Best Tips For Finding Your Target Audience As A New Blogger
Being a new blogger is confusing enough, but figuring out who you’re writing for can make that entire process much easier.
Once you’ve decided on your niche and your blog name, then you can start focusing on conducting your market research. To effectively conduct that market research though, you have to know who you’re researching.
Save yourself tons of time and effort by following the steps I’m going to show you right here in this blog post! I’ll even throw in some helpful tips on how you can be sure that you’re providing valuable content to your audience, resulting in high conversions and retention.
First, here are some relevant blog posts you might want to check out too:
What is a target audience anyway?
Simply put, your target audience is the main group of people that your content will be helping. They are the people you are speaking to in everything you publish on your site.
Keep in mind that your target audience can very well turn into advocates who support everything you do, and love everything you represent.
Think of Raven Elyse from youtube. Her target audience is single moms in their 20s and 30s. Sure, other people watch her content. But her creative process is to satisfy the entertainment desires of the single mamas who continuously praise and support her.
Why is knowing your target audience important?
Have you ever heard the quote, “when you’re talking to everyone, you’re really talking to no one?” Well, it’s so true.
You need to know who’s reading your blog, here’s why:
You’ll build genuine relationships with your audience
One thing I love about blogging and social media, in general, is the ability to create such an amazing community. Encourage your readers to leave comments on your blog posts, and nurture your email list.
Think of it as real-life relationships. Why is your best friend willing to support you in all the ways that they are? They know you, love you, and trust you. Well, it’s the same thing. Bond with your readers by getting to know them and their needs.
Your readers will be more engaging
Are you more likely to leave a great comment on a helpful blog post you connected with, or on something that gave you no value at all?
If your goal is engagement, be sure to use an appropriate call to action somewhere towards the end of your article.
It will be much easier to come up with blog post ideas
Once you know who your target audience is, knowing the kind of content they’ll find valuable becomes pretty straightforward. Over time, you’ll already have all the answers on your site before they even get to ask.
However, If you do ever get stuck when you’re brainstorming for a new post, you can check this out to help.
You’ll be able to build authority quicker
This goes hand in hand with niching down. The idea is if the bulk of your content resonates with someone, they are going to trust you faster than they would if you just wrote for everyone.
Choose a particular type of person with a specific problem and tackle the hell out of it. Give them every answer before they even think of the questions.
You will make more money
Knowing how to market to your audience will result in higher conversions. Higher conversions translates to more money. Period.
Check out my ebook for over 80 pages of value when it comes to getting your blog up, running, and monetized!
Where to find your target audience
Obviously, this will depend on your niche, but here are a few places you can start…
Google Search
Google is a great place to see what kinds of questions people in your niche are asking. Use a free browser extension like MozBar or Keywords Everywhere to get a better analysis.
Facebook groups
Facebook groups are a great place to find folks and develop genuine alliances with potential readers. If you are looking to attract Millennials or older (especially women), then Facebook could be a great resource for you.
Community Apps
Peanut is a friend app for moms to meet and bond over common interests. This is an inclusive app meant for moms of all backgrounds.
Meet Akina is another app and safe space made specifically by black moms for black moms. If you are a mom who is not black, but still looking to do market research, please be respectful and only use Peanut.
Other Blogs
Look at other blogs in your niche.
Look into what posts have the most comments. Take note of what these people are saying and the questions they have.
If you can pull this off in a non-sleazy way, invite them to check out a relevant blog post you’ve written.
We all know Pinterest is one of the most valuable assets to bloggers. Learn the platform and utilize its search engine to find what your target audience is searching for.
Your Analytics
This may not be relevant for new bloggers, but if you have a couple of posts out already use the analytics to help guide you.
How to find your target audience as a new blogger
Be sure to conduct your basic market research by developing your marketing persona. In order to do that ask yourself the following questions about your ideal reader:
- How old are they?
- How many kids do they have?
- Where do they live? (City, rural, urban)
- How high is their education?
- How much money do they make?
- What is their marital status?
- What do they do in their free time?
- How much time do they spend online everyday?
- Which social media do they use the most?
Map it out using the image below as a guide so you can truly understand your marketing persona, who they are, and how you can best appeal to them.
From there, you should have a basic understanding of where your readers are going to search for the content you’re producing (Facebook groups, youtube videos, Instagram, Pinterest, etc).
Once you know what platforms your audience is mainly on, you need to take the next step in your market research and figure out how you can best serve them. What do you have to offer that they need help with? What knowledge can you share that they would actually be willing to pay for?
How to use this information to provide real value to readers
If you’ve followed the steps so far, then you already know how to find your target audience and create your marketing strategy.
Now all you have to do is implement what you’ve learned and planned out. With every blog post idea, ask yourself “will my target audience find this content valuable?” If the answer is no, it’s not worth the time investment.
Here are a couple articles you may want to check out:
- 22 Tips for Making Life Easier as a Working Mom
- Can You be a Successful Blogger without a Niche?
- How to Come Up with The Best Blog Post Ideas
P.S. If you found this helpful, please consider sharing this with others who may be looking for the same info. Thanks!
