It was on Steve Bridger’s blog that I’ve discovered the quote (by Anne) “It is about target moments, far more than it is about target audiences.”

Target moments – I immediately fell in love with that notion, feeling that it contains a lot of what I have been trying to explain when talking about Social Media.

Moments. Time. The temporality of things… Time is an important parameter of today’s web: on the one hand, there is bigger asynchronism possible than ever before; on the other hand, interaction happens 7/7 and communication can be followed in real-time (this is why community managers never sleep and can’t take holidays!).

Creating target moments comes down to making certain moments stand out from others within the constant flow of communication. It comes down to punctuating interaction where it creates real value.

In this regard, the shift from target audiences to target moments frames the shift from “classical” marketing to social marketing (some say: un-marketing) in the social web. You don’t necessarily design for specific people who you put in pre-designed (marketing) categories such as gender, age etc. You design for whoever might be interested in the conversation, message, product or service you have to offer. You design experience.
I love the fact that the shift from target audiences to target moments reflects exactly this reality.

Have you noticed that target moments also replaces the one of the two words that usually isn’t replaced? Many similar concepts focus on the need to find a new way of considering your audience (e.g. you shouldn’t emphasize on targeting your audience anymore but engage with it, build a relationship with it etc).

I am very fond of these visions, of course. However, from a business perspective, I appreciate the rhetorics of target moments because it keeps the word “target” – it recalls that, after all, Social Media action doesn’t exist for Social Media’s sake. The purpose and the benefit of Social Media are rooted much deeper. And… you’d better take part because you’re on a mission.

Top picture “Target” by Horlik