Two of the main things I focus on in my business are building my list and doubling my affiliate income, and there is a direct relationship between them both. The bigger my list grows, the more my affiliate income grows as well. But both of them depend on one thing… taking the time to know and understand your audience.

The only way you, I, or any business owner can truly be successful in attracting their ideal audience is by understanding who they are. Many small business owners, especially people who start their business alone from home, often skip a few steps in the process, causing issues with finding an audience for your product.

Instead, focus on who you want to serve before you do anything in your business. Knowing who you want to serve and why will help you fill your email list with people who are ready to buy from you. These ten ways to get to know your audience better will inform products, services, and even the words you use to communicate to them the value you offer.

Here are 10 crucial ways to get to know and understand your audience:

1. Do Your Research

When you first start, you need to know what industry you are in. Those industry metrics will help you know where you can start making goals and setting standards in your own business. Look at business organizations, associations, and nonprofits to help you do the research both online and offline.

2. Study Your Competition

Even if you don’t have your first customer yet, you can start to understand your audience by studying your competition. Participate in their groups, join their email lists, and network with their customers for the most traction into getting the right information about them. When you become part of the community, you’ll get so much more inside information.

3. Create Customer Personas

As you start to understand your audience more, it helps to create customer personas that match the person you’re directing the information to. You may have many client avatars or personas based on the customer’s buying journey, but it all comes down to who you want to serve, and how do you want to serve them.

4. Monitor Engagement

An enjoyable way to get to know and understand your audience is to participate in their social media engagement and discussions. Social media should be a two-way conversation that helps you get insight into their wants and needs so that you can help them.

5. Ask Questions

Once you’ve identified precisely who you want to market to, you can simply ask them questions about what they want and need when you’ve incorporated yourself into their communities. You’re going to get far more insight when you participate and network with your audience.

6. Do a Test to Determine Interest

Another way to check if you have the right audience is to generate a test of some kind. Create a checklist for a topic that you think they care about, offer it as a freebie to see who takes it. Then ask for feedback.

7. Identify Their Pain Points

When it comes to knowing your audience’s pain point, you’ll need first to understand your expertise and the niche you want to be of assistance to your audience. In other words, choose problems you can solve.

8. Be a Resource for Your Community

Sometimes, you may not be able to fix a problem on your own due to a mismatch with the audience. When this happens, don’t force it. Focus on being a resource to your audience, find someone that can help them, and it’ll be a win-win-win for everyone involved.

9. Use the Right Tools

Don’t skimp on software that helps you get to know your audience and network with them. Use paid versions of the software that you want to help you get more done, such as email marketing software*, landing page software*, and others.

10. Build Relationships

As you get to know your audience, make the focus relationship building. When you build a close relationship with your audience due to your honesty, transparency, and ability to stay on the topic, you’re going to build strong relationships.

Final Thoughts

As you work on building your list, you’ll want to keep each of these tips in mind. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Instead, do what works consistently, and you’ll soon find that you’re building your list with an active and interested audience who needs what you offer.

*Note: This post includes affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission should you make a purchase.