Nothing is for everyone. Even Halloween isn’t (although let’s face it, the naysayers are wrong.) That same idea holds true for your content. To create truly killer content that gets inside your audience’s brains and gives them a chill or two, you need to know who your audience is and how to capture their attention. We do this by fashioning audience personas.
Get To Know Your Victims
The world’s preternaturally successful content creators are the ones who know so much about their audience that it seems like they’re mind readers. Or at least spend a lot of time lurking around in the shadows and peering in windows. Like vampires, these killer content creators suck up every bit of information there is to know about their victims – from their pain points to their greatest fears. They’ll also glean invaluable information like:
- Demographic information. Think age, gender, background, location, family context.
- Employment and educational information. This means job title, responsibilities, and educational attainment.
- Hobbies and interests. Basically, how they spend their time and what inspires them.
- Daily routine. What does their typical day look like? If it changes, why, and how?
- Pain points and needs. These are the challenging situations they face and how your product can help.
- Shopping habits. Where do they shop, when, and why? What brands do they buy? Are they the decision-maker?
- Heroes and influences. These are the people they align themselves with, respect, or listen to.
This information comes from a mix of sources: sales data, interviews, market research, reviews, analytics, and so on. The deeper you go, the more valuable your information.
Create a Frankensteinian Composite
Once you have the necessary information about your victim, it’s time to start compiling it into a composite. The goal is to use your data to create a fictional person who embodies the essence of everything you’ve gathered so far – think Dr. Frankenstein stitching together his monster. But you’ll keep going where Frankenstein stopped short, giving your persona a name, job, pets, a preferred method of transit, some favorite bands, and perhaps even an address. The resulting write-up should paint a full and vivid picture of your target audience.
As you sort through the information you’ve collated about your victims of choice, you’ll probably realize that you’re dealing with more than one persona. This is because most brands target multiple personas who interact with or purchase from the brand across a variety of different situations.
Lure Them In
Now that you know exactly who you’re targeting luring them in is easy. Your job is to create tailored, targeted content that meets your audience where they are and when they need it. While so-so killers start with the answer and attempt to lead their audience to it, the legendary ones put their audience’s needs at the center of everything they do. As a content creator, you need to craft content that answers your audience’s questions, anticipates their problems, and explores their interests. You know who they are, so get inside their heads! Do it well, and you’ll find that your success rate is so high it’s spooky.
Need some help sewing up your audience personas and crafting content that slays? Get in touch!
See Also:
Killer Content: Creating Content that Will Have Your Audience at the Edge of Their Seats
