When you’re just getting started as a blogger, you have so many questions to answer.
From finding a topic you’re passionate about and defining the purpose of your blog, to setting it all up and going online, you have to preplan every step.
That includes finding and defining the type of people you are aiming your blog at.
Your target audience is important for the entire process of each new blog post creation. You should have a clearly defined idea of who your audience is before you start writing.
Therefore, take a look at the list of five tips on how to find a target audience that we’ve put together, and learn what’s the best way to define your readership.
1. Start with Yourself
In trying to define your target audience, it’s best to take small steps and look at the big picture.
You’re writing a blog about something you’re interested in and feel passionate about. You’ve chosen a niche closest to your heart. Now you want to get other people closer to it, as well.
This means that, in a way, you are the model for your target audience.
In other words, try starting with yourself and targeting people who are just like you in terms of:
- interests
- age
- hobbies
- goals
Use social media as a tool to track them down, and then to try establishing contact with them.
This is a great way to kick things off and have some kind of a direction to head into. Although this might be a vague idea, it’s still great for starting out.
Once you figure this out, it’s time to move a step further.
2. Sneak Peak at other Blogs
Blogging is extremely popular nowadays. Chances are you’re not the only one writing a blog on that topic you’ve chosen.
In addition, there are probably hundreds of blogs with similar or closely related topics that existed long before you even considered blogging.
However, this isn’t bad news.
In fact, it’s great news for new bloggers trying to find their audience.
Your competitors from other blogs in your niche already have a steady audience. All you have to do to find these people is a bit of research.
You can do this by analyzing the comments sections on similar blogs.
Try to:
- define who are the most active users leaving comments on blog posts similar to yours
- see what type of questions they’re asking
- leave a comment inviting them to check out your own blog content
“Offer them something new and unique, and try to get them to read at least one of your blog posts. If you provide quality content, they just might stick around,” says Mariah Mitchel from Top Writers Review.
3. Use Niche Influencers
If you’re passionate about your niche and enthusiastic about the topics you’re covering, you probably already know who the most successful social media influencers from your niche are.
Influencers have a lot of power over the people you’re targeting. Plus, they can help you define and have a better understanding over the shared target audience.
Therefore, you should:
- follow all the major niche influencers
- analyze their followers and comment sections
- engage with their audience and try turning them into your own audience as well
Remember, you will only succeed here by offering something valuable to your audience. Therefore, make sure you have something to offer, before engaging with them.
4. Join Facebook Groups
Facebook is a powerful marketing weapon, but it’s also a source of valuable information for beginner bloggers such as yourself.
You can use Facebook to gain insight into your audience’s demographics, learn about their interests, and even reach out to them.
All you have to do is:
- find a Facebook group joining together people interested in your niche and your blog’s topic
- become a member and interact with other members
- be active in the comments section, providing information and answering other members’ questions
- once you feel comfortable enough, try posting one of your blog posts, especially if it answers another member’s question
In addition to finding an audience, Facebook groups can help you learn about the topics your audience would like you to cover.
If you see people being interested in a certain topic or confused about anything related to your niche, you should:
- create a post about it
- post it
- ask people to read it
You’ll give the people something they actually want to read. It’s a great strategy that simply can’t fail.
5. Analyze the Feedback
Finally, it’s important that you gather the courage to start sharing your first blog posts, with the assumed audience on your mind.
Once your blog posts are live, make sure to monitor each action a reader takes:
- comments
- shares
- likes
- mentions
Whatever it is that they do, you need to be ready to learn from it, respond to it, and use it as a future reference.
Therefore, read everything that you’re newly established audience writes as a response to your content. then, improve anything that needs improvement.
This way, you’ll ensure it’s not just you finding your target audience, but it’s also vice versa.
Final Thoughts
So, back to you guys. After reading through the list of practical tips for finding your target audience, you hopefully have a strategy in mind and are ready to start employing it.
Make sure to use all the advice given above and design a powerful strategy. You’ll get to your audience sooner than you think.
Feature Image Credit: CC 0; Public Domain, sourced from pixabay.com.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
Steven Mehler
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- 5 Tips for Beginner Bloggers to Find a Target Audience - May 30, 2019
