Personal Demographics
- How old are they?
- Are they primarily male or female?
- What type of job roles or titles do they typically have?
- How much do they make per year?
- Are they married or single?
- What level of education do they have?
- Where are they located?
- Do they have children? How many?
Company Demographics
- What industry are they in?
- How many employees do they have?
- Where does their company operate?
- Do they sell primarily online or in-store?
- How much revenue do they bring in per year?
Job Responsibilities
- Who do they report to? Anyone?
- What defines success in their position?
- What does their typical day look like?
- Which skills does their job require?
- Which tools do they use?
- What is their role in the buying process?
Values & Motivation
- What’s important to them?
- What do they value?
- What is causing their need for change?
- How do they generally go about enacting that change?
- What emotions motivate them (fear, anger, etc.)?
- What are their goals?
- What are their fears?
- What are their challenges?
- What problem do they have that needs solving?
- What are their pain points?
- What are their needs?
- Where is this company or person trying to go?
- Is the company trying to grow faster, become more efficient, cut costs, etc.?
- What drives them to make purchasing decisions?
- What would hold them back?
- What do they care about?
- Who do they listen to or look to for advice?
- How does your product or service make them look like the hero in their company?
- How does your product or service make their life easier or better?
Where They Spend Their Time
- Where do they hang out in real life?
- What do they do in their spare time?
- What conferences do they attend?
- What events do they go to?
What Type of Content They Enjoy
- How do they spend their time online?
- What type of content do they enjoy/share (images, video, tutorials, etc.)?
- How do they find their content (Google, Twitter, Instagram, Magazines, etc.)?
- What keywords do they search?
- Where do they search (Google, Amazon, etc.)?
What Type of Media They Follow
- What social media networks do they use?
- Who do they follow on social media?
- What blogs or new sites do they read/follow?
- What forums do they use?
- What magazines do they read?
- What newspapers do they read?
- What shows or channels do they watch?
- What radio stations do they listen to?
- What brands do they follow?
- What stores do they shop at?
- What websites do they visit?
- What causes or organizations do they support?
Product Specific Audience Questions
- Does this person currently buy something like you’re selling?
- How is your product solving their problem?
- What would hold them back from buying your product or service?
Everything Else to Know About Your Audience
- What type of personality do they have (introverted or extroverted)?
- How brand loyal are they?
- Are they likely to make repeat purchases?
- What do they dislike?
- What channels do they use to communicate?
- Do they communicate differently at work?
- How much are they willing to spend?
- How much can they afford?
- What defines ROI for them?
- Do they prefer value or price?
- How do they use and navigate your website?
- What type of content do they already enjoy on your website?
- How do they already get to your website?
- What pages or articles perform best on your site?
- How informed are customers about your topic, industry, or company?
- What do they and don’t they know?
- What are other companies missing when it comes to providing for this audience?
Finding These Information
- Do you have any customer testimonials on hand?
- Do you have reviews on your site you can analyze?
- Do you have sales members on your team who have had extensive conversations with customers?
- Do you have comments on any articles on your website you can analyze?
- What are people saying in the comments sections on competitor’s blog posts?
- What type of content are your competitor’s publishing?
- What are your followers on social media saying?
- What are your competitor’s followers on social media saying?
- What are your followers saying back to you on social media?
- Do you have access to any competitive research tools?
- Do you have access to any survey tools?
- Are there any questions on Quora, Yahoo Answers, or any forums that are related to your industry, product, or topic?
- Where else can you find this information?
Evaluating Your Audience
- How big is your target audience?
- How can you best reach them (advertising, organic search, etc.)?
- Where are they along the consideration/conversion path?
- How long does it take for them to commit to buying? This can guide your re-marketing and email marketing campaigns.
- Does your business idea need to be altered to better appeal to this audience?
- Does your marketing copy need to be changed to better appeal to this audience?
- Have you developed personas?
- Did you get everything right?
- When will you come back to?