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How I Finally Understood My Audience (And Why Everything Got Easier After That)
For a long time, I thought I understood my audience. I knew their age range, their location, and what platforms they used. On paper, everything looked perfect. But in reality, my content wasn’t connecting the way I hoped it would.
People were reading… but not responding.
They were scrolling… but not clicking.
They were subscribed… but not engaging.
That’s when I realized something uncomfortable: I knew about my audience, but I didn’t actually understand them.
The difference between those two things changes everything in digital marketing.
Understanding your audience in 2026 isn’t about dashboards, charts, or fancy research tools. It’s about stepping into someone else’s mind and seeing the world the way they see it. Once you do that, your messaging becomes natural. Your content flows. Your offers feel obvious instead of forced.
The real shift for me happened when I stopped asking, “Who is my audience?” and started asking, “What is their life like right now?”
When someone wakes up in the morning, what’s the first thing they worry about? What problem keeps returning, no matter how many solutions they try? What are they tired of hearing from marketers like us?
When I started thinking this way, my content stopped sounding like marketing. It started sounding like conversation.
I remember reading a reply from a subscriber who said, “It feels like you wrote this exactly for me.” That one line told me more than any analytics tool ever could. ( Follow Now )
Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays
Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.
Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.
Here’s what most people miss: your audience isn’t thinking about your product, your service, or your content. They’re thinking about themselves. Their stress. Their confusion. Their goals. Their doubts. If your message doesn’t meet them where they already are mentally, it won’t land.
One simple habit changed everything for me. Before writing anything, I imagined sitting across from one person — not a crowd — and listening to them explain their situation. I pictured their tone, their frustration, their hope. Then I wrote as if I were replying to them directly.
Suddenly, my words felt lighter. More honest. Less polished, but more real.
In 2026, people are tired of being “marketed to.” They can sense manipulation instantly. What they respond to is sincerity. They want clarity, not cleverness. They want solutions, not pressure.
When you understand your audience deeply, you stop chasing attention. Attention comes to you. People lean in because they feel safe. They feel seen.
This is also why copy that sounds perfect often performs worse than copy that sounds human. Perfection feels distant. Humanity feels familiar.
Your job as a digital marketer isn’t to impress. It’s to connect.
And connection comes from curiosity. From listening more than talking. From reading comments carefully. From noticing repeated questions. From paying attention to the words people naturally use — not the ones you think sound professional. (Don’t Miss Out)
Once you do this, something powerful happens. You no longer struggle to come up with ideas. Your audience tells you what to create next, simply by existing.
That’s the quiet advantage of understanding people instead of targeting them.
If you can master this skill early, you’ll always be relevant — no matter how platforms change or algorithms evolve.
Next week, we’ll talk about something closely connected to this: how to research your competitors without copying them, and how to spot gaps most people completely miss.
Next Chapter: Competitor & Market Gap Research (Free Tools + Frameworks)