How to Understand Your Audience

When you hear or see the word “influencer”, what pops on your mind? Popular people? Vloggers? or maybe, celebrities?

When we talk about ‘influencers’, it is vague yet really broad. It’s not specifically only one type of person doing a thing called influencing or whatever it is. You can also be an influencer, as so you know.

The thing is, when we talk about influencers, we also talk about brands and marketing. Brands use influencers for their marketing purpose; either to promote or to raise their brands’ value or awareness.

So, what is an influencer?

Everyone has their own understanding about the term ‘influencers’−no need to fight each other to see who’s the right one. FYI, influencers always relate to brand, marketing, and products.

Influencers, beside doing their regular things, are promoting something (yeah, you read it right). Be it social activity, brands, product, or campaigns. Big influencers tend to be more careful when choosing what they are going to promote by considering the value more than the numbers.

How to understand your audience?

If you are an influencer (or if you consider yourself as an influencer, you are also included!), be it social media influencers or even marketing influencer, the important point you need to do is to understand you audience. Being an influencer means you are ought to work with brands and your audience. The brand might love you, but their love is conditional. If your audience don’t love you, then the brand will also leave you. Ouch.

There are several benefits you will get by understanding your audiences such as knowing how to create the right self-image, narrowing down products or brands, and learning how to communicate with your audience. So, here are some ways to understand your audience:

Interact with our audience

As a social media influencer, you are not the only one who wants to be heard, but your audience too! It’s quite the same as any other communication form, you need to listen for the other’s feedback. Otherwise, you won’t get any benefit from the communication and you will be an egoist (ugh). So, other than observing your audience from the social media data analytics, you might want to conduct a communication with your audience yourself.

So, the best way to understand your audience is to interact with them. You can make Q&A sessions, polling, interacting with them in the comment sections, or read or even reply to their private messages. By these, you will get to know them better.

Gain their trust personally

Now that you have maintained communications with your audience, let’s move to the next step: gain their trust personally. To achieve it, you need to fully understand the products you are promoting. While promoting, you are not only talking about the products as a part of someone’s brand but also as a part of you.

To do this, you need to make sure the quality of the product you are promoting. Choose for the best product to focus on. The audience might not only want you to explain the product, but also your honest review.

Also, try to not solely promoting the products. In order to gain their trust, you might also want to share something good with your audience for the sake of sharing. This way, you can gain their trust a little more, and see you as a person, not a promoter. To put it simply, be honest and nice to gain their trust.

Talk in languages they understand

Communication is exchanging news or information. If you are not speaking the language they speak, then how would you both understand each other? In order to understand your audience, you should speak the language they are speaking too. This can include the style of talking. If you are a lifestyle influencer, isn’t it boring for your audiences if you are talking in a very formal language?

Find the silver lining between the audience and the brands you are promoting

When you already understand your audience, you might know what works and what’s not to your audiences. After knowing their demographics, try to focus on them.

When your audience number are growing and spreading, many brands might want to use your services. But again, in order to keep their trust, try to focus on the products that suit your style. Otherwise, your audiences might see you differently. It’s like the term “be yourself”.

Value the content

While reviewing something, do not just solely read the qualities of the products, or blurting sweet things about it. You need to make a value to your content. Be aware that all of your content is going to be seen by your audience. So, make the best out of it.

In the process of making a review, you might not only want to talk good about the product itself. Relate to your audience’s needs. You might need to do some research about the possible issues or side-effects related to the products. By this, you can engage more with the audiences and create a trust-worthy image.

Keep doing something new

No matter how much your audience love you, when there is nothing new, they will leave you sooner or later.

You already got everything you need to keep your audience. You know their profile, interests, you gained their trust and you keep the communication. So, what is next? Be the better you. By being a better you, it means to create something new for your audience not just once, but occasionally.

Whenever you try to do something new, don’t lose your true identity. It doesn’t mean you can’t change from your old self, though. You can do some twists and still be you. Give something fresh to be presented as your contents. This way, your audience are going to always root for you.

Why do you have to understand your audiences ?

As mentioned before, being an influencer means you are working with both the brands and your audience. The success of your influence depends on your audience’s reaction, by impressions or numbers.

Understanding your audience also helps you in promoting brands or products, deciding which one suits for your audience, and which one they like best. Understanding your audience also helps you gain their trust. By doing this, you will be at ease whenever you work with brands in the future

So, as an influencer, it’s important to understand your audience because your success depends on them. Try to understand the true meaning of becoming an influencer and do the right things to maintain your influencing career.

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