In my previous article we examined the need for adding emotion in your marketing because it's with emotions rather than logic that your customers make buying decisions.

But before you can apply emotion in your marketing strategy you need to know your target market, in other words, you need to identify the types of people that will most likely buy your products or services.

For example, if you own a travel agency that specialises in guided European tours, you may want to cater to an older demographic, say forty years and above, who are “empty nesters”, financially well off and are able to take two to three weeks holiday minimum. If that is the “customer type” you want to focus on, showing images of young backpackers traversing the Swiss Alps would send the wrong message and drive your ideal customer away from your business. Creating a story around a retired couple basking in the sun on the deck of a river cruise ship as it sails down the Danube would be more attractive and draw the type of customer you want.

Not everyone out there is going to buy your product or service, so the best place to start is to focus on the two key areas of demographics and lifestyle to help you identify your ideal customer. The idea is to create a profile or number of profiles for a customer on which to base your marketing plans.

Demographics can be used to answer a set of questions like what age group are my customers or what is their typical income. There are five main segments within demographics that marketers look at when determining the type of customer they want to attract; age, gender, occupation, cultural background and family status. There are others but this is a good place to start.

The second key area in creating a profile for your ideal customer is lifestyle. There are no defining segments within this area but they can include things like what hobbies does your customer like, are they modern or do they prefer classic looks, do they enjoy camping holidays or prefer guided tours, what are their shopping habits, and so forth. It largely depends on what product or service you have to offer.

So, use stories to invoke emotion but remember to focus on the ideal customer and craft the story around the profile or profiles you have established.