I’ve been talking a lot about getting clear on your brand and honing in on exactly what your brand represents and who your target audience is. It’s a really important thing to do.
But I have a confession to make.
I never really liked this exercise. I never saw the point of spending so much time trying to create a fake person when there were so many things to get done like securing a domain name, setting up a mailing list, designing a logo… To me, these were the things that mattered most.
Related: How I built this Website in less than 3 Weeks!
But does it really matter if you have a gorgeous site if no one visits it?
See, your target audience is SUPER important. They’re the ones that are listening, the ones that are going to care about what you have to say, they’re your tribe! If you don’t spend your time trying to get to know who these people are, where they are, what they’re looking for, what’s important to them, then you’re not going to know what to say to them. Take it from me, getting to know your audience is huge. It’ll make things so much easier for you. What kind of things? Here are a few off the top of my head. WHEN YOU KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE:
- You know who you’re talking to + how you should talk to them, so it’s easier to find your voice.
- You’ll learn what they like so you can build a brand that will be attractive to them.
- Their goals become clear and you learn what they’re looking for so you know what products/services to create.
- It’s easier to find them and engage with them because you know where they hang out.
- You know what they’re struggling with so creating content for them comes naturally.
Those are just a few, quick examples too, there are many more reasons why and if you start thinking this way, you’ll see they’ll come to you too. The other thing about finding your tribe is, there’s a good reason to be specific about it. Most people, myself included, feel like they don’t want to leave anyone out.
“My product is good for anyone really, so why do I have to exclude anyone?”
That’s a good question. The problem is, when you don’t narrow in on a group of people, you’re talking to everyone and oddly, you end up talking to no one. This may sound strange, but it’s true.
Your message won’t resonate with anyone so instead of having a great, big audience because your product is for everyone, you end up with no audience at all. True story! 
So WHO is your target audience? How do you find out?
1. Start thinking about the people you want to serve.
Think about the people that will benefit from your knowledge and what you have to offer. Don’t just have a passing thought, concentrate on them, right now, go ahead. Who are they? Are they women? Men? How old are they? What are their professions? What do they like to do? Really think about who these people are and what they do every day. This will help you start to think about habits and patterns that can help you to get to know them better.
2. Where can you find them?
Where would you find these people online? Are they the type of people that like Facebook or do they prefer Instagram? Are they women who might spend lots of time over on Pinterest? What brands do they like and whose sites are they going to visit? Are they professional individuals who’ll spend more time on LinkedIn? Think about where these people are. Then go there and start engaging with them. Bring your expertise to the table and start to offer it up so they know where to find you.
3. What are they trying to achieve right now that would require your help?
We’re all trying to do something with our lives. Some of us have big goals and others don’t know what they want out of life just yet. What are your people trying to do right now? Are they trying to lose weight? Do they want to make a career move? Are they trying to get healthier? When you start to think about what these people are struggling with, you start to identify who you could possibly help with your expertise and your offering. You’re not going to be the perfect fit for everyone, but within this group of people there is a tribe that’s waiting for your help! They are your target audience.
4. What problem are you going to solve for them?
Now that you’ve focused on this group of people and you know what they’re trying to achieve, what problem are you going to solve for them? For the person that wants to get healthier, are you offering an ebook full of healthy recipes? What about the one that wants to make a career move? Will your one on one coaching program be something they can benefit from? Start to think about what specific problem you can solve for them and what services or products can solve it.
5. How are you going to connect with them?
You’ll figure this out when you figure out where they are and how you can serve them. Once you figure out those two things, it’s easier to come up with ways to connect with them. For example, if you want to reach young women who are very sociable and are trying to get healthier, there’s a possibility they’re on Facebook. When you’re on Facebook, you can offer videos of you making the healthy recipes you’re offering, you can create a Facebook group where they can encourage each other, and you can post daily quotes to keep them inspired.
Once you figure out who they are, whey there are and what problem you’re going to solve, you’re golden!
Then you can start to plan how you’re going to connect and engage with them, so that they know where YOU are.
With all of this in mind, I created a PDF workbook that includes all these points and goes into a little more detail with questions to narrow down your audience. These are things I think about when I’m planning a new offer or branding a new business.
There are really long versions of this exercise that you can spend hours on but I usually keep mine on the shorter side and add more information if I need it. Keeping it a little shorter and more to the point also makes it something you can keep referencing when you’re going to write your blog posts, your emails or when you’re going to market to your audience.
So click the button below to get clear on who those wonderful people that are waiting for your expertise are and start speaking to them right away! They will help shape your brand quicker than you could ever do it by yourself. Get to work, figure out who they are and connect with them!
