Know... And Show... Your Audience
Hello Friend
We've all heard the sage writing advice "know your audience."
Nodding our head in agreement with that dictum is the easy part.
It gets trickier when it's time to figure out how to know your audience and what to do with that knowledge once you have it.
I read that the director John Hughes wrote the movie "Pretty in Pink" with a picture of Molly Ringwald taped to his computer. She was his muse and the embodiment of the character Andie. Having her picture front and center kept him focused on the character. I can't find the source of that tidbit, and it might be a myth. But even if it is, it's a great reminder of the focus we need to bring when writing to our audiences.
Our ideal client needs to recognize herself in the content we create.
In marketing-speak it's called the "buyer persona." Corporations with marketing departments and agency budgets build intricately detailed portraits of their buyers. They create dossiers with names, pictures, income levels, children's and pets names and ages, hobbies, media habits, etc. This newsletter would get way too long if I created a comprehensive list. There are templates online you can read or copy. (They also may break your brain trying to navigate them on your own, they can be that detailed.)
But that doesn't mean those of us without loads of time or buckets of resources have to settle for a stick figure of our ideal client. It's all about focusing in on things that will make your content jump out because they recognize themselves in it.
When I work with clients through the Master Your Message process, I spend a good amount of time defining what I feel are the four most important dimensions of an ideal client.
- Who They Are...their defining characteristics
- What They Struggle With... their pain points
- The "Comfort Words" They Need To Hear... the ways you ease their struggle
- The "Language Barriers" That Will Stop Them Cold ... industry lingo, words you use that are outside their lexicon
When you know these dimensions of your ideal client, you write less generically.
It's the difference between:
"...an overworked business coach who doesn't work from an editorial calendar and doesn't prioritize writing her blog"
And:
"..a business coach whose days are so jam-packed she hasn't considered the strategy behind her content, so instead of writing on purpose, she's tapping out a blog post on her phone while sitting on the toilet."
(Based on a true story one solo business owner shared with me at a networking event. And no, I won't tell you who it was. And no, it's not me!)
As an early holiday gift, here are a few of the prompts I use with my clients to help them get into the heads of their ideal clients.
- My ideal client is skittish about...
- My ideal client is wishing for...
- My ideal client is ignoring the reality that...
How do you finish those statements about your clients? I'd love to hear what comes up for you, so shoot me an email or post it on the 4.23 Communication Facebook page. And if you're curious about what it means to dive into the work of Mastering Your Message, let's chat.
And, if it turns out that Molly Ringwald is your ideal client, then by all means, tape a picture of her to your computer.
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ICYMI: The Well Said Wednesday Blog took on...
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Repurposing content and other ways to stay on top of your editorial calendar when life gets BUSY. Read more
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Here is a quick way to get a sense of how focused or scattered your messages are.
Read more
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Finally...
If you have friends or fellow solo business owner colleagues who could use a little support and direction on crafting the best messaging for their business, consider forwarding this issue of The 23rd to them. The Forward button is right there below this box.
Thanks and be well said,
Barbara Govednik
Founder & Content Coach
4.23 Communication
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