Identifying and speaking to your target audience is critical to any successful marketing or social media campaign, but truly, your audience is begging you to understand them better than they understand themselves. Ambitious? Sure, but achievable with these helpful tips:

1. Think beyond the obvious.

Identify your audience(s) and create, on paper, a persona for each. Putting a face or story with a name has value in our personal relationships; the same applies here. Make sure to answer the following:

• What is their name?
• Age?
• Educational background?
• Career?
• What do they look like?
• What do they do for fun?
• Why are they relevant to your company or organization?
• What matters to them?

2. Be cognizant of your tone.

Adjust tone to make yourself relatable, but still an expert. Readers certainly don’t want to be talked down to, but they want to know what you have to say. More than likely, they have some experience or background with the topic you’re covering, so use everyday vocabulary and weave in pertinent industry terms.

3. Keep readers engaged.

The best way to do this is by consistently providing new and informative content. Your audience is coming to you seeking information, so give them exactly what they’re looking for. And, because you’ve taken the time to identify them up front by creating a persona, you should be prepared to recommend other topics they’ll be interested in. In digital marketing especially, having related information available at-a-glance builds a stronger long-term relationship than making your reader search for it elsewhere.