How To Write Great Marketing Content By Understanding Your Audience Better

What’s the key to getting more sales, social media shares and followers? Simple. Give people exactly what they want!

When it comes to your content, understanding who you’re talking to is vital This is the foundation that all the popular startups and blogs are built upon. The thing they do right is knowing exactly what makes their customers tick.

The same principles that make Amazon and the Mashable! so popular, apply to writing content that sells.

To write content that sells you want to think of yourself as a salesperson on a keyboard.

What the most successful salespeople have in common is their ability to connect with customers. In other words, empathy is the characteristic I’m referring to here. Which by definition, is understanding and sharing the feelings of others.

By understanding who your audience is, you’re in a prime position to deliver content that meets their needs. And that means more shares, subscribers and most importantly, sales.

Understanding Your Target Audience

The first step of course is to gain a basic understanding of your audience. Start off by finding the answers to these questions:

• Who’s involved in the buying decision? e.g. CEOs, Marketing manager, business owner, etc
• What does their day look like?
• How are they measured for success?
• How can your content help them? How do your product fit into their needs?
• What does your audience want?
• What does your audience want to avoid at all costs?

Next up. Listen and observe what your audience values most. Here are a few ways you can stay tuned in:

• Visit forums where they spend time online
• LinkedIn Groups
• Google+ Communities
• Set up Twitter searches relevant to your audience
• Attend trade shows and networking events
• Subscribe to relevant blogs and monitor the comments

The secret is to put yourself in their shoes. Your audience’s reasons for buying might be different from yours, which is why it’s essential to become familiar with their needs. Imagine how much time you’d spend crafting content, only to realize it’s ineffectiveness when no sales materialize. Or when that blog post doesn’t go viral. That’s the price you pay when you fail to understand who your audience is.

Find out and focus on what keeps your audience up at night!

Question: How do you get to know your audience better?

Photo by Y. Duarte