Understanding your target audience is the key to creating content that converts. Great content is easy to write, or even easy to buy. But if you don’t bring in visitors that are interested in purchasing your product, then it isn’t helping grow your business.
Your target audience, put simply, is the segment of consumers your business is built to serve. You might have multiple target audiences as your business grows, and understanding the right information about your audience will help you reach them with your content.
So, how do I determine my target audience?
The easiest place to start is with information you already have! Who are your existing customers? Where do they live? Do they have children? What are their interests? Socioeconomic status? Lifestyle? The list goes on.
Every platform knows the importance of this information in the hand of business owners, and they’ve worked hard to make it easy for you to find! Google Analytics is a great place to gain insight into your website visitors and find common trends in those who become customers.
Facebook Insights and Instagram Insights will tell you demographic information about your followers, letting you know who is interested in the content you’re already producing and which posts perform well.
You can take things even further by reading bios of your followers, especially those who are constantly liking and commenting on your posts. And if you haven’t gotten much traction or you’re just starting out, check out your competitors’ followers! Consider what sets you apart from the competition that might impact the demographic you’re targeting and build on that foundation.
Ask your audience. Have a conversation.
There’s a ton of insight to be gained from your various data sources, but nothing is quite as illuminating as speaking with the source itself – your audience. You’ve seen other accounts doing it, asking their followers to vote on ideas, favourite types of content, or share topics they’d like to hear more about. What better way to create content that your followers want to read than by asking them directly?
Whenever possible, respond to comments and direct messages to stay connected with your followers. Ask questions and track your feedback so you can continually better the content that you create, and more effectively reach your audience!
Get customer data that matters.
Through all of your conversations, surveys and data diving, you’ll need to focus on a few key questions to help guide your understanding of your target audience. Here are some questions you can seek to answer:
- What are your target audience’s challenges?
- What do they care about?
- Where do they find their information?
- How does your product or service benefit your target audience?
Create content for your target audience.
Understanding what drives your customers, what enriches their lives and builds their trust in your brand as an expert in your industry will lead to more visitors becoming customers. Through your conversations, surveys and customer insights, identify what’s working for you and double down.
Over time, your content will change and your audience will grow. But if you continually follow this strategy of understanding your audience, you’ll grow with them and so will your business!
Not sure if you’re creating the right content? Know what your audience wants to hear but just don’t have the time to write it? Our team is happy to help! Book a consulting call here.
