Target Audience

A target audience is a group of consumers that businesses consider as their main group of people that want to receive their messages, buy their products, or use their services. In Google Ads, a target audience is a clearly defined group of people who have a common characteristic, through which you can target that group. Some examples of the characteristics you can use for targeting are demographic data, contextual factors, personal interests, affinity, in-market, custom intent, remarketing, and similar target groups. By making a detailed analysis of your target audience, you can better tailor your marketing strategy to their wants and needs.

Target Audience in Google Ads

Target Audience Based on Demographics

Google Ads enables you to target a very specific group of people based on gender, age, level of education, location, language, and occupation. For more precise targeting, you can combine multiple demographic characteristics.

Target Audience Based on Contextual Targeting

Addressing your target audience through contextual targeting is only possible in display campaigns. Contextual targeting means that you’ll reach potential customers based on which websites they’re surfing on. Your ads will only be displayed on sites that are relevant to the subject of your ads. You can base your contextual targeting on keywords, themes, content, videos, or pages.

Target Audience Based on Areas of Interest

Addressing your target audience based on shared areas of interest is only possible in video campaigns. This type of targeting allows you to reach people based on what they’re interested in. Possibilities are endless. You can target broad groups, like people interested in home improvement, or you can go into detailed areas of interest, like BMW lovers.

Target Audience Based on Affinity

You can target people based on their interest in subjects that are closely related to your product or service. The possibilities for targeting based on affinity are areas of interest, preferences, passions, and habits.

Target Audience Based on Life Events

Google splits its users into groups based on major life events. By analysing what kind of websites you’re visiting, which videos you’re watching, and a number of other signals, Google can estimate whether you belong in the group of ‘just married’, or ‘new home owners’ for example.

In-Market Audience Targeting

In-market targeting was developed to address people who are actively searching for products or services like yours. If you sell luxury watches for example, Google will identify a group of people who were recently looking for those.

Target Audience Based on Custom Intent

You can create a Google Ads target audience based on custom keywords, URLs, or apps that are all related to your product or service. Custom intent makes it easier for you to reach people who are actively looking for what you have to offer.

Target Audience Based on Customer Match

Customer Match uses your existing client data, such as email, phone number, and home address, to target your ads. You can either choose to target your existing customers, or you can target a look-a-like audience with similar characteristics to your current customer.

Target Audience Based on Remarketing

Remarketing puts you in contact with people who have visited your website before. Some well-known examples of remarketing are abandoned cart emails, which you get after leaving items in a shopping basket and not completing the purchase, or a reminder to buy new printer ink X-number of months after your last purchase.