How To Create Content That Speaks To Your Target Audience

Have you ever spent time creating a piece of content, only to put it out there and all you hear is crickets?

It’s not a good feeling.

But what if your content just wasn’t speaking to your target audience?

What if a few tweaks and a better understanding of their needs and desires was the trick to creating content that converts? We’re here to lend you a hand and help you create content that speaks to your target audience in a genuine way.

Where should you start?

Creating content that speaks to your target audience requires a simple but vital 3 step process. Here’s what to do:

STEP 1: Get to know your audience

You could be producing amazing content and marketing it with all your might, but if what you’re saying isn’t resonating with your target audience then your efforts are pointless.

To identify your target audience and get to know them, you have to put your research hat on and really dive deep into your community. Here are a few ways to do this:

1. Research your target audience’s background – who is your ideal customer?

Create a persona of your ideal customer and work from there. Go into as much detail as possible including their income, gender, age, location and career.

2. What does your target audience need help with? What are their concerns and struggles?

Identify your ideal customers’ real concerns. What would actually benefit and help them? What can you provide that will help them improve their situation? Think outside the square!

3. Where does your target audience hang out online?

This is where many companies fail to connect with their target audience. They don’t think about where and when their ideal customers are hanging out and communicating online.

If you’re a B2B company, your audience are likely on LinkedIn or Twitter, rather than Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram. To get your content into the eyes of your ideal customers, do your research and work out where they are and what key times they are online.

STEP 2: Choose your ‘voice’ and tone

When creating content for your target audience, it’s vital to have a clearly unique tone and online voice. There’s so much content out there in the digital space that companies need to be forward-thinking and truly represent their persona and ideals through their online marketing. The best way to do this is by owning your own niche and your own voice, with some of your brand’s personality thrown in.

What sets you apart from other industry competitors? How can you rise above the online content noise and stand out with personality?

STEP 3: Choose your method of communication

Now that you know your ideal customer and their struggles, concerns and where they are online – it’s time to get started and put together a savvy content action plan.

We suggest choosing your method of communication first – will you blog, create videos, slide presentations, audio, infographics, or a mixture? Where will you publish this content and how often? What would be an ideal consumable piece of content that your audience has time to read and wants to read? Think about this – a CEO will not bother with a 20 page e-book but a short and snappy video series or blog post may catch their attention and fit into their busy schedule.

As with all marketing efforts, take time to consider your audience first and foremost in every piece of content that you create and around that.

What’s the next step you’re going to take in creating content that speaks to your target audience?