How To Define Your Target Audience

A profitable and effective email list is all about attracting the right type of subscribers. Getting the right people on your list is much more important than building a huge list. Let me repeat that. Size doesn't matter, in a sense. It’s not just about a huge list. A focused and responsive smaller list can be way more instrumental and valuable to your brand than a large, dead-as-a-doornail list. The keyword you want to pay attention to here is “focused”.

Definitions Help

It’s all about defining your primary audience and then getting them on your list. That’s it. Do that right and you’ll do well, no matter how much of the rest of this challenge you follow through with and implement. The more you do, the better you’ll be off, but if you get this wrong, then the rest won't matter much. In other words, today’s lesson is pretty important and shouldn't be skipped.

Think about your ideal client or customer. Who are they? Define them as closely as possible. Be specific about their gender, their age, their family status, their economic circumstances, their profession, and anything else you think might matter. Don’t be afraid to get too specific. Narrowing things down is good. You don’t want to be vague and everyone is always the wrong answer.

It’s helpful to picture a single person that defines your focused audience and ideal client. Think of him or her as a representation of everyone you want to get on your active list. This not only helps you figure out who you need to reach to but also how you should talk to them for maximum, effective results. Just write and talk to your avatar in all your messages. Make it personal and one-on-one.

Once you know exactly who your audience is and isn’t, it becomes that much easier to tackle the next task – figuring out where they can be found. You might have heard this already and think it was a waste of time. Believe me, it's not.

Where Do They Hang Out?

Once you have your dream subscriber and client defined, think about where this person would hang out online. What blogs do they read? What social media platforms do they use? What groups, forums, and membership sites do they belong to?

I recommend you start a list of sites where your potential subscribers can be found. Your list should include:

• Websites and Blogs
• Other sites with lists
• Social media sites
• Groups (Facebook and Google+ for example)
• Forums
• Hashtags

Having this list will be invaluable as you start to get in front of your audience and drive them back to your site and on your list. We’ll be doing more of that in the coming days and weeks.

The Rundown

Knowing who you are trying to get on your list in the first place will also be invaluable during tomorrow’s task. If you’re not well acquainted with your target market, take some time today to study them via the sites you’ve just listed. Read the blogs they are interested in and listen to their conversations on social media. Get to know them better and tomorrow’s task will become that much easier.