‘Find your Target Audience’ is common advice given to new YouTubers. But how to get there? That part is often a mystery.
Figuring out your crowd is a fun process, as you get to understand them on a deeper level. When you focus on connecting with the audience that truly vibes with you, you bring a more personal and relatable touch to your content. This way, you build a genuine and lasting relationship with your community.
So here are 6 steps to define your target audience:
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Niche Analysis
Ask yourself- What type of content do you passionately create? What real-world problem do you tackle? What is your unique selling point? And most importantly- who wants this type of content?
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In-Depth Audience Analysis
Your audience brings in invaluable insights that can shape your content and help you grow as a creator. Understand who they are by looking into their:
- Demographics: Think about their age, gender, location, and background.
- Psychographics: This includes their hobbies, values, interests, and lifestyles
- Online Behavior: Beyond your channel, what else do they engage with?
You can find this info by digging into your Analytics. The Audience Tab holds a wealth of information on your top-performing content and how your audience interacts with it.
Check out this detailed guide on Understanding Your YouTube Viewers with YouTube Analytics.
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Identify Audience Needs and Desires
Find out what makes your audience hit that play button! What are their problems, questions, or interests? What information are they searching for and what content formats do they prefer?
You can do this by running polls and surveys on the Community Tab or on other Social Media platforms where your audience is most active.
Then, tailor your content to address their needs. For example, if your audience wants educational content, create tutorials or how-tos. By catering to their desires, you’re not only engaging them but also making them stick around for more!
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Create your Audience Persona
Based on this info, you can now create your Audience Persona. Your YouTube Audience Persona are like fictional characters with names, personalities, and stories that represent your viewers. Creating personas helps you understand your audience’s needs and pain points as they represent different types of viewers who come to your channel.
For example, if you’re a fashion channel, you could have “Fashionista Fiona” for the trend-lovers and “Practical Peter” for those seeking budget-friendly tips. Or if it’s a cooking channel, it could be “Foodie Fred” exploring new recipes and “Busy Brian” looking for quick meals.
These personas are created based on real data collected from your audience research. The goal here is to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and understand what kind of content they want. Doing this will help you understand your audience on a deeper level as well as tell you how to create content for them, ultimately growing your channel.
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Competitor Analysis
Sneak a peek at your top competitors in your niche for more insights into your Audience Personas. You can do this with the help of tools like Google Analytics and YouTube Analytics.
By studying channels within your niche, you understand what your potential viewers are already watching. You also understand how and why they engage with them, look for gaps in existing content, and find ways to address their unanswered questions. This way you refine your content strategy to meet your audience’s needs.
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Segmented Target Market Approach
After creating detailed audience personas, you can now segment them into smaller, more specific groups. You can do this by dividing them based on their demographics i.e. age, location, or gender. For example, If your personas cover different age ranges, make segments like “Trendy Teens” or “Sophisticated Seniors.”
Or, you can also focus on shared interests, behaviours and preferences. For example, personas interested in gaming can be split into “Casual Gamers” and “Competitive Gamers”
This way, you create smaller communities within your audience, ensuring everyone gets exactly what they’re looking for!
Designing a YouTube audience strategy isn’t a one-time task but an ongoing process. Be flexible to adjust your approach as your channel grows and the audience’s tastes shift. When you put in the effort to understand your target audience, you build a better bond with them, leading to a more devoted and thriving YouTube family!
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