I Thought I Knew My Audience — Until the Data Proved Me Wrong

I used to think I really understood my audience.

The last round of testing kind of slapped me in the face.

I’ve been reviewing some posts on X, Toutiao, and Weibo recently,

and a few results were interesting enough that I wanted to share them.

I think most creators run into the same trap:

we feel like our target audience is already crystal clear in our head.

The first (shallowest) level is where most people stop:

you know their age, gender, job, “identity label” —

“moms,” “students,” “office workers,” that kind of thing.

If you only stay at this level, the “person” in your mind is still blurry.

You know roughly what group they belong to,

but you don’t know what tone, role, or posture you should use

when you “talk” to them in your content.

So the content looks right on the surface,

but it feels hollow —

and the viewer doesn’t feel like you’re talking to them,

just talking in general.

The second level is what I’ve been doing for a long time,

and what I’ve been telling everyone else to do:

turn your target audience into one specific, real person —

with a name, a face, a story.

For me, that person is basically “a version of myself.”

So every time I publish something, I ask:

“If I saw this, would I click it?

Would I actually care?

Would this be helpful for where I’m at right now?”

My tone and posture are all adjusted around that one person.

For a long time, I thought that meant

I already understood my audience pretty deeply.

But this latest round of testing showed me

there’s still another layer underneath.

I know pretty well that my target audience

is people who want to build a personal brand with content.

So when I tested different short-form ideas recently,

to me every post felt valuable and genuinely helpful.

The numbers disagreed.

Anything leaning toward AI does really well.

The moment I switch to personal reflections

or “I think this is valuable for you” type content,

people just stop caring.

So I have to admit:

a lot of the time, I’m also stuck in this pattern of

“I assume you need this, but you actually don’t want to watch it.”

Which, honestly, is just a more subtle form of self-indulgence.

The biggest lesson from this review is simple:

understanding your audience can’t stop at “I think I get them.”

You have to test, watch the data, and keep refining.

Layer by layer, you dig deeper

until you can clearly see what your people

actually respond to, actually click on, and actually stay for.