Today’s Challenge: Define Your Target Audience
On the surface, the topic of today’s challenge is pretty basic – so much so that it is often ignored all together.
That is really unfortunate because the key to developing a responsive email list is to attract the right type of subscribers in the first place.
I don’t know about you… but I’d much rather have the right people on my list than a massive list of people who never open my messages.
I mean, where’s the fun in that?? 🙂
By the way – did you know you don’t always need a huge list to have a profitable online business? In my experience, a highly targeted smaller list is a lot more valuable than a huge list of non-responsive subscribers.
So your #1 goal right now is to define your target audience (and then we’ll focus on ways to get them on your list!)
I can’t stress how important this single step is to your long-term results. Unfortunately, if you get this part wrong, the rest of your efforts may fall flat…
So, let’s get started…
Take a moment and think about your ideal customer.
Who are they? Define them as closely as possible. Be specific about their gender, their age, their family status, their economic circumstance, their profession, etc…
Be as specific as possible in this step. The more clear you are, the better.
Hint: You are not looking for “everyone!”
Conventional wisdom is to picture a single person that defines your target audience. Personally, I struggle with this a bit because as I’ve gotten to know my customers as individuals – it’s harder for me to lump them all into a single persona. However, if you are just getting started, this is a smart idea as long as you remember to adjust your vision based on your real-life interactions with your customers over time.
As an aside – I realized how “off” initial hunches can be when I (wrongly) assumed that my customers for KitchenPLR (the precursor to this site) would be primarily women. I soon realized that my actual customer base was closer to a 50/50 split of men to women.
As you might imagine, this realization made a big difference in terms of how I communicated with my audience and the offers I created. Getting this part right really does make a difference!
Another huge benefit of understanding who your ideal customer is that you can then write all of your content, including your email messages, as though you are talking one-on-one with that individual. Finding ways to connect with your readers one-on-one will have a huge impact on your business.
Fish Where the Fish Are
Once you better understand who your target audience is, it becomes a lot easier to figure out where to find them. Once you have your ideal subscriber and customer defined, think about where this person might hang out online.
For example, you’ll want to consider:
- What blogs do they read?
- What social media platforms do they use?
- What groups, forums, and membership sites do they join?
Next, make a list of places your potential subscribers might be found, including:
- Popular general food-related websites and blogs
- Other websites and blogs (health & wellness, niche-specific (low carb, Whole30, etc…)
- Social media platforms, such as Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (search Facebook groups and pages, plus Twitter and Instagram hashtags)
Having this list will be invaluable as you develop a plan to get in front of your audience and drive them back to your opt-in forms and pages. (Which is exactly what we’re going to focus on in the days and weeks ahead).
Knowing who you are trying to get on your list in the first place will also be really important when we tackle tomorrow’s task. If you’re not well acquainted with your target market, take some time to day to study them via the sites you’ve just listed. Check out the blogs they are interested in and take a look at their conversations on social media.
I know this may seem like a lot of effort up front, but I promise your hard work won’t be wasted.
That’s all I have for today. I’ll be back here tomorrow with the Day 3 Challenge. (Make sure you’re signed up for the 30 Day List Building Challenge so you don’t miss anything!)
‘Til Next Time,
Trish ~ Chief Cook & Content Creator
KitchenBloggers.com
Feed Your Blog!!
PS I’ve added a workbook/study guide to our private Facebook group (check under “files”) to help you with this process. (It is titled “Target Audience.”)
I originally offered this guide on my original copywriting site (no longer online because I no longer offer those services). I’ve updated it with food blog examples and made it more specific to email marketing (vs. general copywriting) for this challenge.
You can claim your free copy in our private Facebook group. If you aren’t a member, you can join here.
