Why Understanding Your Audience Matters | SMX Advanced

When it comes to marketing, we’ve seen a pretty drastic shift in what customers like and respond to nowadays. Traditional marketing involves pushing yourself in front of customers. If you could do this enough, people would eventually turn to you and buy your services.

Today, most people dislike and distrust ads or companies pushing themselves into their lives. Instead, the new standard for marketing requires pulling your customers in. You need to be there when they look for your service. Become an expert and passively make your content and website the most relevant source when someone searches for something related to your industry or service.

Marketing has become much smarter, allowing you to cast a bigger net and wait for users to come to you instead of spearing them one by one. Below, we will cover the reasons why you have to understand your audience to reap the full benefits of the new standards for marketing.

Perks of Understanding Users

For starters, creating or even sculpting your website and business becomes much easier when you understand your users. If you understand what your audience is potentially looking for and what their potential intent is, you can then mold your site to fit your user’s needs.

That same understanding can also help you create content. You can determine who your users are, and then you can determine what they really want to see. Do they want to read your content, or do they want to watch your content? Would they want to see a price or call to get pricing? Once you know your customers, you will know what content will engage them.

Another benefit that comes from knowing your audience is actually connecting with them. By connecting with them, I mean that your customers either talk with you or share interesting content you have found or created. Social media offers so many options, so understanding your audience is the pinnacle to determining where you should focus your social efforts. Whether you are connecting on Twitter or posting on Facebook, your users always have a preference—it is your responsibility to figure out what they like.

Experts understand their target audiences and then tailor their website’s user experience based on who the audience is and what they need. Show your audience that you’re the right website or person. Show your users that this isn’t your first rodeo. The reality is that no one wants to read or buy from a greenhorn. Instead, they want a seasoned veteran who has an abundance of experience and knowledge.

Do You REALLY Know Your Audience?

Take this quiz to see if you know your audience!

0–30% Read further and see if some of our tips can help you understand your audience better.

31–70% Some of our tips can fill the gaps to understanding your audience.

71–100% Seems like you know your audience! Get out there and promote your content!

Tips to Understanding Your Audience

Start by checking what you currently offer on your website and in your content. Once you understand why someone would visit your page, you should continue by asking who visits that page.

Page data from Google Analytics, social media, and even comments can give you a good idea of who sees your content. From here, you can begin generalizing the viewers you have found. Ask yourself these questions to help you generalize your audience:

• What is the age range of your average users? (18–24, 25–39, 40–59, 60+)
• Does it look like they are married? (yes, no, unsure)
• Do they have children? (yes, no, unsure)
• What do they share a lot? (videos, quotes, pictures, blogs, etc.)
• Could they or would they participate in what you’re offering? (yes, no, unsure)

With some of your audience generalized, you can begin to bucket them together. Once you have a basic outline of where your audience falls, you now have a clearer idea of who your audience is.

Finally, why not test your new audience findings and create some new content to see if your theoretical audience is correct?