Target audience exercises can get a little ridiculous.
Sarah is 42. She drinks oat flat whites, does Pilates twice a week and shops at the farmers market.
Great.
But unless those details actually influence whether Sarah needs, values or can buy what you sell, they are not particularly useful.
The meaningful common thread is different for every business.
For one business, it might be where customers live and what they do for work, while their ages vary dramatically.
For another, the common thread might be the chapter of life they are currently in.
For another, it could be their location and the amount of equity they have in their home.
You do not need to fill every demographic and psychographic box just because a target-audience template tells you to.
Be as specific as the evidence allows, but do not manufacture specificity.
At the same time, very few businesses genuinely sell to everyone.
You probably are not trying to sell farming equipment to people living in beachfront apartments. There is already an audience decision hiding in there somewhere, even if nobody has formally named it.
The problem is that when you stand too close to your customer base, they can look completely different.
Different ages. Different occupations. Different personalities. Different incomes.
Step back far enough and there is usually a thread.
Maybe they share the same problem.
Maybe they are going through the same life event.
Maybe they own a particular kind of property.
Maybe geography is what matters.
Maybe they value something about the way you work that a different customer simply does not.
Finding your audience is not about forcing real people into an imaginary persona.
It is about identifying the characteristics that actually explain why these people are more likely to need, value or choose what your business offers.
If your answer is still “everyone”, step back before you start inventing details to make the exercise feel complete.
There is usually a thread.
Your job is to find the one that matters.
