Regardless of what it is we make, the key to growing our audience is clarity and focus.
Let me say that differently. Growing our audience demands that we understand our audience better than anyone else. It's not about what tool or course or framework we use; the best template will fail if we keep using lackluster inputs.
Let's say that we have signals that suggest our audience is, for the most part, between the ages of 18 and 30 years of age. We know a few other things about them: 54% identify as female, they are more urban than rural and we engage with them online around political and civic issues.
A marketing template asks us to fill out our audience demographics. Here are three answers that highlight which creator really knows their audience.
Lackluster: 18-30 year olds, urban, majority identify as female
Better: 18-30 year olds living in 5 major cities, active on political issues and listen to the radio daily
Best: Young at heart, living in a city, 2 bikes and no car, loves their pets, is enraged about the inequality in the world and also a fellow creator.
The last one is likely not what we expect to read when asked to give audience demographics. Most of us have been programmed to just spit out things like: 60% male, Household Income over $60K and 2.5 children. But this shit does not work, no matter what any hopped-up media planner tells you.
Go back and read each of the demographic examples given above and ask yourself, "Where would I easily find more people like described?"
For me, the last example is by far the easiest to answer. I can name other creators, shows, online zines and more. Not only that, the answers I come up with are not just mainstream media or the same big names everyone else is trying to get in touch with. Now we are moving towards interesting territory.
Want to learn more about building a marketing plan that works? I share some examples and our one-page marketing plan canvas in the article linked below.
- Sean
