Wooden pawns on a dark blue surface, with a small group of blue pawns inside an orange circle

PropositionTarget groups

Who do you want to make a difference for?

If everyone is your target group, no one is. Without a clear choice of target group, your proposition, your offering and your customer journey stay generic. The Next Organization helps you choose which customers to focus on and understand what they are trying to get done.

Sound familiar?

Your customer base is broad and your offering keeps growing with it
Marketing and sales each have a different picture of the customer
You explore new markets without having made a clear choice
You take on work from customers who are a poor fit
You know your customers mainly from figures, not from conversations
You do not know who makes the decision at the customer's organisation and who has a say

What is a target audience analysis?

A target audience analysis divides a market into a limited number of groups that differ from one another, and then chooses between them. A target group is a group you serve, want to serve or have an important relationship with. We look at who you serve today and who you want or need to serve tomorrow.

Target group, job and persona

From broad to focused: each step zooms further in on the same customer.

1 Target group

What it is

The group you choose

The question behind it

Which customers do we serve, and which do we not?
2 Job to be done

What it is

What the customer is trying to get done
The job tells you their
- needs
- pain points
- motivations
The question behind it

What makes this customer take action?
3 Persona

What it is

A recognisable character who represents the group

The question behind it

Who is this customer, and what drives them?

The job tells you the needs, pain points and motivations of each target group. That shows you why customers choose, put off a decision or switch.

For each target group you choose, you work out your Value proposition, Products and services and Customer journey.

What you get

You get a limited number of current and future target groups, each with its rationale. For each target group you know the job, the needs, the pain points, the motivations and who makes the decision. Where useful, a persona comes with it, based on conversations with customers.

Frequently asked questions

How do you define your target group?

Start with who you are and what is changing in the market. Divide the market into groups that differ from one another, and choose a few. Test each group against one question: does it have a job of its own where you can help better than others?

What is Jobs-to-be-Done?

Jobs-to-be-Done looks at what a customer is trying to achieve, rather than at who they are. Customers hire a product or service to get a job done. Understand that job and you understand why customers choose.

What is the difference between a target group and customer segmentation?

Customer segmentation groups your existing customers, often by size, sector or revenue. A target audience analysis looks further ahead, at who you want to serve tomorrow and why. The difference lies in the choice you make, not in the grouping.

Who is in a target group?

Often more than one person. Map out who decides, who sets the requirements and who uses the product. In a long chain this differs from one stage to the next, so you sometimes need to be present at several moments.