How do you discover where a target audience "hangs out" online?

Who's your market?

You can search for "____ social media sites", "_____ blog"...go into facebook and look for pages related to it...linkedin groups.

Google ad planner is good. I also use quantcast.com and alexa.com to check demographics. I use quantcast to check site affinity.

Also, do a google search for forums and blogs on your topic....not only can you find places they "hang out". But, then you can do some more customer research...what are their biggest pains? What slang and lingo do they use. Plus you now have some options for doing direct to site media buys in the places your customers hang out.

Want more in depth customer research? Go to Amazon and check for books on the topic. Read the 1 and 2 star reviews. Why? Because these people did not have their needs met, and often they tell you exactly why.

"Customers also bought"....check out those products. Read those reviews. Same thing...now you are starting to understand exactly what your customer wants, what they don't want, what their biggest fears or obstacles are, and what lingo or slang they use.

Use this information to create a customer avatar. Write it out. Find a photo on google image search to identify a specific customer. Name her. Then, write her bio:

Sarah is a 24 year old college grad. She is starting out on her own and loves being young, single, without kids, and enjoying life. She has a good job and a stable income. Life is really going well for her...

But, there are some aspects in her life that she failed to pay close attention to...she gained about 15 pounds in college..the old "freshman 15"...but that never went away. It never really bothered her, but now that she has everything in her life in order, she wants to start paying attention to the things she let go.

Summer is coming up, and Sarah doesn't want to spend this summer with that extra 15 she's been carrying around since freshman year...she is determined to look good in her bikini.

She has the time and money to train hard. But she wants more than just a diet or a workout program...she wants to look HOT. And she is dead set on going bikini shopping in two months. She wants a diet and workout program that is going to not only get rid of those 15 pounds, but one that will also tone her up. Not quite as ripped as Jillian Michaels, but close...

Or whatever you discover. Good luck.

Try using the allintext or allintitle Google search operators.

Example: allintitle:mustangs forum

Two simple and easy ways to research your target market:

(1) play with keywords and find out who is ranking in the top ten PAGES of your favorite search engines

(2) go to an event that's in your local area and find out what people are talking about so you can check out the "lingo" in terms of how your target audience is talking TODAY.

Sometimes setting up a playpen online and offline can give us what we're looking for from a fresh perspective!

Just type the keyword to your niche on google with forums attached to your keyword and find forums of people related to your niche. Also participate in facebook groups and twitter discussions related to your niche.

If you want to look for forums you can check out Big Boards which lists all the biggest forums in every niche.

Alternatively you can choose the "discussions" option from the drop down that says "More"under the Google search box after you type in your keyword.