Knowing your audience is central to any marketing strategy, but what do you do to get to know them?
I don’t know about you but I get really confused as to what strategy to use to get to know my audience and have a habit of overthinking things and going off on a tangent which doesn’t help!
I worked through my target audience identification strategy so well that I ended up writing a blog ‘ How To Start A Successful Backpacking Blog’
Now this doesn’t seem to be such a bad thing but if I started writing blogs for every single pasttime or hobby my target audience get up to in their spare time, I would be here for a very long time. It was fun to do but went too far down the rabbit hole, and too literally! I’ll show you what I mean and guide you through how to know your audience inside and out.
The struggle when I first started out was really trying to work out how to do this effectively. Without it, you’ve no idea what strategy to use, social media that will work, and no idea how they tick, so no idea how to pitch your articles, to get your message over. Better to make the time now, really dig into them and know that you are writing the right blogs and pitching them at the right level.
So what details do you need to know? What research are you going to do?
The struggle when I first started out was really trying to work out how to do this effectively. Without it, you’ve no idea what strategy to use, social media that will work, and no idea how they tick, so no idea how to pitch your articles, to get your message over. Better to make the time now, really dig into them and know that you are writing the right blogs and pitching them at the right level.
So what details do you need to know? What research are you going to do?
Demographic
You need to determine who your target audience is, who are you going to appeal to? When you write a blog or article, how can you write successfully if you don’t have an end user in mind? I know when I started out I thought that just writing was good enough, but we are not all the same and as I say at the top of this article, if you try to sell to everyone, you’ll not sell to anyone.
We all undestand what dempgraphic characteristics means and whilst for us its helping target our audience, its used in life constantly to identify target groups for certain medical conditions or for sports centres to work out who to target in a leaflet campaign or theatre showing a controversial production.
Why do theatres show pantomimes at Christimas? Its the ideal time to targer the youger audience and bring in a tradition to their lives that will futureproof their audience in generations to come. Any business, whatever industry, will have their audience targetted.
The website must appeal to the target audience, its not good having a lighthearted website with cartoon style images, no statistics, no in depth details when you are in say insurance services or banking…. no one is going to take you seriously. Regardless of who your audience is, you focus on your perfect customer to create an authoritative website that will appeal to them and they will carry out the action you are wanting whether it is to purchase a product or a service.
Looking for a common characteristic in your specific group of people will enable you to reach them with your marketing message.
Approach
Start out by looking at the customers you do have. You don’t need many, even two is good ! What features set them out to be part of your target audience ? Maybe they aren’t really who you are targeting, but some features may be common with your target audience. But if you have no idea what audience you are targeting, then you’re floundering in the dark and only picking up an odd customer by chance. Lets make your targeting more focused.
Competitors
One place to give you information on your target audience is to look at your competitors. See where they are placing adverts, where they are posting. Are they using Pinterest or Facebook? Do they write about the same sort of articles that you do? Do they have the same demographic as yours? This area of research will give you insight into where you can target your focus in fine tuning your target audience characteristics. By doing this you can compare your business to theirs and whether you can fill gaps that they have left, set yourself apart from the world. Assess the longterm potential of your target audience, and help them with their business.
Type Of Audience
You will probably find that your type of audience comes from two or three different demographics depending on what product you are selling… for example if you designed and painted graphics on motorcycle helmets.. of course you will have the 30 something dude but then the biker girl and girlfriends and wives of bikers… or maybe you have a soap business…..
How To Talk To Your Audience
The way you approach your blogging with your audience is also as important as the information you tell them. Trying to appeal in a relaxed manner to a professional audience may not work, or having spelling/grammatival errors in your work will not impress your readers. Understanding the personality and attitudes of your readers will show you what tone you need to take with them. Their values and interests will give you insight into what style of writing they will continue to read. We all know this, in the sort of articles we find appealing.
Identification Of Your Audience
As a starter… Im thinking that its likely you have a product or service you are wanting to sell that appeals to you, you are passionate about it and know a great deal.. so as a starter, maybe your target audience relates to you? They will have intentions and goals that resonate with you, that you are passionate about, and this will enable you to connect better with them. You might be a 21 year old, no kids, and working in a supermarket, but you make the most awesome pottery bowls and ceramics… your age group probably aren’t that interested in them but go up 5-10 years and you have an audience that will adore them as much as you do! Your audience expects personalised service, that will give them a unique experience.
Do You Expect To Succeed?
You have got to prepare if you want to be successful. Of course if you aren’t bothered about having success, then it doesn’t matter but then why would you set up a website and try to sell your product or service if you didn’t care about it? So doing due dilligence into your target audience must be done.
Bear Bryant said…’ It’s not the will to win that matters,…everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters!’
Now not everyone is prepared to do that, can’t be bothered, thinks its not important, really think they’ll cut corners and not do this bit…. This is a process for disaster and disappointment.
Build Your Avatar !
Start compiling a ‘scenario’ scene that incorporates your ideal customer. This sounds a little weird but really helps to gel the ideal target audience going forward. Having your target audience personified into a specific avatar, you know exactly who you are talking to! So much easier to get enthused when you think about them.
Listen to what Jay has to say from Wealthy Affiliate, about understanding your audience…. Click the start button and then the start/stop button to get going!
When you click on the video, you will be taken through to Wealthy Affiliate to listen and watch Jay. Click on the Green Button that says ‘Click To Watch Now’
Conclusion
Your Audience
I think you have a very good idea how to identify and relate to your audience now. You have an avatar that will help you focus your articles and blogs to directly appeal to them and bring you more traffic which in time will lead to more sales.
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Yes, I’m in the beginning phases of setting up an online business and knowing who your customers are is super important. I get into a bit of a tizzy sometimes. The build your avatar is very interesting, I hadn’t looked at it from that point of view. I’m thinking of my second niche and will use that to really get a good grip on my target audience. However, my second niche is about self esteem and pretty much all ages and genders can suffer with low self esteem, I was going to target different audiences in each post, what do you think?
I appreciate your post very much.
Im not sure thats such a great idea Louise, as you will use one way of writing for different age groups and that may make your website confusing. Maybe have one demographic in mind, but with feature articles that dip into the next age range.. Its all about showing authority and flitting around may not be helpful
I’ve been having some trouble targeting my ideal audience, because I didn’t know how … Your article has given me a new perspective and new ideas. I will also watch Jay’s video later today. I have been in some of his webinars and he is really an excellent teacher. Jay’s webinards are definitely a wonderful extra perk when you join Wealthy Affiliate 🙂 And the best is that you can sign up for free!
Definitely a great asset being part of Wealthy Affiliate. I love jay’s webinars, I dont get to see them live very often, but a lot of time is spent going back over the past webinars for amazing information. I am really glad this helped.
I totally understand this concept. But that does not mean that I am an expert on thi topic. I will say that you have to study you target audience. So that means try and think like them. You have to see who is communicaring well withthem and then emmulate what they are doing but with your own voice. This always helps me get a leg up. Kind of like monkey see monky do but monkey do better lol.
You’ve got it Eric ! Thats exactly it!
Wow! That’s a pretty in-depth article on how to grab your audience. I have been working on my site for some time, and grabbing audience attention has not been easy. It’s hard to figure out my content because I don’t know what my audience will like.
I think focusing on my demographic may the best way to make it work; thanks to your post, I’m a little bit smarter than when I arrived. The only issue with demographics is that what one audience can use another can use as well. That’s where I find the most trouble. How do you keep your demographics separate?
I think the best option is to focus on one audience only. Like my infographic shows, you will have a few ‘demographics’ that will be interested on your product or service, but you will have one demographic that really stands out and that is the one you have to focus on. Imagine stuff for babies, you’ll get the parents who of course are going to be the main demographic but also the grandparents… two different age demographics but both customers.
I must say that this is really an insightful post and i am very sure that the content of this article will be of so much help to many others, just as it has greatly helped me. This is a very detailed article on how to know your target audience and how to reach out to them. thank you for this great tips and help
Thanks for your comments, its a very important aspect of a niche to get right before we start a full business.