Hey you young, hip, and happening marketing grads! Are you ready to dig into some totally radical, l33t marketing hacks? Ready to get that advertising game on fleek and your Insta campaign lit?

If reading through the start of this had you absolutely cringing, you’re not alone. Pro tip: Don’t abuse slang like this. It will make your target audience move elsewhere, and could even be a form of cultural appropriation.

What exactly are target audiences? Read on, and we’ll give you a simple explanation and some target audience examples, as well as how you can reach them.

What Is a Target Audience?

A target audience, sometimes referred to as a target market when you sell a product, is the group that your product or service is supposed to reach. They’re the audience or market, the group of people, that you target or focus on with your advertising campaigns.

These are the people you want to use your company’s products or services the most. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t include other markets, but that this audience is your primary focus.

What Are Some Target Audience Examples?

One simple way to look at target audiences is the four-quadrant model used by Hollywood. It divides the potential viewers and consumers into four groups: young people, older people, men, and women.

Obviously, for product marketing purposes, this is a bit simplistic. Some other target audience examples that are less broad might include:

• Mothers, especially mothers of young children
• LGBTQ+ people
• College graduates
• Children and preteens

Each of these groups will require different marketing strategies to address their needs. Even if you sell products (or a type of product) that can apply to all of them, you should try to tailor your ad campaign to a specific target demographic.

How Can You Reach Your Target Audience?

Once you’ve figured out your target market, it’s time to consider how you can reach them. The most effective way these days is to trust algorithmically targeted marketing aided by Google or by these solutions from Finecast.

However, if your target audience has ad blockers installed, you might be able to reach them through a concerted social media campaign if they’re younger. You could also go the cold-calling route for older clientele, or send out pamphlets in the mail.

Reaching your target audience is about understanding the way they think and the places they’re going to look for information, products, and services.

Let’s Review What We’ve Learned

So, what is a target audience? Simply put, it’s the audience you’re targeting with your marketing campaign. Common target audience examples run across ages and socioeconomic brackets. So, it’s up to you to determine which market you can reach the best with your business by conducting thorough market research.

Did you find this article about target audiences and basic targeted marketing helpful? Would you like to read more about how to advertise to people in the modern era? If so, then check out the Business section of our blog for more!

Over the years, the best prepaid cards have continued to grow in popularity and have not shown any signs of slowing down. In fact, a staggering 23 million adults use them frequently at the grocery checkout, gas pump, or the ATMs. The best prepaid cards are used like debit cards, making them one of the best financial tools available.

Prepaid Cards 101

Since prepaid cards are very easy to obtain, they are considered the best alternative to credit cards, checks, and cash. Also known as general-purpose reloadable, prepaid credit cards, or prepaid debit cards, they can only be used once money has been loaded successfully onto the card.

Those who don’t have access to savings or checking accounts used to be the primary users of prepaid cards. However, thanks to exciting and peerless benefits they offer, prepaid cards have become massively popular, growing an impressive 50 percent between 2012 and 2014.

Different Types of Prepaid Cards

• Payroll Cards

Just as the name indicates, rather than receiving the usual pay checks, many employees nowadays prefer to have their salaries, bonuses, and other incentives loaded directly to their prepaid cards. Once the money has been loaded, they can use their cards to pay the bills, purchase goods, and withdraw from ATMs.

• Gift Cards

Gift cards come in monetary denominations that are specific. Gift cards are designed to be used for purchases at specific stores. Often, they are not reloadable but they are considered ideal for gifting.

• General Purpose Reloadable (GPR) Cards

With a general purpose reloadable card, you need to load money onto the card first and use it like you would a debit card. GPRs work similar to most credit and debit cards and are often honored and accepted at merchants and online stores.

The Benefits of Getting a Prepaid Card

• They are easy to get. Prepaid cards are very easy to obtain.
• They are easy to use. As mentioned earlier, prepaid cards are honored and accepted almost anywhere where major credit and debit cards are accepted.
• They are considered safe. While you can also lose cash when using your prepaid card, it is often very minimal. If you lose your credit card on the other hand, there is a possibility that you can rack up substantial charges. This is especially true if you have a very high credit limit. Also, if you lose your prepaid card, the loss is often limited to the balance available on the card. Thankfully, some prepaid cards also provide protection against theft or loss.
• They won’t require credit checks. This is considered a massive advantage by those who are unbanked and those who have less than stellar credit histories.
• They are great budgeting tools. You can load money onto your prepaid card that’s intended for groceries and other things. So if you have depleted all the balance intended for the groceries, you would have to live off with what’s remaining in your pantry until the end of the month.
• There are no monthly bills to take care of. If you hate the inconvenience of sifting through electronic statements and paperwork, you would surely love prepaid cards. With prepaid cards, there’s no need to sift through electronic statements or paperwork monthly.
• You won’t incur any debts. When using a prepaid card, your transactions will be limited by the balance that’s available on the card. As soon as the balance has been depleted, your spending will also stop automatically. Unlike credit cards, you won’t incur mounting debts when you use a prepaid card.
• You will have overdraft protection. As mentioned earlier, you won’t be able to use your prepaid cards for the time being as soon as all the balance has been depleted. Fortunately, you can use your prepaid card right away once money has been successfully loaded onto the card.

Digital advertising has skyrocketed in popularity over the last decade – in 2021, an estimated $329 billion was spent on these costs alone. So how much does SEO cost for a small business?

In order to properly survey an SEO cost guide, several factors must be considered, especially when it comes to small businesses. With some basic SEO services, a small business can jump to the front of the line in online searches, including on Google Maps.

First, let’s talk briefly about the biggest question…

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s a fancy term for an online marketing strategy that gets a business to show up near the top of search engine queries – for small businesses think “<insert service here> near me.”

Let’s say you have an HVAC company, and you’d like for your business information to show up near the top of the list when someone types “HVAC services near me.” Can you imagine how much business that could generate for your operation?

Now, it’s fair to admit that HVAC services are not the most enthralling of subjects to the common consumer, so hiring an SEO company for HVAC SEO can take that burden off of you – the business owner – and someone else can work to drive traffic to your business for a fee.

How Much Does SEO Cost for a Small Business?

That all depends on the type of SEO services you are looking for. If you’re looking for someone to pop in and update the information on your site once a month on a project-by-project basis, you can expect to spend less than $100 per month if you hire an individual.

On the other side of the coin, if your site sees hundreds of clicks a day and needs constant attention, it is going to cost significantly more. With that said, if you’re looking for HVAC SEO as a small business, you can consider the former.

Where Can I Find an SEO Company?

Ironically, you can just type that question into a search engine! There are quite a few SEO services in marketing hubs like New York and other commerce-driven areas.

Call an Established SEO Company for Your Marketing Needs

It’s tough for a small business to get noticed in an increasingly competitive business environment – hiring an SEO company can help you stand out in a big way.

To answer the question “how much does SEO cost for a small business,” the answer is…not much. When you factor in the amount of revenue that will be driven toward said small business, the cost of SEO services is a drop in the bucket.

Think of it like this – 30 years ago, you would’ve paid $200 to be on the front page of the local newspaper every day for a month, right? SEO services work the same way, only cheaper…and much more interactive and effective.