Convert ‘Everyone’ to Someone: A Practical Framework for Founders Defining Markets

The north star of any good marketing or communication strategy is the target audience. Every campaign and message is designed to attract customers, but I find that founders are often afraid to get specific. Not only is this a costly mistake, but one that many founders take too long to remedy.

This blog aims to help you think critically about the costs of marketing to everyone and ways to identify potential future customers with confidence and accuracy.

The Basics

When you hear “target audience,” your mind might immediately leap to demographics (age, gender, income) or psychographics (values, interests). But before diving into those, it helps to begin with a different lens: what you offer and how that shapes who can—or should—consume it.

Because if your product or service is broadly useful, it doesn’t mean everyone is equally valuable or accessible. And if you insist on talking to everyone, your message becomes vague, your budget inefficient, and your growth slower.

So here’s a bridge: before you go to “who,” spend time on “what” and “how.” What are the constraints and hooks of your offering? How do those push you to favor certain segments? Once you understand that, you can peel back to get from “everyone” to “someone.”

Start by looking inward: what you offer, and what it requires

1. Clarify the nature of your product or service

Is it a subscription app, a one-time purchase, a consulting engagement, a hardware device?
Are there technical or logistical constraints (e.g. device compatibility, shipping zones, language support)?
What is the journey you expect the user to take (free trial → paid → retention → upsell)?

These questions create natural filters. For example, if your product requires a smartphone and active engagement, then populations without reliable smartphone access or low digital literacy are less practical targets. Pew Research reports that in early 2025, about 4.88 billion people (roughly 60% of the global population) owned a smartphone. But that figure is not your realistic market; many of those owners are in regions or contexts where the infrastructure, economic capacity, or behavioral norms make adoption unlikely.

2. Examine your current customers

Your best source of insight is often your existing user base (even if small). Ask:

Who are they (demographics, profession, location)?
How did they discover you (organic search, referral, paid channel)?
What problem were they trying to solve?
What usage patterns do they exhibit (frequency, features used, retention)?
What are the common objections or friction points they overcame?

Cluster your customers into “types” or “archetypes.” Even if you have only a handful of users, patterns often emerge (e.g. “people training for their first 5K,” “weekend warriors,” “mom returning to running post-baby,” etc.).

These early segments become hypotheses you can test and refine.

Working through an example: the running-training app

Let’s run this through with your running app scenario:

You own an app that generates a personalized training plan to help users train for a race (e.g. 5K, 10K, half, full). You also include optional meal or nutrition guidance. Your goal is to increase awareness and convert users to paying subscribers.

You ask: Who do I target?

At first glance, you might be tempted to say, “Everyone can use this app.” After all, it can scale from beginner to intermediate, and offers nutrition for all general users. But that “everyone” logic is flawed. You must apply filters:

Willingness to pay: Your free tier may attract many, but only a subset will convert to paying plans.So your true potential audience is: English-speaking smartphone users, interested in improving their fitness/running, willing to invest time and possibly money.
Language: Suppose you support only English initially.
Device: Users must own a smartphone (iPhone or Android) with the required OS version.
Intent & interest: Users must be motivated to improve fitness/running (not passive watchers of fitness content).
Time & attention: Users need enough time to engage with training and exercises.
But that is still broad. How do you narrow further?

Why we shouldn’t market to “everyone”

Before going further, it’s worth anchoring why the “everyone” mindset is a trap. Several reasons:

Diluted messaging: One message trying to appeal to everyone ends up resonating with no one. Different segments interpret language, benefits, and style differently.
Wasted spend: Reaching uninterested audiences increases cost per acquisition and lowers ROI.
No focus for product development: If your users are too diffuse, you won’t get strong feedback in a particular direction; features become generic.
Operational contradictions: You’ll chase inconsistent features or support requests from very different user types, fracturing your roadmap.

As one marketing article puts it: “Reaching large audiences is powerful. But even the biggest brands can’t afford to skip targeting.” Another argues that marketing to everyone “makes it much harder to do marketing.” The consensus in marketing circles is clear: you need to pick your “someone.”

A practical framework: From “everyone” to “someone”

Here’s a step-by-step structure you (or your team) can use:

Step 1: Create your hypothesis personas

Based on your internal thinking + customer data, sketch 2–4 initial personas. Include:

Name / label (e.g. “Beginner Beth,” “Weekend Warrior Will,” “Returning Runner Rachel”)
Demographics (age, gender, income, location)
Goals / motivations (e.g. “complete first 5K,” “improve race time,” “lose weight”)
Pain points / obstacles (injuries, time constraints, information overload)
Channels / media habits (reads running blogs, listens to podcasts, follows Strava, active in social media)

You don’t need them perfect — they’re hypotheses to test.

Step 2: Estimate market size and accessibility

For each persona:

Estimate how many such people exist in your reachable markets (e.g. U.S., U.K., etc.)
Estimate how many have smartphone + English + disposable income
Estimate their churn, lifetime value, willingness to experiment

This gives a sense of scale and prioritization.

Step 3: Run small experiments

Pick 1–2 personas to test first. For each:

Design a landing page or messaging experiment targeted to that persona.
Run small paid campaigns (e.g. social ads, search ads) with messaging tailored to them.
Capture conversion rates, cost per lead, onboarding drop-offs.
Interview early signups to validate or reject assumptions.

You’ll quickly learn which persona(s) respond best.

Step 4: Refine and specialize

Based on your early tests, dig into what sub-segments within your personas perform better. For example:

Among “Beginner Beth,” maybe “women 25–40 who run with friends” respond better than men 18–25.
Among “Weekend Warrior Will,” perhaps those training for a half marathon convert better than those targeting a 5K.
Maybe the nutrition add-on appeals more to users already tracking macros.

At this stage, you pick your “beachhead persona(s)” — the small but rich segment you lean into early.

Step 5: Expand outward (adjacent segments)

Once you’ve solidified traction with your initial persona(s), you can expand:

Look for adjacent personas or sub-segments (e.g. hikers, triathletes, walkers moving into running)
Use the learnings (messaging, channels, retention tactics) from your core persona to bootstrap new ones
But always test; don’t assume success will transfer.

A parallel in public health: the “5-A-Day” campaign

To further illustrate the importance of segmentation, consider the classic public health campaign: “5 A Day” (eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily). That campaign is instructive in how broad messages fail without audience layering.

The original “5 A Day” campaign was broadly aimed at the general public.
Over time, campaign designers realized that generalized messaging lacked power. They introduced segmentation: children, Latino communities, Spanish-speaking adults, and low-income groups, tailoring messages per group.
Focus groups revealed that different segments interpreted the campaign differently. Some respondents preferred “eat better, not perfectly”—moderation rather than transformation.
In young adults, although awareness of “5 A Day” was high, knowledge and motivation were inconsistent. Men, in particular, expressed skepticism or lack of motivation to increase intake.
Later fruit/vegetable promotional campaigns (e.g. FNV) explicitly targeted “moms” and “teens/young adults” as separate audiences, with tailored creative.

The lesson: Even for a seemingly universal “health” message, you cannot treat everyone the same. You must define, segment, and tailor.

Back to our running app: example personas & messaging ideas

Here are three sample personas and possible messaging approaches (this is illustrative — your data will drive your real ones):

Persona	Description	Core message	Channel ideas
Beginner Beth	Female, 25–40, sedentary but wants to get into running	“Your beginner running plan — no guesswork”	Instagram fitness accounts, running Facebook groups, influencers in wellness
Weekend Warrior Will	Male, 30–45, runs recreationally on weekends, wants to improve	“Get faster on your Saturday runs”	Strava community, local road-race groups, podcast sponsorships
Returning Runner Rachel	Female, 35–50, used to run but took a break (pregnancy, injury, life)	“Ease back into running safely”	Moms’ fitness blogs, postpartum wellness communities, email nurture flows

You might start by launching a small paid campaign to “Beginner Beth” and compare response rates, retention, and willingness to upgrade. You’ll likely find that one of these personas overperforms others; that becomes your early focus.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Over-segmentation too soon
Don’t build twenty personas and try all at once. Start with 1–2 and test lean.
Ignoring retention
It’s not just about acquisition. The persona that signs up fastest may churn fastest. Balance acquisition with retention metrics.
Not evolving personas
Personas are hypotheses. As you gather data, update or discard them.
Insufficient messaging depth
Don’t stop at surface traits. Delve into fears, desires, emotional motivations, language they use.
Assuming cross-persona transfer
Just because a feature works for Persona A doesn’t mean it works for Persona B without refinement.

Why this matters: the ROI of being specific

You lower cost per acquisition by reducing wasted reach.
Your messaging becomes sharper, more memorable, more shareable.
Your product roadmap aligns with user needs, driving higher retention.
You build brand identity (you’re the run training app for this type of runner, rather than a “me too” in a crowded fitness space).
Once you have a foothold, you can expand with data to adjacent personas.

As Business News Daily rightly notes, “a good marketing strategy can’t address everyone; rather, you must identify a specific niche and speak to these people directly.”

And as Marketing Architects asserts, failing to target means you end up wasting budget and diluting message impact.

Key takeaways and next steps

Start with “what” then go to “who” — your product constraints and value unlock early filters.
Hypothesize personas from your existing or potential users — small in number, rich in insight.
Test and iterate — run low-cost experiments to validate persona performance.
Pick your beachhead persona(s) — pour your early energy there rather than spreading thin.
Expand methodically — once traction is stable, explore adjacent segments using lessons learned.
Refine messaging, channels, features aligned to persona needs — don’t force fit one message to all.

References

Business News Daily. (2023, May 4). How to identify your customer base. Business News Daily.
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15109-identify-your-customer-base.html

Keeter, S., Brown, A., & Popky, D. (2024, March 19). Mobile fact sheet. Pew Research Center: Internet & Technology. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/

Marketing Architects. (2024, February 28). Why targeting everyone is a bad idea. Marketing Architects Blog. https://www.marketingarchitects.com/blog/v14n1-why-targeting-everyone-is-a-bad-idea

Authenticus. (2024, June 10). Your target market: Why “everyone” isn’t a strategy. Authenticus Insights.
https://www.authenticus.us/post/your-target-market-why-everyone-isn-t-a-strategy

Robinson, J. (2024, August 27). Last week CLWB Marketing invited me to talk about the importance of defining your audience. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jamesrobinsonhellostarling_last-week-clwb-marketing-invited-me-to-talk-activity-7375994049918291968-1-Y3/

Pérez-Escamilla, R., & Putnik, P. (1997). The National “5 A Day for Better Health” Program: A large-scale nutrition intervention. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 97(10), 1027–1031. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7632448/

The Guardian. (2003, January 20). Health chiefs launch ‘five a day’ fruit and vegetable campaign. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/jan/20/medicineandhealth.publichealth1

HubSpot. (2024, April 3). How to define and reach your target audience in 2024. HubSpot Marketing Blog. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/target-audience

Faunalytics. (2002). Probing consumer benefits and barriers for the national “5 A Day” campaign: Focus group findings. https://faunalytics.org/probing-consumer-benefits-and-barriers-for-the-national-5-a-day-campaign-focus-group-findings/

BMC Public Health. (2021). The FNV campaign: Lessons from a fruit and vegetable marketing initiative targeting teens and moms. BMC Public Health, 21, Article 11055. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-11055-6

University of Reading. (2008). Understanding the barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption in young adults. CentAUR Institutional Repository. https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/8138/