I was debating naming this post “Who’s Gonna Make You Money?” or “Who Are the People That Will Help Pay Your Bills,” but decided to go with the above title instead. But, the thing is the titles are basically the same when you think about it.
No matter what your monetization method is for your website, you are going to have to get in the mind of your visitors and look at who you are really trying to target. A lot of people tend to pick a good niche but then don’t quite hit the target when it comes to appealing to the right people.
Who's Your Target Audience?
Unless you are able to identify your target audience properly you may not be able to truly make as much money as you can from your passive income endeavours. It doesn’t matter what niche you are in, you should take a few minutes and answer some of the key questions below to find your target audience for your business or website.
Key Questions for Identifying Your Target Audience
Although not all of these questions may be applicable for your niche, a lot of them work in just about every niche you can think of from camping equipment to divorce counseling.
*What problem does your audience have?
This is probably the most important thing you need to look at. If you can solve your audience’s problem then there should be no limits to your earnings. This works in every, single niche. For example, if you own a writing business, your audience’s problem is that they need something written for them. If you have a website on baby swings, your audience’s problem is they need a baby swing. If you have a website on getting back with your ex, your audience’s problem is that they want to know how to get their ex back.
*What is the general age of the people?
Teens are a lot different than senior citizens when it comes to targeting niches.
*Does it favor one gender over the other?
For example, women are going to be a lot more interested in a handbags website than men, just as men are going to be a lot more interested in a survival website than women.
*Where are the people located?
There are certain brands that target people in certain areas of the world. Also depending on your monetization method, this may be very important for you to know.
*What is the general race/nationality of the people?
If you were selling Spanish food products you would want to target Spanish and possibly Latin American immigrants looking for these products.
*What is the family status? Married/single/has kids/no kids?
If your audience doesn’t have kids you aren’t going to want to promote items that are for families. Also this also helps when getting a theme for your site and helping you to relate to your customers.
*What are the major occupations or general areas of occupation?
A shoe website may gear their promotions towards a specific type of shoe that a profession likes to wear. For example, a lot of nurses tend to wear Crocs. You can also go a little broader and look at your audience as white collar workers or blue collar workers or ones that don’t work at all.
*What goals do the people have?
If you can get into the minds of your audience and see what their goals are, you can really make a huge difference in your earnings. Help them achieve their goals = money for you.
*What is the general personality of the audience?
People with different personalities have different buying habits. For example, a shy person is going to be less prone to buying large and extravagant items while someone with an outgoing or slightly cocky personality may want to buy items that put them in the spotlight.
*What is the approximate level of income?
If you target audience doesn’t have money then it may be harder for you to get them to buy something from you. This is important to look at when you are choosing a monetization method for your site or business. For example if you are targeting small, startup companies for SEO or writing work, you may not be able to charge as much if you were targeting Fortune 500 companies. This goes for your own sites as well, such as a person who has an extra $5000 to spend on clothes is going to buy designer clothing while a person who only has $100 can’t afford designer labels.
*How often will people buy something?
Look at your niche and see if your audience will buy something once and never come back or will they keep coming back for more information and products.
Take some time and write down the answers to these questions. It may take some research on your part, but once you have narrowed down your target audience it’s much easier to appeal to them. That means it is much easier to market to them and make money from your site.
You may even want to conduct a market research survey on your site if you really want to get to know your audience. You can find free survey making software online or just use Google Docs to make your survey and post it on your site. This works in just about any niche and can also work if you are running a business and offering a service as well.
Really identifying your target audience can have a drastic effect on your earnings. If you can’t seem to get your passive income earnings up anymore, try this approach and you may just find your earnings going up and up.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m working on monetizing my new site, and this was really helpful. Thanks.
Missy – Glad it helped you out and good luck on your site!