I’m Kathleen Celmins with Amplified NOW, a content marketing agency and strategy firm that helps speakers, authors, and influencers amplify the stages that they’re on. Today I want to talk about target audiences or ideal clients.
Finding My Ideal Client
For a long time, I felt that my audience or ideal client was anyone who would pay me. This worked well when I worked in a company that had a very narrow and specific niche. Now that I have a different business, and I’m working with different people on high-end, low-touch content marketing, the audience I used to have isn’t really my target anymore. My ideal client has changed.
For the last six months, I have been talking with my co-founder and COO, Emma Bates, about who it is we really want to help, and the answer hasn’t come easily. I think the reason this question can be so hard is that it feels so permanent. So, I asked for advice.
I am in this really great Mastermind group, and when I asked how they thought I could clarify my target audience, they asked me some really helpful questions. First, what is your favorite kind of content? Second, what industry does that type of content usually fall into?
When I answered those questions I realized that a professional speaker tends to be my favorite type of content to consume. Once I had this answer, it seemed simple to say that our audience and ideal client should be professional speakers and influencers who already understand the value of video. For so long my focus has been on helping people get over their anxiety around video. I’ve been coaching people to change their mindset, get in front of the camera, and tell good stories. But, if I focus on speakers and influencers who are already on camera all the time, things will shift slightly.
These types of clients tend to be easier to edit, need less coaxing, and have a shorter learning curve. When you’re used to giving a speech in front of 10,000 people, being in front of a camera doesn’t seem so scary.
Now that I know this, the focus of my business stays the same, but the type of content I create and the places I chose to share it may shift slightly.
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Questions Help Determine Your Ideal Client
So, that’s my story of how I came to identify my ideal client profile. If you are not clear on your target audience or ideal client here are some things to think about to help you define who that person really is:
- What are their roles? What do they do for work, in the community, or in their social circle?
- What do they do for fun?
- What are their goals? What do they want out of their career or life?
- What do they care about?
- What do they worry about?
- How do they like to consume content? Do they prefer written content or podcasts? Do they get their news from news outlets or social media? Do they like to read hard copy or do they prefer to read online?
- Where are they hanging out, both physically and online?
When you can answer these questions, you will be able to better determine what kind of free resources your ideal client would appreciate, or what kind of paid content you should create.
Often, it’s not really that different than what you’re already doing, but just making a few tiny tweaks here will take you so far in narrowing down your ideal client, and allowing you to go deep with those people.
I hope this was helpful! If you need more assistance, I’d love to help you in mapping out your content strategy. Click here to get in touch with us. I’d love to chat with you soon!
