Knowing Your Target Audience

Something in me cautions lest I overemphasize the importance of this exercise. It is a common notion in publishing, and in my limited personal and professional experience, that pinpointing the audience you wish to reach is key to speaking the correct language and reaching those people effectively.

Words are like keys. They’re cut to the doors they open.

It is also common among authors to think they wish to target “everyone,” which is both impossible and unhelpful.

Think about it. People who don’t speak English fit into the “everyone” category; but, if your book is written in English, you can’t reach everyone with it because you’re unable to communicate in the language all readers understand. 

The same is true among people in different walks of life. Carpenters speak carpentry; lawyers are fluent in legalese; and the dialect and style in which you communicate will determine the people who will listen.

Capice? Me comprende? Make sense?

Buzzzzwords Matter

A mother of small children is more likely than a childless bachelor to be stirred by words like “baby,” “formula,” “healthy,” and phrases like “normal child development,” “for infants,” “gentle,” “non-toxic,” and the like. These are her buzzwords, not his. Plaster these words on your book covers and blogsites and you’re likely to draw mamas looking for answers.

Of course, these buzzwords will only work for mothers in a culture and society like mine where we tend to care about things like “non-toxic” or “gentle” or “normal child development.” Not all cultures think these things are important; or else they may but they call it something different. If I want to catch someone’s attention, it makes sense for me to use the words they use about the topics that are most urgent to them.

Same Voice On Every Page

As an editor, part of my job is to help my author communicate clearly and consistently from page-to-page. You wouldn’t write in English on page one, then get excited about demonstrating your Spanish-writing skills on page two, insert a paragraph or two of some Italian slang that’s really fun on page three, and maybe splash a bit of Latin every once in a while…

…would you?

To do it so blatantly would be uncommon; yet, it’s common for us as authors—we ALL do it—to insert words, phrases, and paragraphs that either don’t interest our targeted reader or else don’t speak their language. I think a lot of times we are ecstatic to share the wide breadth of fantastic knowledge we can add to the prose, so we let it slip.

This is why we EDIT!

When Less is More, More or Less

For instance, to do a most excellent job serving moms who are busy with children and family and cooking and working from home and juggling all of the tasks therein; yet, who really need the nuts and bolts of what you are writing, you may need to avoid lengthy descriptions and long, drawn out arguments (and maybe long sentences like this one).

For these bustling mommies, play with lists, bullets, pictures, and cheerfully concise sentences so they can get what they need in the short bouts of time that busy (and highly focused) moms have.

On the other hand, medical professionals, researchers, journalists, and scientists will require far more detail as you carefully build your arguments before they can seriously consider anything in your bulleted lists, pictures, summaries, or concise sentences. They absolutely require more information to take you seriously, and they will appreciate that you are fluent in the jargon of your field or industry. In fact, if you aren’t using vernacular, some audiences may write you off altogether.

Editors, Marketers, and Beyond

For an editor like me, clearly defining your “target audience” means you won’t switch your voice or language from page to page.

Your book marketing minds will appreciate knowing precisely who they are trying to reach. Their job is easier when they know whether to use keywords like “baby,” “fun,” “simple,” and “easy-to-do,” or “scathing,” “thought-provoking,” “ground-breaking,” and “challenging.”

Some readers will be thankful you didn’t make them stop and think about words so they could quickly grasp the concepts. Others will be thankful you gave them many moments to pause, put down the book, and think.

Hopefully, you have lots of experience with people who share your reader’s concerns. You’ve spoken to them in-person lots, so you’ve learned some things about how words affect them, what gets them excited, freaks them out, or makes their eyes glaze over.

If not, then you run the risk of…well, freaking them out, or making their eyes glaze over as the book slowly comes closed…never to be reopened again.

As you write, think about your reader. Imagine you’re speaking to them personally. Hold their attention and give them what they most hunger to know. If you’re still not sure, go get to know them some more…and then write to them (not everyone).

Hope this helps!

Love,
Esse