Is Your Audience Dropping Out?

I’m in the wrong class. Am I in the wrong class? OH MY GOSH should I be understanding this?
These are the thoughts that fly through my head as I sit inconspicuously through my first Intro to Philosophy class. Everything the professor said flew over my head that day.
It wasn’t the wrong class; it was the wrong message. The professor had forgotten her audience—a group of first-semester college freshman whose interest in and understanding of philosophy had not been established.
By the end of the second week, more than half the students transferred out. I was one of them; it was the only class I ever “quit”.
What does a 100-level college philosophy course have to do with content marketing? The importance of understanding your audience is the same. If you don’t meet your audience where they are—talk to them on their level, provide an introduction to bring them up to speed, make them feel understood—you will lose your audience as fast as that professor lost students.
In today’s fast-paced world, when people don’t understand what you are saying, they are not likely to continue reading/watching/listening. They don’t need your content for college credit and they can easily move on.
To avoid this, you need to first understand your audience (get to know everything, from their job title to the worries that keep them up at night) and then create content for them. This means choosing topics that interest them and writing about those topics in a way they can understand (hint: leave out the jargon).
Once you do this, you can consistently provide your audience with guidance, answers and inspiration. They’ll turn to you, instead of dropping out.
To get all the details on how to understand your audience AND write great content just for them, keep reading:

• What Happens When You Don’t Pay Attention to Your Audience?
• The Simple Way to Create Hundreds of Blog Posts Your Audience Will Love
• Want to be a Better Marketer? Join the Audience.
• What the Success of Serial Can Teach Brands About Building an Obsessed Audience
• Is Your Content Sending Negative Subliminal Messages to Your Audience?
• 3 Simple Steps to Creating Content Your Audience Will Care About