10 Truths about Target Audiences that Managers Prefer to Ignore
Here's a few reminders to keep us all on track with our marketing content.
10. You are not the target audience.
You might think you know what they want. You might think they're not so different from yourself. If you like your product, if you see the use case for it, then surely they will too. Right?
Nope. History is littered with dead campaigns (and dead businesses) who thought this same thing. They all mis-targeted, confusing their audience, even offending them with how wrong the targeting was.
9. What you think the audience wants to read does not matter.
It does happen sometimes...maybe 30% of the time?
8. What the audience wants to read matters.
They're happy to tell you what it is too. Trouble is, you have to listen. With the ego turned off. That's not easy for some.
He's going to have some serious neck pain like that. Photo by Derick Anies on Unsplash.
7. You must continually work to keep your readers.
A thousand things try to take their attention from you every day. If you're not consistently working on content quality, distribution, and engagement, you will lose them. Customer attrition is a thing.
6. Sell to your readers, but not always.
Treat it like a relationship (because it is). I've seen sales opportunities grow just from one simple reminder.
5. Audiences will skim your content, but always want to see a fully-written page.
Never skimp on important details. "Hold back the good stuff" belongs back in 2004. Do it today and you're insulting the reader.
4. Audiences want to feel a good feeling from your content, but won't force themselves to.
It's on you to deliver a good feeling via answers to questions, helpful tone, and reassurance for problems.
3. Your audience may change over time, on its own. You don't control this (but must respond to it).
Everything changes with time. A new audience may even come along; will you recognize when they do?
2. You don't control when, how, or why your audience consumes your content. They do.
Which means they control when/if they buy. Forgetting this jeopardizes the entire sales process...every time, for as long as you ignore it.
Yes, people do read on tablets. Will your website display properly here?
Photo by Javier Esteban on Unsplash.
1. You. Are NOT. The target audience!
"I like this product. Therefore our customers will like it…because our customers are like me." This fatal premise kills businesses. Yet it sticks around because so many people treat the concept of 'other audiences' as a personal attack. They recoil at the notion of selling to someone not like them.
Better get over it, because competitors will destroy you if you don't.