Profiling Your Target Audience (And Why It Changes Everything)

Creating a detailed customer profile or persona is a pivotal step in product or service development, making it easier to target and solve problems for a specific audience rather than a generic crowd. This profile can be based on an actual customer or a composite of multiple customers, focusing on demographic information (age, gender, income, education, family status) and psychographic details (values, interests, attitudes, motivations). It should also encompass their goals and aspirations, challenges and pain points related to your product, buying behavior, preferred communication channels, influencers, and potential objections. The key to a successful audience profile lies in conducting thorough research to gather real insights, rather than relying on assumptions. This research uncovers critical information that can significantly influence the direction and success of your business. A profile built on genuine data can guide product development and marketing strategies, ensuring they are finely tuned to meet the specific needs and preferences of your target customer.

[@mfjae]

So how exactly do you actually go out and do that research? And then condense it into the audience profile?

[@RealJamesArcher]

That can vary a lot depending on your customer type, but the most valuable research is interviewing prospective customers.
At this stage, you're not trying to sell them on what you offer. (In fact, if you do that, it'll make the research almost useless.) You're just trying to learn. You're just trying to understand them.
I can't tell you how to find those customers because I don't know what you're selling, but hopefully you have some idea how to find them because you're going to need to sell to them eventually anyway! 😅