Who's Your Audience, Really?

Suppose you want to connect and develop a trusting relationship with your prospect, customer, client, colleague, or audience...

In that case, you’ll want to communicate in their language about the things that are the most important to them.

[Photo by Hayley Murray on Unsplash]

This means using the exact words and phrases they use when they describe their challenges, fears, frustrations, needs, experiences, hopes, goals, desires, and dreams.

Around the world, we speak different languages, practice different customs, and do different things. This is reality, and it occurs from country to country, business to business, culture to culture, generation to generation, situation to situation, and person to person.

That means it’s critical to get clear on what’s important to people—and how they talk about it—so you can create the most effective communication, rapport, and connection. To get started, do your research, talk to lots of people, and make sure you’re as clear as possible with these three things:

• Key data (demographics) that can be measured include gender, age, income, marital status, etc. These are the “dry” (perhaps) and vitally important facts about your clients, customers, employees, team, market, or audience.
• Group trends (psychographics) such as behaviors, hobbies, spending habits, values/principles, product usage, opinions, where they hang out online, interests, and lifestyle choices.
• Individual purpose and passion (sociographics) that goes deep, giving you an understanding of what motivates people: their personal needs, attitudes, fears, frustrations, goals, dreams, and what gives meaning to their lives.

When you do this, you will connect with people on an emotional and experiential level, which is what you want. Then, you have the right language for better marketing, tailored products and services, and leadership that creates real transformation.

Knowing as much of this information as possible will help you expand your sphere of influence as you discover other people connected to your prospect, client, customer, or audience. This allows you to serve a wider range of people, businesses, or organizations.

Here’s how to uncover this information:

• Ask questions about people’s biggest challenges
• Do your research
• Email a survey to your list
• Make phone calls
• Give a talk or live audio
• Offer a masterclass
• Start or participate in a LinkedIn, mastermind, or networking group that feels aligned

The more you know about your clients, customers, audience, colleagues, and market—from their day-to-day experiences to the deep, emotional, keep-them-up-at-night details—the more successful you will be.

1. You’ll connect, communicate, and lead better
2. You’ll reach more people with your ideas and message
3. You’ll create a shared human connection and experience while getting people excited about who you are, what you’re about, and how you will impact their business, life, or both
4. You’ll create superior products and services that deliver exceptional value (based on what your people want and need because they’ve told you)
5. You’ll discover even more people like them to serve (since you’ve clearly articulated who you help and how you help them)
6. You’ll energize even more people with your vivid vision of the future and show them how to get there

And writing your book, creating your podcast—or both—is a great way to wrangle your thinking and wisdom into one place.

Where does it start?

Talk to people about the thing you’re creating as you’re creating it.

Your podcast or book will be done so much faster, and you’ll be attracting more clients and partners sooner rather than later.

Want to go deeper? Join us in at our monthly masterclass (3rd Tuesdays each month.