Whether you’re writing a book, blog, article, newsletter, web content or ebook, you need to know your audience.

The saying “different strokes for different folks” applies to plain language. What is plain language to one audience may not be plain language for another.

It’s impossible to know every aspect about your audience because there are too many factors to consider. However, it’s vital that you understand your audience as much as you can. Ask yourself the questions like:

• Who is your audience?
• What do they know about your topic? Are they beginners, experts or somewhere in between?
• What is their age group and gender?
• What is their culture?
• What is their level of education and skills?
• What is their occupation?
• How will they access your content (print, online, mobile device)?
• Will they access your content from work, home, or while travelling?
• What information do they need? Do you teach to teach them? Inform them? Entertain them? Persuade them? Train them?
• Does your audience have unique needs or interests?

You can get answers to these questions by talking to your audience directly in one and one meetings or in focus groups. You can also talk to experts – like subject matter experts, sales and marketing staff, and customer representatives – who know your audience well.

Knowing your audience is an essential first step to writing content that meets their needs. You avoid the embarrassing problem of writing content that is not relevant to them and the expense – in time and money – of having to rewrite the content.

So, what about you? How do you get to know your audience? Please share your thoughts in the comments.