7 Steps to Define Your Target Audience

There’s no way to understate how important it is to target your audience. Without a clear picture of the people who are interested in your message, you’re basically throwing all of your hard work into the winds of chance. A lot of practices do just that. They spend time working on their business plan and building their website, but they never spend time understanding their audience. When they do think about the who, they assume instead of researching.

Your optimal goal is to create messages that are individual. Your content speaks directly to that client and your follow-up messages are tailored to their needs and responses to previous messages. If you don’t know the audience, the best you can hope for is to moderate success with a generic message. Or maybe you’ll magically hit upon the perfect audience and go viral just by being you.

Defining your target audience sounds more difficult than it is. Let’s break it down into simpler steps to digest.

1. You Know Nothing: Don’t assume you know who your potential clients are because you THINK a demographic will be interested in your law services. Even with personal evidence like, “Hey, my Aunt Ruth is in this age bracket and she likes my website.” Aunt Ruth might just be nice, or an anomaly or she might actually be on to something. Before you decide what demographic your law firm consists of, back that assumption up with solid research.
2. Narrow Your Demographic: A market of young women from 13 – 35 isn’t going to help you. That’s a huge demographic and capturing the attention of a 13-year-old will be a lot different than that of a 35-year-old with 2 kids and a mortgage. You can’t send out a massive message meant to lasso everyone. You need to pinpoint your firm’s brand so it speaks to each potential client.
3. Build Your Client Profile: Build a client profile or several. Be as specific as possible. What age bracket, gender, income level is your ideal market in? Do they live in a city or suburb? Give them a name. Make them a real, breathing character in your thoughts.
4. Learn Their Psychology: Don’t stop at a client profile of demographic characteristics. Really step into their shoes. What are his concerns that your practice can appease? Why would she choose your practice over another? Delving into the way they think will help you answer those questions more effectively.
5. Research Their Favorite Platforms: Your ideal audience will have favorite online platforms. Whether your audience is more likely to use mobile apps, read blogs, check social media, or only check email, you need to research where they are so that your findability increases.
6. Find Their Favorite Experts: If you know your ideal audience, you should become very familiar with their favorite experts and mentors. Building relationships and guest posting on venues your audience trusts will also build their trust in you.
7. Keep Your Eye On The Analytics: Wash, rinse, repeat. If you’ve done your research, built your platforms according to your target audience and started your campaign, the next step is to see how well it works. You should see continued growth in viewers, clicks, and conversion. Keep your eye on the data as you go. If you don’t see marked growth, or if after the initial surge it dies instead of continuing, it might be time to reconsider who you’re targeting to and how you’re marketing.

Merging Your Creative Message With Your Data

People get confused by marketing because the analytics involved are very precise, but the actual meat of the job is more humanity based than number based. There is a science to marketing, just like everything else. There are steps which are proven to work. When the outcome isn’t growth, it’s a good indication that something is off. It may be that your message isn’t perfectly tailored for your audience. It might be that the audience you’re aiming for isn’t the right one for conversion. Regardless of your practice model, the key is in finding the clients who want and need your services and differentiating yourself in a way that speaks directly to them. By targeting  your primary demographic, you’ll also want to strive to grow that email.

Once you feel you have gotten a good grasp on targeting your primary demographic, another step is keeping them consistently informed and updated on the services you provide. This is where growing your email list is considered marketing GOLD. As always, your questions and comments are highly welcomed, so share your thoughts in the box below. I look forward to connecting with you!