Creating marketing personas can help you figure out your target audience— if those personas are rooted in the real world. Trying to guess whether your “ideal customer” prefers oat or almond milk? Not helpful (unless you’re in the business of selling oat or almond milk!)

These seven practical tips can help you cut through the guesswork and get clear on your audience. Learn who they are, what they need, and how to reach more customers like them, so you can position your marketing efforts to hit home—and not just into the void. 

1. Start with your current customers.

You might be tempted to begin by sketching out who your ideal customer might be, but the fastest way to understand your audience is to focus on who’s already giving you their business. You don’t need deep data science to do this: Pull your data from whatever tools you use to run your business. These may include Shopify, Square, PayPal, Google Analytics or even a spreadsheet, if that’s where you’re keeping your customer info.

Look at the basics:

  • What’s the age range of your customers? 
  • Where are they located?
  • How often do they buy? 
  • What do they buy most? 

Next, look for patterns. For example: 

  • Are your best customers local? 
  • Do they tend to buy the same product(s) from you?
  • Are most of your regulars coming in through social media? 
  • Do they mostly shop late at night? At the end of their work day? 
  • Do they tend to buy more if you’re offering special bundles or discounts? 

Once you’ve spotted some patterns, take it a step further. Reach out to a few of your repeat customers and ask what keeps them coming back. A few honest answers can often give you the clarity that numbers alone might miss. 

Takeaway: Don’t ignore the people already buying from you. Start where the proof is, with the real customers supporting your business. 

2. Think about the problem your business solves.

A common mistake many small businesses make is framing an offer around features (like “handmade,” “organic” or “eco-friendly packaging”), rather than around the problem it solves. Potential customers don’t care about features unless they understand how these features help them. 

All businesses solve a problem. Your job is to clearly name the problem you’re solving—but not from your perspective. Shift to your customers’ point of view. Ask, “What’s the stressful or annoying or time-consuming problem they’re trying to fix?” Once you know your customers’ core problem, make sure you’re clearly communicating your offer as the solution they need. Keep that messaging consistent across your website, in your product descriptions and in your social media posts. 

If you’re having trouble articulating the problem you’re solving, try these steps:

  • Review three to five customer emails or messages. Ask yourself: What are they struggling with?
  • Check your best-selling offer. What problem does it solve best? 
  • Think about what potential customers might type into Google when they’re looking for help.

Takeaway: A clear problem = a clear audience. If you can’t clearly identify what your product or service solves, potential customers won’t understand why they need it from you.  

3. Use social media insights.

If you’ve been using social media just to post about your business and promote your products or services, you’re not getting the maximum value out of playing the social media game. There’s also a goldmine of audience data at your fingertips. 

Start with the built-in analytics available on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Who’s following you, commenting on, saving or sharing your posts? Where do they live? How old are they? What kinds of posts do they engage most with? This data gives you vital clues about who’s listening and what they value. Are your active followers 25-34, mostly female, and engaging with content late at night? Do your product tutorial videos get more comments and shares than the lifestyle photos you post? 

For even more clarity, simply ask your audience questions on social media. Questions like “What brought you here?” or “What do you need help with?” can help you learn what your audience needs and what interests them—in their very own words. Use the responses to help direct your messaging, uncover new segments and shape new offers. 

Takeaway: Use your social media feed for audience insight in real time. Pay attention, and you’ll learn who’s showing up—and why. 

4. Gather data with quick surveys or polls.

You might think you know what your audience needs, but until you ask, it’s just guesswork. 

Create opportunities for micro-conversations that let you hear directly from your audience. One simple tactic is to build short, focused questions into the places your customers show up. Here are some ideas:

  • Add a quick question on your online checkout page (i.e., “Was anything unclear while shopping?”)
  • Include a link in your email newsletter to a short survey (for example, you could ask what topics or products subscribers would be interested in).
  • Add a follow-up question in your order or shipping confirmation emails (i.e., “How did you hear about us?”)

Look for patterns. What do your customers care about most? What words do they use to describe their problems? Are you attracting the type of customer you want, or someone else entirely? 

And don’t overlook one-on-one moments. Whether it’s at a pop-up, over the phone or even in a DM, be genuinely curious and start conversations. You don’t need a formal questionnaire. Ask customers how they found you, what they’re looking for and what made them decide on your product. Every answer gives you a clearer picture of who’s drawn to your business and why. 

Takeaway: Surveys and polls don’t have to be formal. In fact, the best ones often feel like small talk with a purpose. 

5. Experiment, track, tweak—and repeat.

Still not clear on who your audience is? Don’t try to guess your way there. Instead, start experimenting with small things, such as: 

  • Trying out different email subject lines
  • Testing a few variations of a landing page headline
  • Posting about a slightly different pain point or interest
  • Swapping in new product photos
  • Changing how you position your offer

You’re not throwing spaghetti on the walls and seeing what sticks. But you also don’t need to do formal split testing or have an ad budget. You’re simply watching what people respond well to, and learning through real-world feedback. 

To accomplish this, you’ll need to track your results, although spreadsheets aren’t required (unless you like them!). Using the simplest metrics, you can see whether something connected with your audience: Did one variation of a subject line lead to more email signups than another? Which version drove more clicks, comments or purchases? Was there a variation that people ignored? Even if something didn’t perform well, it’s all useful feedback. 

Once you’ve found something that works, tweak your messaging, targeting, and offers to reflect what’s working—and then test again. The more you test and tweak, the more you’ll connect with your audience.

Takeaway: Think of your testing as a feedback loop, not a guessing game. Your audience will show you who they are by what they do.

6. Check out the competition.

Who are your competitors targeting and how well is it working for them? You don’t need special access to their data to get answers. You just need to pay attention to what’s already out there. 

Visit websites and social media feeds of other businesses operating in your space and look at their messaging, visuals and tone:

  • Who are they speaking to?
  • What kind of language are they using? 
  • What types of problems do they solve? 
  • What pain points are they highlighting? 

Also look at what they might be missing. Does their messaging ignore certain segments of the market? Are the people in their comments and reviews the same people you want to reach, or a different group entirely? 

The key is to spot gaps that spell opportunity. For example, you might notice that most of your competitors are focused on attracting first-time buyers rather than talking to loyal customers. Or maybe everyone is highlighting speed and quantity, but no one’s focused on quality. Could you position your business as the ideal alternative: simpler, friendlier, more niche, more premium? 

Takeaway: You don’t need to outdo your competition. Study the space so you can attract the audience they’re not serving. 

7. Gut checks and intuition matter, too.

While data helps, there will be moments when the numbers won’t give you a clear answer. This is when your intuition can fill in the gaps. That moment you read a DM and you just know, “This is the kind of customer I want more of”—that’s your gut instinct talking. It’s not magic: Gut feelings are experience-based memory. Your brain connects dots by drawing on what you’ve seen, heard and felt while running your business. 

As you gather data, talk to customers and run experiments, don’t ignore what feels familiar—or what feels off. Intuition can kick in before the metrics catch up, helping you sense when you’re drawing in the wrong audience, when your messaging is flat, or when an offer just isn’t working.

Your intuitive feelings are usually rooted in something real, so if something comes up, consider it a prompt to take a closer look. 

Takeaway: Your intuition won’t give you a final answer, but it will tell you when to start looking more closely. Trust your instincts—and then test them. 

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