Unlock Success: Using AI Tools to Understand Your Local Audience

Welcome

Welcome to our article series brought to you by Connect3 Ltd., dedicated to helping small local UK businesses thrive by leveraging the power of AI tools in their marketing efforts. We understand the unique challenges you face in today’s competitive landscape, and our mission is to provide you with valuable insights and practical strategies that save you time and enhance your marketing impact. This article is part of a comprehensive series designed to equip you with the knowledge and tools needed to better understand your local audience and optimize your marketing strategies. Additionally, be sure to check out our ebook, which consolidates these insights into a complete guide for driving growth in your business. Let’s dive in and explore how you can unlock your business’s full potential!

1. What This Marketing Activity Is and Why It’s Important

Before we even dive into AI, understanding your audience is the cornerstone of any successful business. Knowing who your customers are, what they need, and how they behave is critical for crafting marketing messages that resonate. Whether you’re targeting the over-50s crowd for gardening services or Gen Z for digital products, understanding these groups allows you to tailor everything – from your product to your messaging – to meet their needs. Without this understanding, you’re essentially marketing to a void.

With AI tools, understanding your audience becomes much easier. AI can gather and analyse data quickly, segmenting customers based on demographics, interests, and behaviour patterns. This is crucial for small UK businesses that need to get it right with limited marketing budgets. AI takes the guesswork out of knowing your customers, so you can stop wasting time and start targeting the right people more efficiently.

2. Showcasing the Power of ChatGPT: Understanding Your Local Audience

Why ChatGPT? ChatGPT can be an incredibly powerful tool for understanding your local audience. By leveraging its natural language processing abilities, you can generate ideas, segment your audience, and analyze customer behavior more efficiently. It can quickly provide insights into local customer preferences, demographics, and pain points, helping you tailor your marketing strategies effectively.

Instructions on How to Use ChatGPT for Audience Research and Segmentation

1. Ask ChatGPT for Local Audience Insights:
   • Provide details about your business, location, and the products or services you offer.
   • Ask ChatGPT to generate personas, customer needs, or common preferences based on these details.
2. Generate Audience Segments:
   • Describe the characteristics of your existing customers (e.g., age, interests, location) and ask ChatGPT to help you create customer segments.
   • You can also use ChatGPT to uncover hidden segments by describing your product/service and asking what type of audience it might appeal to.
3. Use ChatGPT to Identify Pain Points:
   • Explain what your business offers, and ask ChatGPT to brainstorm potential pain points your local customers may face and how your business can solve them.
4. Analyze Competitor Audiences:
   • Provide ChatGPT with information about your competitors, and ask for insights into the types of customers they attract. This can help you find opportunities to reach untapped audience segments.

Example Prompts and Outputs

Prompt 1: “I run a bakery in Manchester that specializes in gluten-free cakes. Can you help me identify the key segments of my local audience?”

ChatGPT Output: Sure! Here are a few key audience segments for your bakery in Manchester:

1. Health-conscious individuals: People interested in a healthy lifestyle, often seeking gluten-free, organic, or low-sugar products.
2. People with gluten intolerance (coeliac): Individuals who require gluten-free options due to medical conditions. This is likely a primary audience for your bakery.
3. Parents of children with dietary restrictions: Parents who need gluten-free options for their children, especially those attending local schools or community activities.
4. Fitness enthusiasts: People focused on nutrition and fitness may be drawn to gluten-free options as part of a health-conscious diet.
5. Young professionals: Those looking for trendy, niche products that align with lifestyle preferences, such as gluten-free and artisanal foods.

Prompt 2: “What are some common pain points for gluten-free bakery customers in Manchester, and how can my business address them?”

ChatGPT Output: Here are some common pain points for gluten-free bakery customers in Manchester and how you can address them:

1. Limited availability: Gluten-free products may be hard to find or available in limited quantities. You can solve this by offering a wide range of gluten-free options and ensuring you always have stock.
2. Higher prices: Gluten-free products are often priced higher. Consider offering loyalty programs or discounts for frequent buyers to encourage repeat business.
3. Lack of flavor variety: Gluten-free baked goods are sometimes perceived as bland. Differentiate your bakery by experimenting with unique flavors like lemon-poppy seed or salted caramel.
4. Uncertainty about cross-contamination: Customers with coeliac disease are often concerned about cross-contamination. Make sure your bakery highlights its strict adherence to gluten-free protocols, and provide transparency about your preparation process.

Prompt 3: “Who are my competitors in Manchester offering gluten-free products, and how can I appeal to customers they aren’t targeting?”

ChatGPT Output: Your competitors in Manchester include health food shops, larger bakeries with gluten-free lines, and supermarkets with gluten-free sections. However, many of these competitors target general health-conscious audiences.

To differentiate, you can:

• Focus on exclusivity: Position your bakery as a gluten-free specialist, offering better-tasting, high-quality products.
• Target niche dietary needs: Consider other dietary requirements alongside gluten-free, such as vegan, sugar-free, or keto options.
• Build a community: Create a space for customers to share feedback, recipes, or dietary tips, building a loyal, engaged customer base.

This section provides practical prompts and examples to help small businesses use ChatGPT for audience research and segmentation. 

3. AI Tools

• HubSpot: HubSpot offers AI-powered customer segmentation, predictive analysis, and deep insights into your target market, giving you a solid foundation to personalise your marketing efforts.
• Crayon: Crayon is excellent for competitor analysis, using AI to monitor market trends and giving you a complete picture of your business landscape.

4. Free Tool

• Google Trends: This is a fantastic free tool that allows you to track what’s trending in your local area. If you want to know what your potential customers are searching for in your region, Google Trends can offer valuable insights.

5. Step-by-Step Guide for Free Tool: Using Google Trends to Understand Your Local Audience

1. Go to Google Trends:
   • Open your browser and type Google Trends in the search bar.
2. Enter a Search Term:
   • Let’s say you run a local bakery in Manchester. In the search bar, type “gluten-free bread.”
   • As you type, Google Trends will auto-suggest related terms. Select the most relevant one.
3. Filter by Location:
   • After you hit “search,” you’ll see a results page with a map.
   • On the left-hand side, there’s a dropdown menu for location. Click on it and choose United Kingdom, and then further filter down to Manchester to see local search trends.
4. Adjust the Timeframe:
   • To see longer-term trends, you can adjust the time range. At the top of the page, there’s a “Past 12 months” dropdown. Change this to “Past 5 years” to identify longer-lasting trends, or set it to “Past 30 days” if you want a snapshot of current interest.
5. Analyze the Data:
   • The results will show a graph indicating when and how often people have searched for “gluten-free bread” in Manchester.
   • For example, you might notice a spike in interest every January—perhaps people are trying new diets after the holidays.
   • Below the graph, you’ll see “Related Queries,” which show other popular search terms. In this example, terms like “low-carb bread Manchester” or “healthy bakeries” may appear, giving you insight into broader interests.
6. Apply Insights:
   • If you notice rising trends in gluten-free bread, you could plan to introduce a new gluten-free product or promote an existing one in January to capitalize on the increased demand.
7. Set Up Alerts:
   • To keep track of future trends, click the “Subscribe” button to get email updates on search term activity in your area. For instance, you’ll be notified whenever there’s a spike in “vegan bakery products Manchester.”

6. Expected Gains

By leveraging AI and tools like Google Trends, you can expect:

• 20-30% increase in customer engagement: AI enables better targeting, so your messages land with the right audience.
• 15% reduction in marketing spend: More precise targeting means fewer wasted resources on ineffective campaigns.
• 10-20% improvement in customer retention: Personalised marketing helps to build stronger connections with your audience.

7. Case Study

Case Study Example: A local Manchester coffee shop used HubSpot’s AI segmentation to divide its customers into distinct groups. By crafting marketing emails and offers tailored to these segments, they saw a 25% increase in repeat customers within six months. They also reduced their marketing spend by 18%, as they no longer sent blanket emails to their entire list.

8. Typical Consultancy Costs

For small businesses in the UK, using a consultancy for audience research and segmentation would typically cost:

• £2,000 – £5,000 for basic market research and analysis.
• £5,000 – £10,000 for advanced audience segmentation and predictive analysis, depending on the scope and complexity.

9. Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Over-segmentation: Don’t get too niche with your audience segments, as it could limit your reach unnecessarily.
• Ignoring the data: If the AI tools show clear trends, follow the data. Too many businesses ignore insights that could transform their campaigns.

10. Checklist for Success

• ✅ Set up Google Trends for relevant local searches.
• ✅ Use AI tools to segment your audience into useful groups.
• ✅ Track changes in audience behaviour and adjust campaigns accordingly.
• ✅ Personalise your messaging based on customer segments.

11. Advanced Tips & Tricks

• Layered segmentation: Go beyond simple demographics like age and location. Use AI to layer behavioural data (e.g., purchasing habits) on top of this to create more specific, actionable audience segments.
• AI predictions: Tools like HubSpot can predict future trends based on past behaviour. Use this to stay ahead of customer needs and offer them products or services before they even realise they want them.

12. Resources for Further Learning

• HubSpot Blog: Provides excellent insights into AI and customer segmentation.
• Crayon Blog: A great resource for staying up-to-date on market intelligence and competitor analysis.

Thanks for reading, check our our eBook

Thank you for reading! If you found this article helpful, we invite you to download our comprehensive ebook, which includes the full series on leveraging AI tools for your marketing efforts. By implementing the strategies outlined in our ebook, you’ll save valuable time while gaining insights to better understand your local audience and optimize your marketing tactics. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to drive growth for your business—download the ebook now and take the first step towards transforming your marketing approach!