Audience: a group of listeners or spectators; a group of ardent admirers or devotees.
Knowing your audience is key to your business’ survival. Whether it’s your book, your course, your coaching program… Today, I’m discussing why knowing your ideal audience is key to making your book your business.
Defining your ideal audience
After you’ve defined your “people,” you can focus your content marketing to them and not just with a flip of the coin.
Believe me, I know, narrowing down your audience to certain specifications can be hard. If you’re anything like me, I like to make sure no one is left of out the mix. However, what I’ve learned through the years is focusing on a specific audience saves time, money, and work. When we were working on developing our Avatar (ideal audience), I stretched the “specifics” out too broad. To this day I remember Peter telling me, “It’s not that we can’t work for those people but we need to focus on our ideal client, our audience.”
Think about the following when narrowing down your ideal client:
- Male, female, or both
- Age
- Highest level of education
- Marital status
- Annual income
- Occupation
- Social media hangouts
- Troubles which keep them awake at night
- Their hopes and dreams
You might be asking, what do those questions have to do with finding my audience? Everything. Your answers to those questions help you know where to focus your marketing efforts.
So where does your ideal audience hang?
In his book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary Vanyerchuk wrote, “Content is King, but context is God. When planning your content, it is important to remember each social media platform has its own unique language, culture, sensibility, and style. Pay attention or don’t waste your time.
You could say Facebook is the catch-all platform. With few exceptions, most small businesses, marketers, and brand managers consider Facebook an okay marketing tool. People of all ages use Facebook – from teenagers to octogenarians and beyond.
Saying as much as you can using as few words as possible. Context is more important than content on this platform. What kind of spin can you put on content already on Twitter? In his book, Vanyerchuk wrote,
Breaking out on Twitter isn’t about breaking the news or spreading information – it’s about deejaying it. News has little value on its own, but the marketer who can skillfully spin, interpret, and remix it in his or her own signature style can often tell a story that is more powerful and memorable than the actual news itself.”
Visual and artsy. While more challenging for content marketing because of linking and interaction, think of this platform as if you were placing an ad in a print magazine. Imagine an ad in Country Living, Architectural Digest… what do you notice about the ads? They’re photos of beautiful, great quality images. Use Instagram to artistically tell your story, emphasize your brand, and build followers.
Think professionals – attorneys, accountants, business to business; a place to land a deal. People are looking for business or to find a job. LI has emerged the past few years with the ability to post videos and blogs.
In conclusion
Successful businesses knows their ideal audience. Your book is a business and in order to sell books it’s vital you know your ideal audience and where they hang out. Where are you going to connect with your people? Your goal is to make money off of your book. If you know your ideal audience it’s going to be easier to make money. Your book is an avenue for sales. Marketing to the right people opens up speaking engagements, followers to purchase your book, your course, or your coaching programs.
So many platforms, so little time. Remember, you don’t have to start on every platform. Just starting your journey marketing on social media? Pick one or two platforms where your followers hang. Already posting? Ask yourself this question: Am I posting content in the correct context for the platform I’m using? If your answer is no, make the appropriate changes and give it three to six months and see what happens (it isn’t going to change overnight). Consistency is key in your message and at the same time, use the context of the platform to your advantage.
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