For part one of our content marketing plan guide, we’ll focus on the research aspects of your strategy–perhaps the most important facet of your content journey. Get it wrong, and you could spend countless hours writing, editing, and publishing content that your audience doesn’t understand, or worse content that they don’t want. So, what steps do you take to research your audience so you can create a brilliant strategy that works?

How To Uncover Your Audience

Several methods exist for determining your audience, and there’s no right way or wrong way. As long as you are pulling in data and putting it to good use, you’re on the right track. Google Analytics has a dedicated “Audience” tab for this very reason. After your website accumulates enough data, explore data such as demographics, geolocation, interests, and more. When used to its fullest extent, Google Analytics provides powerful insights into your audience.

Social media, likewise, can be used to uncover information about your audience. The Insights tool on Facebook, for instance, can shed light on your audience’s behaviors and key demographics, like which region of the country visits your page the most often. Record all of this data for future use and to compare trends as your social media accounts grow.

How To Apply What You’ve Learned

Now it’s time to ask yourself questions about your product or service. Is your business target toward men, women, or both? What price do you need to sell products and services? What income range are you targeting? These are just some examples of questions you might ask yourself when applying your newfound research. Once you feel confident that you have discovered your audience and applied that research to your business, it’s time to create your content.

Stay tuned for How To Create A Content Marketing Plan For Your Business Part 2. In the meantime, like our Facebook Page or follow us on Twitter for more marketing insights and news.