With so many people at home due to the pandemic, it’s a great time to write. I’ve seen a definite uptick in articles about how to start a blog and how to make money online.

But if you’re a writer who wants to get your ideas out into the big wide world, you need to know your audience!

What is an Audience?

Before we talk about how to know your audience, let’s talk about what an audience actually is.

An audience is, “a number of people or a particular group of people who watch, read, or listen to the same thing” (Oxford Learner’s Dictionary).

When we think about writing, an audience is made up of people who are interested in a specific topic or idea, and read about it.

When we think about writing, an audience is made up of people who are interested in a specific topic or idea, and read about it. They are people who care about what you are writing because it means something to them. They are also sometimes the people who can make changes based on your ideas.

For instance, if you want to write about laws in your community, some members of your audience might be lawyers or police men and women.

Why is it important to know who your audience is?

It might seem like you want to write to everyone - after all, your ideas are important! Right?

The problem with writing to everyone is that it can make your writing bland.

The problem with writing to everyone is that it can make your writing bland. Similar to wanting everyone to like you (which just isn’t possible), if you try to reach every person with your writing, it’s going to be more vague, and therefore less useful. You will actually end up getting less of an audience, and we don’t want that!

Knowing your audience gives you some major advantages:

Informs Your Writing Having a specific audience allows you to narrow down your many ideas to those that are most relevant. It really helps you figure out what to write about because your audience is made up of people who are interested in similar things.

Hopefully, when all is said and done, your writing is the similar thing they will be reading! Keeping this thought in the back of your mind helps you to be persuasive and concrete with your words.

Gives you a Focused Purpose When you have a specific audience, you can really hone in on what they want and need. Why should they come to you for information, entertainment, advice, etc.? Why will they want to keep coming back for more?

You don’t have to worry about whether your words are relevant because you’ve already chosen people who have a vested interest in your topics.

You don’t have to worry about whether your words are relevant because you’ve already chosen people who have a vested interest in your topics. That allows you to get down to the nitty gritty helpful details they are looking for rather than having to explain the basics over and over again.

Allows You to Meet Your Audience Where They’re At This is probably the most important part of knowing your audience: meeting them where they are with information. Have you ever read a book where there were so many big words you didn’t understand at all, even when you knew something about the topic? Or, perhaps, a book that was talking about something advanced with short choppy sentences that really belonged in an elementary school textbook? Probably - maybe even both!

You don’t want to do either of those things to your readers. You want to anticipate where the general knowledge level will be and talk to them as such. In many ways it’s like a normal conversation. You don’t want to assume they don’t know anything, but you also don’t want to assume they’re experts - some are, but most aren’t!

It’s a delicate balance to figure out what will be helpful and refreshing to your readers in a way that’s not “dumbed down” or overbearing. You can only achieve this balance when you know your audience.

How do you figure out who your audience is?

We’ve talked an awful lot about what an audience is, and why it’s important to have one in mind when you write, but how the heck do you figure out who YOUR audience is?!

Grab a notebook or a blank document and write or type your answers for each step, that way you will have notes for quick reference as you move through your writing journey.

Follow these steps and you’ll be on your way!

1. What do you want to say?

The very first thing you need to do when figuring out who your audience should be is to think critically about what you want to say.

Are you interested in promoting activism?

Do you want to connect to others with similar experiences?

Are you interested in inspiring people?

Think hard about your goals and decide what message you want to put into the world. This is not to say that you have to have an exact map of every piece of writing or blog you plan to do; on the contrary, by nature, writing must remain flexible. BUT, you should have an idea of what it is that your writing will express at the concept level. These are your global, big picture ideas.

2. Why are you saying your message?

Once you figure out what you want to say, you need to think about why you’re saying it.

Consider:

Why do you want to start writing?

Why do you want to start writing? No matter what your topic is, there is a reason you wanted to write, right? Most people don’t just pick up a difficult and largely isolated hobby like writing if they don’t have a “why.” So what’s your why?

Once you figure out your personal writing "why," figure out what goal you are trying to achieve with your message.

Do you want to educate?

Do you want your audience to take action on something?

Do you want your audience to buy something?

Do you just want to be heard by like-minded people?

Remember, something sparked a little fire and excitement in you to get this whole writing thing started. Let’s take that idea and put it on paper and make it a concrete part of your journey.

3. Who needs to hear your message?

You’ve figured out what you want to say, and why. That’s great! Now you need to figure out who exactly needs to hear your message. (This is why the “why” part is important).

Who are the people who will be interested in your message?

Who are the stakeholders for your topics?

What kinds of characteristics does your topic appeal to in your audience?

Think back to our example about laws in your community. If you’re trying to effect change:

Who will be interested? The citizens who are most affected by the law in question, right? Students studying law. Law enforcement officials who uphold the law. The attorneys and members of local government who made or are also trying to change the law.

Probably not surprisingly, many of these interested parties are also stakeholders. These are people who are directly affected by the law, and who also have the ability to make changes: law enforcement, attorneys, and local government officials are all really important stakeholders because they have the power to make a difference on the issues.

Finally, what kinds of characteristics does your topic appeal to in the interested parties and stakeholders? Are you using logic with facts and evidence? Are you appealing to their compassionate human side? Are you making them think critically about the situation using interesting language and pertinent information?

The people in your audience are interested, and more than likely, some of them are stakeholders who can make a difference and who are actively affected by your topics.

4. How is your audience already talking about & searching for ideas similar to yours?

First of all, stop and take a moment to look at the hard work you’ve done so far. Figuring out your audience is hard work! It’s not something that's natural for many people, so the fact that you have come so far is awesome. Nice work!

Moving right along. You’ve figured out what you want to say, why you’re saying it, and who needs to hear your message. The next step is to figure out how your audience, the one you identified in step three, is already talking about and looking for ideas that are related to what you want to say.

What are they saying on social media?

What are they typing into Pinterest?

What are they Googling?

Where are they going to find ideas like yours?

Take some time and look around on social media. What Facebook groups are available to join? Are there hashtags or Twitter threads about your topic? What pins can you find when you look on Pinterest?

Also do some research on keywords: those words and phrases your audience is typing in to search for your topics.

To get ideas for keywords, pretend you are a member of your audience and brainstorm how you would find information about your topic.

To get ideas for keywords, pretend you are a member of your audience and brainstorm how you would find information about your topic. What words would you use to search? How would you find information like what you’re writing? If you would be part of your ideal audience, make some notes about what you do search for when you look for these topics.

Some good free resources are Google Ads Keyword Planner & Keyword Tool.

Remember, you’re joining an ongoing conversation, so you need to know what’s out there because your audience has already been thinking and talking about it.

5. How will you get your message to your audience?

You’re almost there! You’re knowledgeable about your message and you know quite a bit about your audience.

The next step in really knowing your audience is to figure out how you are going to get your message to your audience. This step is similar to finding where your audience is already talking because you want to go where they go!

Where is the most conversation happening about your topics?

Where do you enjoy communicating with others?

How can you best get your message out to your audience?

Once you know where the conversation is and where your audience is hanging out, you can decide where to put your message so they have prime time access to it. That could be: social media, a blog, Pinterest, Medium, YouTube, or wherever else you might find during your research.

6. How will you talk to your audience?

You’ve made it! You’re on the final step of knowing your audience. How do you feel? Pumped? Prepared? Excited? Maybe a little bit of everything.

The final thing you need to do to know your audience is to figure out how to talk to them.

The final thing you need to do to know your audience is to figure out how to talk to them. These are the ways you reach out and how you express yourself. Your words, your expressions, and the way you want them to respond to your message.

Do you want to be casual and friendly in your writing? Maybe use colloquialisms to connect on a personal level?

Do you want to be direct and factual? Perhaps use facts and statistics to impress your audience on your knowledge level & establish credibility?

Do you want to be approachable and hands-on? Ready to jump in and help with anything your audience will ask?

The key to deciding how to talk to your audience is understanding how they will interact with your message. Think about the ways you want your audience to think and feel when they read your writing. Then, tailor your writing to fit these anticipated feelings.

Congratulations! You know your audience and you are ready to get your important message out there into the world.

If you aren’t quite ready yet, that’s okay, too! I have this pretty nifty Know Your Audience Guide that will walk you through the steps and give you room to think out loud on paper. Fill out the short form below to get your copy now!

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If, at any point, you need a sounding board or just a friendly face to talk to while you’re working through the guide, don’t hesitate to reach out via social media, the blog contact form, or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com.

I sincerely enjoy helping people do audience analysis, and it’s an important part of writing if you want to write really effective words and put them out there for the world to see.

How to Know Your Audience