about a kids' menu and easy parking. One message will not be equally convincing to both.
Narrowing your audience does not shrink the market. It decides who you speak to first. There is a cost side too: on Instagram and Telegram you pay for impressions, so a vague message means paying to reach people who could not care less.
What goes into a target audience profile
A useful profile answers "why would this person buy", not just "how old are they". It usually covers:
In B2B, add the industry, company size and the person's role. A purchasing manager compares prices, a director looks at reliability and delivery time, and each needs a different conversation.
- who they are: age, family, city or district, and language, whether Uzbek, Russian or both
- income and payment habits: cash, card, Click, Payme, installments
- the situation in which the need appears
- where they look: Instagram, Telegram channels, Google, OLX, Uzum, recommendations from friends
- what holds them back: fear of overpaying, distrust of a new seller, doubts about quality
- how they choose: price, timing, reputation, reviews
- who decides and who pays
Finding your audience in your own data
Start with people who have already bought. Pull a report from your CRM or till software, look through Telegram chats and Instagram statistics. See who buys most often, who has the highest average order, who comes back and where they came from. Often the best customers turn out to be different from the ones you pictured.
If you have no tracking at all, that is a finding too. Set a simple rule: for every enquiry, the salesperson notes how the person heard about you and what they were looking for. In a month or two you will have something to analyze.
What customers tell you in conversation
Numbers show what happened but not why. Talk to a handful of customers, including some who bought once and never returned. Ask:
Talk to your salespeople and administrators as well. They hear objections every day, and those objections are a free source of wording for your ads.
- what pushed them to get in touch right now
- where they searched and who they compared you with
- what almost stopped them from buying
- how they describe their problem in their own words
Primary and secondary audiences
Most businesses have one primary audience that brings in most of the revenue, plus a few secondary ones. For a children's center in Samarkand, the primary audience may be mothers, yet grandmothers who take the child there and fathers who pay also influence the choice. A mother cares about the program and safety, a grandmother about proximity to home, a father about a clear price. Rank the segments by their contribution to revenue and start with the biggest.
In Uzbekistan, treat language and region separately. Russian-speaking and Uzbek-speaking audiences, or residents of Tashkent and of the regions, often use different channels and react differently to the same message. Sometimes you need two independent versions of an ad rather than one translated copy.
Common mistakes and how to put the profile to work
A profile usually fails for one of these reasons:
Here is a simple test: before every campaign, write one sentence, "this ad is for this customer so that they do this". If you cannot write it, the campaign is not ready. Check the profile against your real buyers at least once a year, and again whenever your product or prices change.
- it is built on guesses rather than data and conversations
- the audience is too broad, such as "all women in the city"
- it was written once and now sits in a folder
- one ad tries to speak to several segments at once
Where to start this week
Set aside a few days: export your data, hold several customer conversations and describe two or three audiences in order of priority. If you want an outside view, the markdev team provides marketing strategy and consulting for businesses in Uzbekistan: analyzing your customers, choosing channels and tying them to sales. Send us your task and we will talk it through.
FAQ
How is a target audience different from potential customers?
Potential customers are everyone who could theoretically buy. Your target audience is the part of that group for whom your offer is most valuable and whom you actually focus on in ads and sales.
Can I define an audience if my business is just starting?
Yes. Talk to people who buy from similar companies, study competitors and run small test campaigns. Your first sales will show who responds, and you can refine the profile from there.
How many audiences should a company have?
Usually one primary and one or two secondary. With more segments it becomes hard to run a separate message for each and to measure results.
How often should I review my audience description?
At least once a year, and whenever something significant changes: a new product, different prices or expansion to another city. Compare the description with who is really buying.
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