Ever thought you could post anything you want, and your audience would magically love it? Spoiler alert: that’s not quite how it works. Your personal brand isn’t just about you; it’s about the audience you’re speaking to. Let’s debunk the myth and dive into the key ingredient for personal branding success – understanding your audience.
Adapting our content and creativity to resonate with our audience is a common necessity; every move we make in building our personal brand is geared towards attracting and satisfying our desired audience. Have you ever pondered the keys to Oprah Winfrey’s or Michelle Obama’s personal brand success? It boils down to their dedicated efforts to understand and genuinely connect with their audience!
Consider you’re a millennial, and your target audience is a Gen Zer. You will undoubtedly have to alter your content, copy, and potential distribution channel for that demographic!
I call getting to know your audience the ultimate research stage, and I suggest you not take any shortcuts during this stage.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to gain insight into my audience:
▪️ Reading online forums like Quora and Reddit: on these forums, you can see conversation threads about your audience’s pain points, consumers’ lifestyle habits, beliefs, and more! These forums provide primary data about your audience, and it’s all about how you use it. These are also great places to research for content ideas. You can use common questions, concerns, and beliefs to create educational content that resonates with your audience!
▪️ Dive into their social media communities by searching hashtags, keywords, and top influencers related to my audience’s profile: diving into their social media will help you understand how they communicate on various social platforms, the pages they like to follow, the emojis they use, and so much more. Diving into their social media communities will also give you insights into what your competitors are up to and what your audience loves about them and dislikes. Discovering and understanding this information will give you a competitive advantage!
▪️ Read and listen to reviews: whether you’re selling a service, product, or personal brand, see what your audience says about your competitors. (opinions help shape your buyer persona perfectly) Knowing what your competitor lacks will help you write compelling copy by using it against them (in a positive way and without advertising them). Amazon and Youtube reviews are typically my favorite!
Ultimately, getting to know and eventually honing in on your audience will take some time, but it will be worth it.
This research will drive compelling stories, relevant copy, digestible content, and valuable information for your audience.
The more research you do, the better!
Want to learn more about this topic? Make sure to follow Aiyanna Watson on LinkedIn™.
