Targeted content: reaching the right audience

TO successfully and consistently get your message across online, you need to be sure that your targeted content is reaching the right audience.

Be very clear on who you are writing for. You will be able to speak more directly, and connect more readily, with your identified audience. This makes your targeted content work harder for you and your business.

Each time you are planning or writing content, you should go back to your mission statement or strategy, and ensure that you are crystal clear on your core audience target, on what you are delivering, and what the outcome will be for the audience.

If you are positioning yourself as an expert, then you will need to give freely in your targeted content.

You need to find the sweet spot where you give away just enough to convince your audience that you have plenty more where that came from. Click To Tweet

This will build trust, reinforce your brand value and establish you as an expert who is worth listening to.

Adding value and then some

Think about what will genuinely help your target audience. How can you get them to think differently about an issue? How can you demonstrate how you can help bridge the gap between where they are now and where they could be?

Tying targeted content back to commercial proof or real business knowledge will give you the edge of credibility compared to others in the same niche.

Don’t try to be everything to every reader; that is the way to lose impact and confuse your audience.

Being as specific as you can be will help your audience recognise what you can do for them. You will need to spend your time and energy providing proof that you are the right person for them to engage with further.

Targeted content and secondary audiences

However niche or targeted your content is, it needs to resonate with your primary audience. If you demonstrate to them, with client success stories, or with stories about your approach, and if you show them with your personality why you are the right choice for them to work with you, the content will be doing its job.

Often writing advice is to think of one person who is your target for the message, but don’t do this to the total exclusion of other readers.

You should also consider a couple of secondary audiences for your content.

Industry peers want to see a thought leader who is comfortable and authoritative and interactive with others. They can learn from you as you learn from them. If they find your content valuable, they will share and support it.

This widens your audience and raises your reputation within your industry. Your content may help facilitate conversations and start collaborations or partnerships that will bring mutual success.

Readers who appreciate your content as a demonstration of how they can take up your methods and information themselves. This audience may not be interested in becoming a direct client of yours. However, they can be valuable in spreading your message and recommending your information to a wider audience.

If they find your content usable and informative in how to approach a particular issue, they will be quick to recommend you to others and to share content they find useful to a wider audience.

Reader, I wrote this for you…

Extending your reach by considering multiple sectors of an audience will benefit you indirectly as your message is taken further. This will increase the likelihood of future clients seeing and being impressed by your work enough to hire you.

Each time you write you should consider which part or parts of your audience you wish to address. You might address all three types of audience in one post, or you may specifically target 1 or 2. Consider what the key call to action for each piece will be.

Which segment of your audience you are motivating will also affect where you promote your content. You should publish most visibly where you know those people are active online, and where your call to action will be most effective.

Think about what proportions of your audience fall into each category, monitor changes over time, and create content accordingly.

Making it easier

Creating targeted content with the specific reader so clearly in mind is made easier by creating an effective schedule. Advance planning and audience awareness throughout the planning process will allow you to achieve the right balance.

You can also be more effective if you have insight into how your previous content has performed. Altering direction based on a sound knowledge of previous performance will make you even more targeted. Conducting a site audit on a regular basis will give you the insight you need to develop in the right direction.

If you want to make your content great, get in touch now. We can help you define and address your target audience. We can create content your audience will love and act on.

[Editor’s note: this post was overhauled and updated from a previous version on 29 March 2018]