How to find my business target audience (and why this so important)

Knowing your people is step one for any successful communication—it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. It’s next to impossible to effectively communicate in any platform when you don’t know who’s on the other side.

So many businesses skip or fast-track this crucial step, and it is one of the biggest mistakes I see all the time in my work.

So before you write anything (I’m talking web copy, blogs, social media captions, newsletters), please step away from your keyboard and do this first.

(And if you’re thinking, “Yep, her name is Zoe and she’s 35, and she has two kids and does yoga.” That’s a great start on a persona, but it’s more than this.)

Target audience for B2B vs B2C (that’s business-to-business or business-to-consumer)

If you sell directly to your customer, it is definitely simpler, but you still need to consider all stakeholders and indirect audiences, or you could be missing out on some huge opportunities. (Hello referrals!)

And if you’re a B2B, it’s a bit tougher, because we need to consider the needs of individuals as well as the needs of the business as a whole. This blog is focused on audience for B2C, but B2Bs will still get some great tips.

I’ll walk you through some questions and give you my own examples as we go. Here’s how I like to start.

1. What’s your unique offering for your customers? AKA-- Why should they care about you?

It may sound blunt, but people are busy, and it’s up to you to show up in your business in a way that makes you stand out and makes your audience pay attention.

So what is it you do best? Why do your customers or clients love you? Why is yours unique from others like it? Tell them why they should care.

For me, it’s my personal approach and my ability to understand and connect with each of my clients. To get inside their heads and their customers’ minds and translate all those thoughts into strategies that work and words that convert. All the while making it fun and easy for them.

Remember, if you don’t tell them why you’re worth it, then your audience will make a choice on price alone and just go with the cheaper option. Identify what it is you do that makes you the best choice in your field, and tell your people about it in a relatable way.

2. Who would most benefit from your product or service? What problems are you solving?

Everyone has issues. So what problem are you solving for your people? Are you saving them time, money, stress, guilt? Do you have a vegan meal solution or a coaching system that will grow their business? Identify the problem you are solving, communicate it to your people, and they will love you.

I help business owners who hate to write and have little time for communications strategy, but know how important it is and want to grow their business.

3. Create detailed marketing audience personas and get to know your people

First, what is an audience persona?

It’s a semi-fictional example of the types of people who make up your customers or client base. It’s also the fun part. The more detail you can get here, the better.

Let’s start identifying who your audience really is. Think about who would be most likely to purchase your product or service, and then create a set of personas that represent these people. And remember it’s not always the person who buys—it could be the person who refers or shares your product or service. Or someone who might buy it as a gift. For B2C, you will likely have between three and five personas.

Think about their age, gender, location, income, hobbies—all of it. I even give mine a name and find a picture. As you go about your communications, keep these “people” front of mind. If you need help with this, just let me know! These sessions are really fun.

I won’t go into the nitty gritty demographics, but my audience is mainly owners of small to medium sized businesses in Australia and America, who have been in business for a few years, and are ready to invest in their communications and take their business to the next level. But I also get lots of referrals from web developers, graphic designers, and photographers. So I need to keep all my people in mind when I design my messaging.

4. How to connect with my target audience?

Think back on your personas and work out where each of them might get their information. Is Becky on Facebook or LinkedIn or neither? Does Amal listen to podcasts or attend networking events or love YouTube videos? Maybe Matt always starts by searching on Google, in which case an SEO Melbourne Copywriter could help lift that SEO game and Google ranking. (hint hint)

Work out where these people get their reliable information and tailor your marketing plan accordingly.

Finally remember to review your audience notes at least once a year! Your business grows and changes, and with it, your audience.

Putting a face to your audience may seem like an exercise to sit on the to-do list, but I promise it makes the writing and strategy process so much simpler and quicker.

Want more advice tailored to you?