For many people, blogging is an outlet to share their opinions and personal experiences with the world.
In fact, blogs were originally just a way for friends to communicate electronically back in 1993 when blogger Matt Drudge was first introduced on AOL.
However, as technology became more advanced - think YouTube or Twitter - so did the blogosphere; today's bloggers have definitely stepped up their game!
The world of blogging has changed tremendously over the past few years, with many bloggers writing for themselves in their online journals.
But today's generation is looking to attract readers and advertisers rather than simply expressing opinions about life or personal experiences without a care if anyone reads them.
With the ever-changing landscape of technology, blogs are still a popular way to connect with an audience. Knowing who your readers are and what they expect from you can help create content that is relevant for them as well as improve blog traffic.
Whether new or experienced bloggers, looking into these factors will be beneficial in improving posts for prospective audiences so all visitors have the best experience possible on your site!
Your Reader Persona
The best way to create a more accurate persona for your readers, is to think about what they might say or how they would react. This will help you tailor the content of your blog post and make it sound more authentic.
This can be anything from the age and gender of an individual, their marital status, education level, etc.
Treating your audience as one person helps you identify what they're looking for when reading content and this will help make it sound more authentic and relevant in turn!
Marketing to your audience can be a difficult task, but if you know what they are looking for it will make things much easier.
Creating separate profiles is one option that many companies have tried, although there may not always be tangible benefits from doing this.
The main point of creating an online presence on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter is to find the common threads among your readership and tailor content accordingly.
Step 1 - Demographics
The first step is to define your reader's demographics. This includes things like: age, geographic location, language, gender and income level.
You should also be aware of their education level and religion . Knowing these details will help you tailor what they read accordingly!
- Age
- Geographic location
- Language
- Gender
- Income level
- Education level
- Religion
- Marital status
- Occupation
- Family composition
You can uncover some of this data by looking at Facebook Insights and other metrics on social media.
If you're already getting traffic to your blog, you could also get a glimpse from Google Analytics as well. For example, if you browse through "Geography," it will give language and location results, too!
Step 2 – Explore Psychographics
The data from your customer is so valuable. It's important to know what you can do with it and how you should use that information for the betterment of their business.
Demographics are just one piece of this puzzle, psychographic profiles provide a deeper insight into who they really are on an emotional level- which will allow them to market more efficiently in order to reach out not only as customers but also friends or followers online!
- Personality
- Attitudes
- Values
- Hobbies
- Lifestyle
- Behavior
- Goals
- Challenges
- Image of self
- Pain points
- Needs and desires
Psychographics are harder to discover than demographics. The only way you can learn about them is by observing your readers and interacting with them, listening to what they say or do.
You need a keen eye for these aspects of your reader so that their needs may also be met in the future products that we create as an organization.
In order to succeed as a marketer, you need not only understand the values of your customer base but also how they interact with products. Pay close attention to their behaviors and research what makes them tick.
Do you know what your audience wants to learn about? To help answer this question, ask yourself:
- Why would the reader want to read my content?
- How knowledgeable is the reader on my topic/product area?
- What are some common questions they may have that I can address in a succinct manner and be helpful with their research for answers before purchasing from me or looking elsewhere for more information?
Metrics can be a good way to gauge psychographic data, but the best information usually comes from trying different forums or study groups.
An easy trick to do this is search for your topic as a keyword plus "forum" in Google or Reddit and you'll find plenty of discussion on the topic that will help you evaluate what people are saying about your product amongst themselves!
With the advent of social media, it's now easier than ever to get an idea for what your audience likes and doesn't like.
Simply take a look around at which topics or subjects are popular on these sites - voted up, liked, commented on, not looked at, not commented on - you'll quickly be able to create content that reflects their interests.
To learn more about your audience, you can conduct a survey with them.
Create a short questionnaire using tools like Google Forms or Survey Monkey and send it out to those already on board for an incentive such as gift card or discount. Or target the ones who are most likely to be interested by advertising in Facebook Ads!
It’s important to know your readers well. After surveying them, why not have a short conversation with a few of the respondents? You can add the question at the end of your survey asking if they're willing to chat.
You can get some great insider insight on their aspirations and challenges that you might otherwise miss out on in an impersonal survey alone.
Step 3 – Learn about Your Reader’s Behaviors and Preferences
Learning about your audience is a vital part of any successful content marketing strategy. In order to be sure that you're writing what they want, here are some questions worth asking:
- How do users search for and find the content they like?
- What formats does their favorite type of content come in (text or video)?
- Do they share it with others after reading/ watching through it?
One way to get an idea of what people want is by looking at the type of content that gets the most engagement. Which topics are getting lots and lots of comments or votes?
That's a good indication for when you should start writing about certain subjects on your blog in order to keep readers engaged!
When you're trying to figure out which content is the most engaging, look no further than social media! YouTube and Facebook are great places to find videos that have been watched by a lot of people.
You can also check your analytics for more insight: views (which pieces were viewed) or bounce rate will tell you how long readers stay on one piece of content.
The Keyword Planner is a powerful tool that can help you find out what types of questions your audience has about your product or topic.
It's free and easy to use - just go there, enter the keywords related to your topics/products and it will show you which type of queries are being asked most often by people who might be interested in buying from you!
So next time someone asks "What ____ do I need?", don't guess-just pop open Google AdWords' own keyword planner for some great ideas on how they might answer their question themselves.
You can also gain tremendous insights and get ideas by watching influencers in the industry interact with their audience.
Step 4 – Create Your Target Reader Profile
Now, take all of the information you've gathered through the first three steps and put it together as a profile of your target reader. The name won't be real. Add an avatar to make that image more clear.
For example:
Mary is 45 years old, married and has two children. She lives in an urban setting with her husband. She went to college and now works as the Director of Marketing at Smith Company where she makes about $75,000 per year.
Mary is a busy mom who's always on the go. She spends time reading about work-life balance and figuring out ways to help her kids stay healthy while also balancing everything else in life, like being there for her children’s activities.
Mary loves to read articles that are longer articles of about 1,000-2,000 words. She especially likes reading personal stories or watching interviews with other mothers.
Once she posts on Facebook, people often like her post and comment back which leads to more engagement!
In part 2 of our How To Make Money Blogging series, we will go over how to create shareable content that your audience will love.
