why you need an audience profile

Why You Need To Create An Audience Profile Right Now

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It is astonishing how many content creators overlook the importance of building an audience profile to target their viewers.

Someone once said: “Know who you are talking to before you open your mouth.”

I don’t know who said this, but it sounds like an aunty who knows what she is talking about.

As a content creator, your livelihood depends on people viewing your content and/or purchasing from you.

This is valid whether you are offline building a small coffee shop, or online building a platform.

You could be a freaking Instagram baddie for all I care, if you do not know who your content is for, you will not grow.

If you are a vegan food blogger, you might not want to target the Meat Lovers Facebook group.

I hope you see where I am going with this.

This is why having audience profiles is going to be important for you.

You may be scoffing at the idea, but if you give me a few seconds, I will persuade you.

So in this article, we are going to go through what audience profiles are, why they are important, and how they can help you grow.

What Is An Audience Profile?

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Simply put, audience profiles are fake profiles that you create that embody who your ideal audience member or viewer is.

You don’t have to buy any fancy program or course.

All you need is a sheet of paper and a pen, or an empty online document to get started.

You basically put yourself in your audience’s shoes and look at who they are, how they think, what they want, what motivates them, and how can you help them?

All of this should be written down on that paper for you to refer back to whenever you want to create something new.

The goal is to help you better understand how you can create more targeted content that will bring you the audience that you want.

And in that process, your audience will also be more drawn to you because your content will feel like it was hand-made for them.

It can be a lengthy process or you can make it super quick and simple.

The choice is yours.

To help make the process easier, I have a full article on how you can create an audience profile that you can read.

It has a full step-by-step guide and you can even get a free Google Drive template to help get you started.

5 Reasons Why You Need to Create An Audience Profile

Now that you have a better understanding of what an audience profile is, let me give you 5 reasons why you need to create one right now.

I will state however, you do not need a huge audience to create an audience profile.

The earlier you start, the better.

However, once you start to get traffic, you can use things like Google Analytics to optimize your profiles and make them better.

Also note that you can create as many profiles you like, and make them as vague or as detailed as you would like.

Different content can target different profiles.

There really are no limits or rules. However, I highly recommend you at least give your profiles names and try to get a little specific when it comes to certain aspects.

1. You Get To Know Who You Are Targeting

This is one of the most important reasons that you need to create an audience profile. It will completely change the way that you think about what you are creating.

Having a targeted profile in the back of your mind will help you make better content and better titles and headlines to bring those viewers in.

Let’s use an example to make it clearer.

Let’s say I have two profiles:

  1. Amy
    • middle-aged, wants to buy a new Macbook, doesn’t have a bugdet, huge Apple super-fan, and has an online business.
  2. John
    • middle-aged, wants to buy a new laptop, has a bit of a budget, doesn’t know much about tech, and works as a teacher.

If you are going to target Amy, a title like this could work:

5 TOP-RATED MACBOOKS THAT ARE ALSO FAN FAVORITES.

If you tried to target John with this title, he honestly may not even take a second look at it. Things like this can be the difference between getting clicks and only getting impressions.

But if you know exactly who you are talking to, you will be able to speak their language.

2. It Will Help You Know What Your Target Audience Wants

Once you discover who they are, you will also look into what they want.

Going back to our profiles from above, think about what Amy and John want and how you can bring that to them.

If Amy wants a new Macbook, maybe you can tell her which one she should buy?

You could create a listicle of all the reasons why the new M1 Mackbook is maybe the best choice for her and her online business.

Then you can help John. He has a budget and just wants a good laptop to work with. Why not give him all of the best budget-friendly laptops that are great for teachers and professors?

Even show him where he can get the best deal!

See how you now have helped them with a solution to their problem?

I personally believe that before you put your pen to paper or press record, you should be asking yourself:

What is the problem that I am going to solve today?

Keeping this in mind will help you create the content or product that people actually need.

3. You Will Learn How to Get Their Attention

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Knowing what “triggers” certain actions or reactions from your audience is going to be key for your growth.

This is where things like motivation and beliefs are also going to play a huge role for you.

Is Amy a super-fan because she is following the Apple hype? Or does she have a workflow that is made a lot easier due to Apple products?

If she is following the hype, then words like “trending” or “need” are going to get her to pay more attention to what you have to say.

But if she likes certain aspects of the Apple environment, then you may need to go into the technical details of the products.

In John’s case, words like “cheap alternatives” or “budget-friendly” or probably going to entice him more.

Thinking about these things will help you know what you can bring to your audience that will get their attention.

4. Audience Profiles Show You How You Can Help Your Audience

This is what I call “The Little Extra” that you can give your audience that will make them feel like you are their go-to resource.

Let’s look at Amy’s again:

So we have established that Amy needs a new Macbook. But maybe she also needs to see how to migrate her information from the old laptop to the new one?

Not only that, but she may even need a new cover for that Macbook as well.

And what is she going to do with the old Macbook?

Maybe you can tell her where she can sell her Macbook to get some extra cash?

There is so much more that you can now provide for Amy.

Beyond the “Here is the right Macbook for you” sales pitch.

You can basically help her solve her problem, and then all the other problems that she didn’t even know she had!

This is how you grow a core audience that will stick with you, provided that you keep giving good quality.

5. It Will Show You The End Goal

Now here is where you are going to have to self-reflect a lot more.

What is your end goal?

What do you want to be known for?

Do you want to be a budget-friendly resource? Or the luxury brand enthusiast?

Decide what your goal is with your audience. Determine what you want to do for them and how you are going to do it.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to making an audience profile. But to help you better understand what it looks like, and how to create it, I recommend you read through my step-by-step guide and use my template to start.

Then you can tweak it to whatever fits you.

Final Thoughts

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Having an audience profile has really made a difference in my content creation strategy. I have had blogs for years in the past that all failed because I actually had no idea who I was writing for.

I just wanted to write.

Which is fine if it is just a hobby blog. But if you are trying to make a business, you need to target your audience.

So with this new platform, one of the first things that I did was create a mini-audience profile that I now have been able to develop and optimize to get into the mindset of the person I want to make content for.

This not only made my job easier, but it made it faster as well.

Work smarter, not harder!

Through this process, I learned my objective: to help people grow online with the best resources, no matter their budget.

If they want things for free, I will show them how to do it.

If they have a budget, I will tell them how to get the best bang for their buck.

Without an audience profile, I do not think I would have found my end goal as quickly as I did.

I know that there are people who sell their audience profile worksheets and templates but that just doesn’t seem to make sense for me.

It is highly personal and no one else is really going to know your platform better than you.

So take the time, do it once, and do it well.