This post begins a four-part series on writing for the web, whether blogging, tweeting, or posting on sites like Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.
Start with addressing your audience. If you have a new enterprise to promote, a Great American Novel to sell, or a vacation site to recommend, always consider how that business, book, or bungalow relates to your readers. You wouldn't want to sell igloos in Ecuador or roller skates at the Mount Everest base camp. You would surely want to address the potential buyers, in other words, the right audience. This is a three-step task: identify, plan, and find.
1. Identify
You can best identify your audience by answering a few questions:
These questions are just a starter. They often lead to other questions, so keep your mind open for those flowing ideas.
2. Plan
Now you should be prepared to answer not only those questions, but to respond to them with a clear approach. For example, if affordable healthcare keeps them up at night, explain how your enterprise addresses that concern. Write down those answers and responses, so you will do the writer's equivalent of talking the talk. Those notes you compile will inform your approach to writing social media.
3. Find
Finally, you've got to locate that audience. Where do they go to stay connected? Do they read posts on LinkedIn? Facebook? Tweets on Twitter? Blogs? Are they more interested in vlogs on YouTube? Go where they go.
Start with addressing your audience. If you have a new enterprise to promote, a Great American Novel to sell, or a vacation site to recommend, always consider how that business, book, or bungalow relates to your readers. You wouldn't want to sell igloos in Ecuador or roller skates at the Mount Everest base camp. You would surely want to address the potential buyers, in other words, the right audience. This is a three-step task: identify, plan, and find.
1. Identify
You can best identify your audience by answering a few questions:
- What is their demographic profile (sex, age, race, ethnicity, religion, education, income, occupation)?
- How much of their information do they get from reading social media?
- What keeps them up at night?
- Why and how does your content address their concerns?
These questions are just a starter. They often lead to other questions, so keep your mind open for those flowing ideas.
2. Plan
Now you should be prepared to answer not only those questions, but to respond to them with a clear approach. For example, if affordable healthcare keeps them up at night, explain how your enterprise addresses that concern. Write down those answers and responses, so you will do the writer's equivalent of talking the talk. Those notes you compile will inform your approach to writing social media.
3. Find
Finally, you've got to locate that audience. Where do they go to stay connected? Do they read posts on LinkedIn? Facebook? Tweets on Twitter? Blogs? Are they more interested in vlogs on YouTube? Go where they go.
