4 Ways To Find & Know “Your People”

Lately there seems to be a mad rush for visual content; the more the better. As a creator, I can’t help but celebrate the increasing appreciation for visual stories. But the glut of content that’s feeding this insatiable desire is also creating a lot of white noise that’s hard to break through. The solution? Certainly stronger, more visual stories. But also finding and understanding your audience. Who are the people that are going to engage with your content and take the actions necessary to advance your mission? Below are some ways to find and know them:

Value Niche: There’s a perplexing desire among communicators to “go viral”; to reach “all audiences.” Yet in doing so, they cater to the lowest common denominator. Ninja Cat is popular on youtube for a reason. But “niche” is where it’s at. Niche audiences care deeply about a specific topic. They have a personal connection, a network of friends and colleagues who also care, and a reason to shout from the rooftops. Valuing and targeting your niche audience also changes the way that you evaluate and measure impact: is the number of views more critical to you? Or the deepness of the engagement? A niche audience will give you the latter.

Meet The Influencers: Within your niche audience, who are the leaders? Identify the people whose voice is trusted widely. Get them to trust you and your vision. Are there ways your interests might align? Identify those alliances and exploit them.

Ask & Listen: Once you’ve identified WHO exactly will advance your mission, now you really need to understand what they want. So just ask. Do a little market research – send out a survey, do a Facebook poll or ask in person. Look at what your target audience is already engaging with and figure out why. No need to copy, but take what’s already successful and use it as inspiration.

Try Something, Measure & Adapt: You may get lucky, but don’t expect to get it perfect the first time. Perhaps you start with a few really short pieces of content, or a simpler video. See how it resonates with your audience. Are they engaging with the content – are they commenting on it, sharing it, forwarding it? If so, then you’re on the right track and should keep going in that direction. But if engagement is less than expected, go back to steps 1-3 and re-evaluate. Maybe your next video needs just a simple readjustment in concept, or a wholesale new direction. But at least you’ll have some data on what worked or didn’t work, and won’t waste scarce resources continuing to produce content that isn’t resonating.