12 Questions to Help You Define Your Audience

by Andrew Mackay

I use these twelve questions (culled I'm sure from various people who have thought about this before me) to help identify an author's audience. I do this exercise both in conference / teaching settings and one-on-one with authors. Here goes, presented without comment:

1. How old is my primary audience?
2. Are they male or female?
3. What phase of life issues are they currently facing?
4. Who are they reading?
5. Which late night host do they connect with?
6. What radio station or podcasts are they listening to
7. What is the first website they visit in the morning
8. How are they engaging their church?
9. What marketing messages are working on them right now?
10. What is the one interview or appearance or conference or what-have-you that would solidify my ability to reach them?
11. How should I be praying for them?
12. What are their most common felt needs?

You need to be able to answer these questions. Once you can do that, you can use that knowledge to inform your writing.