We never say audience around here. Here’s why…

The days of the audience are over. With the rise of social media the role of consumer has evolved and brands must be quick to understand how. Ardent believe the term Target Audience refers to a group of people or a curated profile who receive marketing from a brand with a hope of getting them to carry out a desired action. This underestimates the role those people play in fueling the marketing funnel and commercial success of brands.

Certainly, social media has played a pivotal part of how the TA has changed, giving them greater opportunity to drive micro-influence amongst their friends and family, but the real change comes from how brands reposition the role of their consumer to drive not only micro-influence but macro-influence too.

This is where the role of the community member comes in to play. Communities are inherently more active, they are always-on, engaging with each other, with content, with your competitors, they play a more significant role in whether people learn about your brand or turn off from it. The more you grow and nurture your community the more likely you will be to see success overall. To be clear, we’re not talking about follower growth. Follower growth underestimates the far reaching nature of communities. Their role in influencer comments, on Reddit forums and at events.