How to find the right readers for your blog
The key to writing blog posts is to find your target audience and learn how to connect with them. If you keep your target audience in mind it can save you lots of time. This way you don’t waste hours and hours writing a post that doesn’t have a clear focus or that nobody will read. When you find a way to connect with your audience, you can grow your readership.
Many new bloggers don’t consider who their target audience is and who they want to write for. An idea strikes about a topic they have a lot of expertise in and they start writing. This can lead to messy, long-winded and unreadable articles.
Avoid this common writing mistake by knowing your audience.
Your target audience
A target audience is your intended audience. It’s the group of readers that you want - or expect- to read your blog post or article.
And how do you know who will be interested in your topics? This is something that must be considered carefully. More broadly, are you writing for a professional audience or the general public? And then narrow it down, is there a particular age group or demographic that you’re targeting or people looking for answers about a particular problem?
Ask yourself these questions:
Who is your ideal client or reader?
Is the reader a professional audience?
What age group/ demographics?
Why should you consider the audience? Because it helps you determine how you structure, write and promote the blog post.
For example, if you’re an expert in sleep disorders, this may be the topic you want to write about. But, the target audience will change the focus and style of the piece. Here are two ways it could be written for two different readerships:
3 signs your patient has a sleep disorder (and how to treat it)
5 signs you have a sleep disorder (and when to see your doctor)
You see how the angle of the article headline is different. “Your patient” gives a clear message this article targets medical and health professionals. The second article says “You” so it speaks directly to the patient, or person, with sleep disorder symptoms.
The language you use within the article will differ too, as will tone and voice.
For a professional audience you can assume a level of knowledge about the topic, terms and presentation of sleep disorders. For the general public, you cannot make these assumptions.
A professional may already know they’re dealing with a sleep disorder and the article will confirm this suspicion or provide new, unknown knowledge.
Someone in the general public may not self-identify as having a ‘sleep disorder’ but may have sleep problems they want to learn more about.
What is the goal of the article?
When it comes to a health or medical blog post, ultimately the goal is to provide valuable information. The second goal is to incite people to take action after reading your article so that you can continue to help them.
If you identify your target audience correctly then you can align your call to action accordingly. A call to action, or CTA, is the next step you want the reader to take after reading your article.
Building on the example of sleep disorders, for a professional audience you may want them to book into your specialised workshop on sleep disorders which will educate professionals on identifying and treating sleep disorders effectively.
For a potential client, you may want to invite them to book an initial appointment with you to assess their sleep issues.
See how it is all connected?
How to promote your article
Knowing your target audience will also influence the way in which you promote your blog post. If you want to sign up professionals to your workshop then infographics on Instagram probably aren't going to cut it because that’s not where professionals will go to find professional resources. A social media platform like LinkedIn, which is for professionals, will be a better fit.
On the other hand, if you want to reach potential clients for your sleep study then you may look at promoting your blog post on Instagram or Facebook to pique readership interest.
Planning is key
Taking time to plan your blog post before you dive in, is key to creating a useful, readable article that connects with your audience.
To recap:
Identify your target audience (professional or layperson)
Consider the goal of your article (value-driven + call to action)
Have a promotional strategy that aligns with your goals and target audience
Once you are clear on these three things, then you can start writing.
Do you need help with your content strategy?
I provide content coaching for professionals who want to hone their writing skills, connect with their intended audience and grow their readership (and business!). View my content coaching packages here or seek a customised quote.