Hitting the Target (Audience)
Identifying the target audience for your writing is crucial. Once you know your target audience, you can get your work in front of them, and have a better chance for recognition, success, and sales. Identifying your target audience for your writing takes some time and research, but will benefit you immensely if you put in the effort.
Still not convinced? Take a look at my previous article, “Why Do You Need a Target Audience?”
Five Questions
To begin the process of identifying your target audience, you need to ask yourself some questions. The following questions assume that you are already reading and engaging with content similar to what you are creating. When you think about your target audience, ask yourself the following five questions.
1. How do you engage with the genre/topic/medium?
When you think about your target audience, you need to consider in what way they will most enjoy your content. Do they look for digital or physical copies of the work? Do they enjoy short-, mid-, or long-form works? Is the information presented in a colorful visual way, or is it more simple? If you engage that way, it’s likely your audience will too. When you create and revise your writing, keep your audience’s taste in mind.
2. How do you find new content?
People are constantly finding and engaging with new content. But how they find it shapes what they are exposed to. Do they belong to book clubs or subscription lists? Do they read magazines or installments in a series? Do they depend on certain publishers or sellers to stock that type of content in one place so they can find it? Once you know how people find the kind of work you are creating, you have a better idea of who is going to those places to find it.
3. Where are content creators and the audience who engages with their work?
Social media plays a large role in modern content creation. Which social medias attract which kinds of creators? Do people have their own websites? Do people have forums, group chats, mailing lists, or other ways that they seek out content creators directly? When you consider where people are sharing and finding work, it can help you understand people’s ages, income levels, and other interests, which will more clearly define your target audience.
4. To whom do people who publish similar content market? How can you tell?
If you can view online interactions between creators or distributors that make content similar to yours, make up a rough “typical profile” of the people who seem to be consuming that content. What is their age, profession, gender, related interests, and price point they are willing to pay? How do the creators or distributors offer their writing for sale? Seeing positive and negative trends in marketing and content available to your audience will make it easier for you to consider both what you offer and how you offer it to your target audience.
5. What do successful people in your market do?
Find a few successful authors in your niche and take the time to analyze their sales model. Do they offer just their writing? Do they offer additional services like signed books or in-person appearances? Do they network with other creators to cross-promote each other’s work? Identifying the actions that lead to success with a certain target audience will reveal more about that audience’s interest and engagement with the kind of writing you are doing.
When in Doubt, Ask
A very useful tool in our modern age is direct contact with your potential target audience. Ask people what they like! Use polls, forum posts, social media, and surveys to check in with people. You may have more success in getting replies if you offer incentives to complete them. People love to talk about themselves, and if you frame your work in the context of their interests, you’ll both learn valuable information and be able to make initial contact with your target audience.
If your target audience is an underutilized or unrecognized one, you can still have success. But you will have to work harder to market and to get your content to them.
Search Engine Results
If you’re not sure where to start, search engines are your friend. You can just search the type of writing you do, or you can be more specific and search specific terms related to your work.
What I love about [genre] is…
What I hate about [genre] is…
In [genre] I want to see more…
It’s valuable to frame your content in the context of your audience’s interests. Don’t just think about why you like writing your content. Think about why others might enjoy reading it.
It is also worth searching for common tropes and typical issues in your genre.
Getting a Professional Opinion
It can be extremely helpful to have an editor read your manuscript while it is still relatively early to address any structural or overarching issues that might alienate your audience or derail your work. For more on manuscript evaluation, take a look at the post “What is Manuscript Evaluation and Why Do I Need It?”
Three Things That Will NOT Help You Find Your Target Audience
1. Believing “If I build it, they will come.”
Not true. That’s no guarantee, and in fact, in an age where a constant deluge of information washes over consumers at an alarming rate, unless there’s a way for people to have your content put in front of them, they won’t find it. How often do you get in a car and drive out to the middle of nowhere on the off chance that a shop you might like will have opened in the middle of a field? Not being cognizant of the need to identify and bring your content to your target audience is the same thing.
2. Thinking, “If I send this to [famous person], they’ll feature it and I won’t have to find my audience.”
Nope. In fact, this creates an additional layer of unlikeliness to the process. Even on the very slim chance that the famous person takes the time to consume media from someone they have never heard of, and that person actually likes your work, that doesn’t guarantee that your work will suit THEIR audience. They have no reason to show it to anyone. Even if magically it does fit their tastes and match their audience, it’s unlikely they would advertise for you for free—you’d need to compensate them for your work to be shared.
3. Assuming “I can ignore the need for a target audience, it will work out on its own.”
Not the case. Deferring the issue doesn’t erase it. The earlier you start thinking about this and engaging with your possible audience, the better, since once you connect with your audience and establish yourself as a possible content resource, the more open people will be to consuming and paying for your content.
Your Target Audience Is Waiting
With a little bit of time and a little bit of research, you can identify who will be interested in reading your work. This research gives you the best chance of getting your work in front of the eyes of those who would want to engage with it. Identifying your target audience will benefit you both immediately and in the future as you continue to create new content. Find your audience to help them find you—and find and love your work.