Start With Who: Understand Your Audience With This One Analogy

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Read time: 2.5 min

At a glance:

  • Quote: Dig deeper, go behind what you see

  • Lesson: Learn an analogy I use to understand audiences

  • Resource: A book and a tool

Quote

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without realizing that it is not fish they are after"

Henry David Thoreau

Simon Sinek told us to start with WHY. But I think that’s wrong. We need to start with WHO.

If there is one thing we need to do as brand builders, looking to better influence human behavior, we need to understand the humans we are trying to influence!

In this issue, I will share with you my favorite way to break down any stakeholder we are trying to analyze.

Lesson

There are many frameworks out there, whether it’s the StoryBrand framework from Donald Miller or the Value proposition framework by Dr. Alexander Osterwalder (see resources below), they seek to understand the person better.

Instead of trying to memorize a particular framework, I’ll share with you a simple analogy that captures the core of any framework.

Understand external (rational) and internal (emotional) sides of your audience

To understand the person you are trying to influence, there are three main things you need to understand, both from an internal and external perspective. To remember them, I use the analogy of a car.

1/ FUEL: What drives them?

  • Is there a unique belief that drives their behavior?

  • Why do they do what they do?

  • What is their fundamental philosophy about the job or the category?

Examples of questions to ask:

  • Is there something about your industry you disagree or are upset about?

  • In a parallel universe, what might your career be?

  • If you could wave a magic wand, what is the first thing you would change?

2/ DESTINATION: What do they desire?

  • What do they want?

  • What are their goals, hopes, and dreams?

  • What job(s) do they need to accomplish?

Examples of questions to ask:

  • Imaging your best day, what does it look like?

  • What does success look like? What does it feel like?

  • What is a fear that you have about your work?

3/ BARRIERS: What’s in their way?

  • What is a bottleneck that limiting their success?

  • What challenges do they have to overcome internally?

  • What problems do they most need to solve?

Examples of questions to ask:

  • If you could magically remove an obstacle, what would that be?

  • What is the most painful problem you have?

  • Who is typically in the way? Why?

Conclusion

Understand your audience’s FUEL, DESTINATION & BARRIERS both internally and externally, rationally and emotionally so you can influence them and give them what they want. And what they want is never 100% reasonable because we are human and we are irrational.

Resources

Story Brand by Donald Miller

Value proposition canvas by Dr. Alex Osterwalder

Ways I can help you:

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  2. Download free guides and tools: Learn from my years of experience as a brand strategist

  3. Work with me: Be a podcast guest or hire my services for your brand

Strategyhowie chan