12 Questions to Help You Define Your Audience
andrew mackay

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