Useful Tips for Customizing Your Content for a Specific Target Market

Content is King! Whether you know it consciously or you are aware of it on a more subtle level, it is definitely the case. Without content, you can’t get anywhere in business. Your brand and your business are very specific, as are your offerings. That means that your content must be customized for your target market.

Recognizing how effective your content can be

You catch your readers’ attention with a kickass headline and keep them reading your relevant content until the end. You manage to connect with them in a direct and concise way. You elicit an emotional response. Most importantly, you compel your readers to share your content with other people. If you can manage to do this each time you post content, you are a great writer.

You could be the greatest writer in the world but still be ineffective if you fail to take into account the profile of your audience. Here are some tips to find out more about your target market so you can customize and make the most of your content marketing strategy.

Find some inspiration

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Check authority sites in your niche to find out which articles are getting the most attention. For example, if you plan to post a blog article on pregnancy, you should check out authority sites on the same topic.

You can do a search on the keyword, and check the readership metrics of the top-ranking sites. Once you find a good blog, scan the posts to get a feel for the tone of the articles. This will give you an idea of what your target audience will probably want to read on your blog.

Choose one or two that you really like, and read them through. Take your cue from these posts and pattern your own writing style along the same lines. Of course, you should still create original content, but it helps to get inspiration from the pros.

Keep it friendly

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It is harder to engage your audience when all you have to work with is text. Nuances in the written language can change the tone of your article in ways that you may not intend.

Try to keep your tone friendly, even if you are writing a technical article, and do this by pretending to have a conversation with someone in the room. Anticipate any questions that your readers may be thinking. Pose them in your article where appropriate and answer them as if you are having two-way communication.

This makes your readers feel connected with you, the writer. Your audience is more likely to share your content if it is authoritative, friendly, and easy to read.

Keep it short, sometimes

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There is an ongoing debate on whether long- or short-form content is more effective, but the truth is, it depends on your audience.

If you know your target market is composed of busy homemakers or entrepreneurs, they will not have time to read a long preamble and side comments. They want to get the information quickly and in as few words as possible. In some cases, a good image and a short description are all that’s needed. If such is your audience, get to the point as soon as possible.

On the other hand, if you understand that your audience has a lot of time on their hands, you can safely indulge your penchant for detailed discussions and give depth to your article. 

Talk the language

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Your main purpose in writing is communication, so you want to make sure that your readers can understand what you are trying to say.

It might be tempting to be a bit of a show-off and use long words. However, this does not mean that you should only use simple language as you may need to use jargons occasionally.
 
It is perfectly acceptable to use technical language if your audience has the requisite knowledge. For instance, if your target reader is a doctor, you can use medical lingo with abandon.

Try a bit of irony

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A little humor is always a good way to help even the most serious topic go down a little easier.

Irony and satire are literary techniques that are very effective in driving home a point without getting too dramatic over it. Using them in your writing style can provide a bit of lightness, and it goes down very easily with many readers.

However, you need to be careful and ensure that your audience can appreciate in the spirit that it was written. Some people may feel that levity is inappropriate when dealing with certain topics.

In general, people like to laugh, so as long as you are not making fun of or satirizing something that may hit a raw nerve in your audience, go right ahead.

Give your readers a break

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A good rule for writers is to keep paragraphs to a maximum of five sentences. That makes them easier to read and tracks.

However, sometimes, you need a little more when you are discussing a particularly serious or complex topic. Lighten the mood with well-placed personal interjections.

Make a point of breaking up a long article and heavy blocks of text on a serious or technical subject with a question, or something humorous. If you are discussing something sobering, such as statistics on car accidents, you could say, “And now for some good news.”

Be impressive

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With all the effort that you put into your blog post, you want to make sure it gives you the exposure you need.

A great way to accomplish that is to contribute to high-authority sites where many of your target readers go. Then again, you cannot simply submit an article and expect a webmaster to publish it. Authority sites are prime targets for many businesses wanting to improve their online reputations. Thus, you need to convince the site administrator that you have something of value to contribute.

When you do your pitch, make sure you include a photo, contact information, and a short but impressive biography. That makes you look professional and legitimate, which can improve the chances of having your article accepted and published, thereby increasing your credibility in your industry. 

Conclusion

Customizing your content to cater to your target audience is not as hard as it sounds. You just need to keep in mind that writing is just another form of communication. When you hold a conversation, you automatically alter your tone and language based on the type of person in front of you. You do not talk to a young child the same way you talk to an adult.  You should assume the same attitude when writing for certain people. The hard part is identifying the persona of your audience, and these tips should help you do just that.

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