What is audience research and why this is the most important piece to selling out your course or program

The #1 mistake that most coaches and online course creators make is not getting crystal clear on who their course or program is marketed to.

For example, I did a launch strategy intensive call with someone recently and one thing that became clear in our discussion was that he had advertised his program to all musicians in his previous launch, but the program was actually only for beginners.

Another example is a recent consulting client who was about to launch a group program for parents. She wanted it to be for all parents (anyone else being scared of missing out on clients?). We did the audience research work together (the very first piece of work I do with all my launch consulting clients following our kick-off deep-dive call) and it became apparent that the program wasn’t suitable for parents of teenagers.

Why do audience research

Let me explain why doing your audience research, and getting clear and specific about who you are marketing to is crucial to your launch success. It’s because it:

• Provides us with clarity on who we are marketing the course/program to.
• Helps with writing our sales content so that we can use wording that resonates with our audience.
• It makes us feel more confident in what we say, create or do.
• It helps us make sure that our offer solves something specific that relates to the priorities and goals of our target audience. A deeply resonant offer will result in sales!

I totally understand that it is hard to narrow down on your target market. I have been there. I do understand that your program or course may be beneficial to most people. But here we’re talking about who you are marketing to. If you try to speak to everyone you resonate with no one. It’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping that it will stick. Be super specific about who you are marketing your course or program to and you will create deeply resonating messaging!

When and how to do your audience research

Now that we have clarified why it is important to do your audience research, let’s talk about when and how to do it.

When – before your first launch it is a must!! After that, depending on how often you relaunch that course or program, the research is actually the feedback that you receive from your course or program participants.

How should you do your audience research?

1. Decide who you want to work with first (what is their gender, work status, values, dreams, struggles, beliefs etc.). Think of your own values, beliefs, skills, experience, people you feel you can help, when making this decision. I personally choose to work with people who have similar values and beliefs. That’s very important to me.
2. Once you have made your client avatar decisions, hold interviews with people who fit your client avatar. I recommend doing at least three (3). Even if you do 3. and 4. below, I still encourage you to hold these interviews. They give you the best and most thorough insight into your target audience.
3. Run polls/surveys or have conversations in the DM with people who fit your client avatar.
4. Search in forums, Facebook groups, and read blogs.

Never make assumptions about what your target audience wants and needs. And if you have worked 1:1 before creating this course or group program, don’t think that you already know your audience. The reasons why someone would choose to join a group program are different to the reasons why they would choose to do the 1:1 work with you.

The best people to ask about their struggles and dreams are your audience! Hear it from the horse’s mouth and your launch will have every chance to succeed.