How do you spark a valuable conversation without knowing who you’re talking to?
The best storytellers have one skill in common. As much as we love a wacky and theatrical collection of character voices — it’s not that. It’s the ability to spin a tale to appeal to whatever audience is tuning in. In other words, it’s not always about the story; it’s about how the story is told. Here’s the catch; this skill is 100% reliant on one’s understanding of their audience. Ever hear someone tell a story that completely falls flat? Things can get real awkward — real quick.
Take our word for it, knowing your audience is everything.
Who your audience is will inform three vital parts of your strategy:
The type of content you produce
The tone of voice you use
The channels you use for distribution
Miss the mark on any one of these three things, and you can bet the farm your ROI will plummet. Which brings us to the featured topic of the day - how do you get to know your audience? Per the usual, we have some pro advice. Check it out:
Define Your Audience
Seriously. Sit down with a pen and paper and spell it out. Start by looking at your existing followers across all marketing channels.
What characteristics can you identify? (Think age, job description, interests, challenges…)
Are any details the same? Take note of recurring similarities.
What content do your followers engage with the most?
After you run through this process with your followers, repeat using your most valuable customers as the focus. These people represent the most promising and lucrative audience segment for your brand to target. And since you’ve already won their business, you should be analyzing them like a rocket scientist to learn everything you possibly can!
Next, develop ‘buyer personas’. Buyer personas are fictitious profiles for individual people that represent a segment of your audience. Chances are, you will end up with more than one. Give each persona a name like ‘Executive Aaron’, or ‘Busy Mom Melissa’. Include demographic information, job description, goals, pain points, interests, etc. Also, understand that your buyer personas (like real people) are living documents, meaning they will grow and change as you learn more about your audience segments.
This guide will tell you everything you ever wanted to know (or didn’t want to know) about audience personas.
The information you outline in each buyer persona will provide you with the information you need to set accurate targeting parameters for distribution.
Pro Tip: You should also repeat this entire process using your direct competitors’ clientele.
Get Chummy
There are two ways your brand can warm up to its target audiences without scaring them off by acting like a nosy creep.
1. Invest in Their Interests
In the last section, we talked about taking notice of what content interests your followers. This is part of the puzzle. You can tell a lot about a person based on what information they choose to interact with. The other way you can connect with your target audiences is by learning about the things that impact or influence them. Find out where your audiences hang out online. Visit those places and find out what they care about
.Ex. A change in compliance rules, a new piece of technology, seasonal events, or a new industry trend.
If you know what is occupying their thoughts, driving their decisions, and motivating them, you can pivot quickly and tailor your video messaging so that it tells a relevant story that fits right in with what already has their attention.
2. Learn to Speak Their Language
We talk about this skill a lot because it’s transferable. Whether you’re pitching to C-Suite for a bigger marketing budget or trying to attract your target audience — language matters. Pay attention to how your target audience talks about their industry and the world around them, and align your messaging with their vernacular. You may never be fluent in their industry, but speaking a variation of their dialect will help establish your brand as authentic, intelligent, and compassionate.
Think about it. Unless the topic is current weather conditions, you can’t even start a conversation with someone unless you know who you’re talking to. Before you invest even a dime into your video marketing strategy, spend adequate time making sure that you understand exactly who it is you’re trying to reach. Then, deliver on their expectations. One way you can do this is by using personalized video to create a genuine connection. Learn more about personalized video by clicking here. And if you need help developing other ways to connect with your target audience through video, contact us!
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