How to find your target audience for your online business
The target audience of your business is the reason why you started in the world of entrepreneurship and business. I’m very sure you already know roughly who your target audience is, but how do you actually find that target audience for your online business?
How do you get the aligned clients you want for your business? It all comes down to having a VERY clear understanding of who they are, what their pain points are and how your business can help them!
So here are some of the most important things you need to remember and know when it comes to identifying who your target audience is so you can start creating the content that resonates with them AND to build the connection you need for a sustainable business.
Listen below!
Why is finding your target audience important?
Not too much explanation needs be put into this section. We know why it is so important to find your target audience! So, you can do the following:
Create the content that they like/need
Build the connection
Build trust and loyalty
Bring them in as buying customers
Create more connection for recurring business
Build on the user experience
Honour your customers so they refer you
All of these go together to build a sustainable business where you have customers who continue to come back to you AND refer you on to other people!
Of course, the connection building for any online business starts with your content! Once you can build the content your audience wants, you can bring them into your funnel and continue to build a connection with them!
As I mentioned in the podcast, the customer journey now is more like a circle rather than a funnel! The circle will ensure they keep coming back!
Map out who your target audience is!
To begin, what you want to do is map out who your target audience is! You can always come back and refine this, but you need to make a start!!
You can do this in two ways (I recommend you do both):
Use a template like the one Hootsuite provides here
Journal your ideal client (go into detail here)
Once you have an overview of who your target audience is, you can start researching them!
Research your target audience
Start online by using social media to “stalk” your target audience. Look at what content they post, who they follow and how they speak to their followers.
This sort of research will really help you go that extra step into really understanding who they are, what motivates them and how they make choices in their day to day life!
Plus, once you know the type of content they enjoy, it makes it easier for you to create content they will engage with!
Develop more based on aligned questions
Now that you have done the research, you can go back to your map and refine! Based on your understanding of who they are you can start mapping out:
The goals
The fears
The pain points
Core values
What they need
What holds them back
What online platforms they use
Of course, some of these you will need more information to be able to answer. Sometimes you will need to call on people to do target market research. Or you can also do this using your social media channels.
Develop your target audience through social media
The audience you have on your social media will be KEY for target market research. Even if you have a small following, you can still reach out to your audience.
Use the poll feature on Instagram story or even the question boxes to really get an understanding of what your target audience want from you and how they make buying choices. You can also use this to generate content ideas!
Facebook groups are also great for getting more research done (especially if you don’t have a huge following).
Just find the Facebook groups where your target audience hangs out! Aim to consistently do this for more aligned target market research as your business grows.
Talk with your clients
Of course, another way to generate content ideas and more of an understanding of your target audience is to talk with your clients.
Listen to what they say, note down the questions they ask you! Chances are if they are asking you, many others will want to know that answer too. You can create content on that and reach more people that way!
Never be afraid to bounce ideas off your clients AND also listen to them. Not only will this help you get more of an understanding, but it builds a better connection.
Pick on the pain points
Once you have done the research and identify the pain points, this is what you will consistently use in your content.
You will create sales pages, social media content and the like to show how your business solves that pain point! Make sure you really understand the pain point and try to show your audience the values and transformation!
What have we done at Content Queen?
What I have done with Content Queen is EXACTLY everything I have mentioned. I did the research, I continue to do the research. I have a Google Sheet of questions I’ve been asked, and I create the content based off those questions.
The pain point have been turned into a story and transformation and I continually try to use my audience on social media to understand how I can best serve.
I’ll also message new followers, connect with them and understand them better! I offer advice and don’t try to sell to them all the time. To me, it is about the connection! My target audience are my friends!
What if you don’t have a big audience?
If you don’t have a huge audience, you can STILL do target audience research.
Use online tools like Ubersuggest and Answer The Public to work out the types of content people are searching. Once you use keywords to get some content ideas, you can make a start creating content.
Then once you build your following you can go through the motions above and develop your understanding further. Target audience research is the FIRST thing you should do when you are creating any form of business or marketing strategy! At the end of the day, they are the people you want to help.
If your target audience was you in the past who had a problem, think back to the person you were then! Do your market research that way! But never think “I don’t have a big enough audience to do target audience research”. It is not true.
Final thoughts
How do you feel now? To me, target audience research was always the most confusing because, at the end of the day, you can’t be in someone else’s head and know exactly what they are thinking. BUT you can use the tools and the knowledge you have to create an outline.
Once you have this outline, you can start creating the content that will best resonate. Then you continue to question, continue to research and grow from there.
Content is a “throw the spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks” type of game. Just create the content and refine based on your knowledge. Never be afraid that it will fail, because you will learn from these failures!!
At the end of the day, you are never too far gone to do the target audience research. It is the most important step and is never a “set and forget” method.