Welcome to W.Insight, The Women’s Chapter’s educational series designed to cut through the jargon and give you the knowledge you need to make informed decisions in both business and life.
For this edition, we’re bringing you expert insights from Michelle Viar, founder of Thoroughbrand Digital, to help you master one of the most critical foundations of digital marketing: truly understanding your audience.
Many businesses assume they know their audience, but without real data and analysis, these assumptions often lead to ineffective targeting, wasted budget, and missed opportunities. The brands that succeed take a data-driven approach, analysing audience behaviour, refining targeting strategies, and adapting messaging based on real insights.
Here’s how you can stop guessing and start using data-backed insights to reach, engage, and convert the right audience.
Step 1: Why Your Assumptions About Your Audience Are Probably Wrong
Most businesses begin with an idea of who their ideal customers are, but those assumptions aren’t always accurate.
Case Study: When Audience Assumptions Go Wrong
A frozen yoghurt brand believed their primary customers were health-conscious individuals coming from yoga, pilates, or CrossFit studios. They planned to target fitness studios with mobile coupons in hopes of increasing store visits. However, before launching the campaign, Thoroughbrand Digital conducted audience research by geofencing multiple locations to track where customers were actually coming from.
The real discovery? Instead of the expected “health-conscious” persona, the brand’s most frequent customers were actually visiting fast food chains like Five Guys and In-N-Out Burger before heading to their stores.
Lesson:
If they had gone with their assumptions, they would have wasted thousands on targeting the wrong people. Instead, by adjusting their strategy to match real customer behaviour, they increased store foot traffic by 2.6 times in 90 days.
Takeaway: Always challenge your assumptions. Use data to validate who your audience really is.
Step 2: Where to Find Reliable Audience Data
To effectively target your ideal customers, you need to use a mix of first-party data (your own) and third-party data (external sources).
Key Data Sources to Understand Your Audience
✔ Google Analytics – Tracks website visitors, their behaviours, demographics, and interests.
✔ Meta Audience Insights – Shows Facebook and Instagram audience breakdowns by age, location, and engagement.
✔ Google Search Console – Reveals what keywords and topics bring people to your site.
✔ Customer Purchase Data – Helps you identify who actually buys vs. who just browses.
✔ Email & Social Engagement – Highlights who is interacting with your content and clicking on links.
How to Use This Data Effectively
- Identify patterns – What age groups, locations, or interests dominate your audience?
- Find behaviour trends – Are users browsing but not buying? Clicking but not converting?
- Compare channels – Do different platforms attract different segments of your audience?
Pro Tip: If you don’t have Google Analytics installed on your website, do it now. It’s the best free tool for tracking both organic and paid activity.
Step 3: How to Build Audience Personas That Actually Work
Once you’ve gathered data, it’s time to create detailed audience personas—fictional profiles representing key customer segments.
How to Build an Effective Audience Persona
Each persona should include:
- Demographics – Age, gender, location and job role.
- Interests and Lifestyle – Hobbies, media consumption and shopping habits.
- Buying Motivations – Why do they purchase? What problem are they solving?
- Objections – What prevents them from buying?
- Preferred Channels – Where do they engage? (Social media, email, search, ads)
Example Persona:
- Name: Olivia, 38, London-based consultant.
- Pain Points: Needs elegant, professional wardrobe options but lacks time to shop.
- Online Behaviour: Engages with Instagram shopping ads, follows sustainable fashion brands.
- Buying Trigger: Trusts recommendations from online influencers and fashion stylists.
Pro Tip: Avoid broad, generic personas. The more specific you get, the more effective your marketing will be.
Final Thoughts:
Every brand’s digital journey is different, but one thing remains constant: knowing what to focus on at each stage is the key to sustainable success.
If you take away one thing from this guide, let it be this: Avoid common mistakes like overspending on branding too early, failing to collect first-party data, or neglecting digital maintenance once you reach maturity.
Want to Learn More?
Explore our events and masterclasses on digital marketing or watch Michelle Viar’s full masterclass and tap into other Digital Masterclasses and learning tools developed by the Thoroughbrand team.
If you’re looking for bespoke solutions or want to commission a digital marketing audit, you can get in touch with Michelle Viar at Thoroughbrand Digital via email: michelle@thoroughbrand.net
