If you’ve spent any time studying how agencies develop brand strategies, you’ve likely heard the same mantra repeated: “Identify your target audience first, and everything else will follow.” This advice is everywhere—from textbooks and training courses to blog posts and industry talks. The logic seems sound enough. After all, if you don’t know who you’re talking to, how can you possibly craft a message that resonates?
But I believe this approach, sensible as it sounds, is actually back to front. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that for many companies, it’s actually the wrong way to start a strategy. Instead of placing audience selection at the beginning of your planning process, I suggest that for some applications we should be saving it for the very end. That’s right, (I’m probably going to get into trouble for this) I’m arguing that you shouldn’t choose your audience before you’ve figured out what truly sets you apart and what kind of value you can bring to the market. The keyword there being VALUE.
This might sound like marketing heresy. After all, we’re told repeatedly that the audience is everything. But let’s consider an alternative viewpoint. What if your audience picked you, rather than the other way around? What if, instead of moulding yourself to fit a neatly defined demographic, you focused first on identifying what makes you fundamentally different, then worked out which audience naturally connects with that difference?
Yes, it’s a different way of thinking about strategy. It’s not as neat and tidy as the usual “know your audience” approach, and it may ruffle a few feathers. But in an age where competition is fierce and many brands blend into a sea of sameness, this approach can help you carve out a distinctive space—one that’s inherently more meaningful and sustainable than the traditional route.
The Traditional Method: Audience First, Everything Else Second
Let’s begin by examining the standard approach. Most agencies and marketing frameworks will tell you to start like this:
- Define your target audience.
- Discover their problems, desires, and frustrations.
- Design a product or service that solves those problems and meets their needs.
At face value, this seems completely logical. You find a group of people you think you can serve, you identify what keeps them awake at night, and then you swoop in as their saviour. Job done.
But there’s a subtle trap hidden in this simplicity. By starting with the audience, you run the risk of contorting yourself to fit what you think they want. In other words, you’re trying to fit a predefined mould, often influenced by market research, trend reports, and what your competitors are doing. While this can produce decent results, it often leads to “me too” marketing—strategies and offerings that feel familiar, safe, and ultimately forgettable.
Worse still, if your starting point is a guess—or even a well-informed guess—about what an audience wants, you might find yourself investing time and resources crafting a solution that doesn’t genuinely reflect your unique capabilities or vision. You’re busy chasing relevance rather than expressing the difference that makes you truly valuable.
Flipping the Script: Start With Difference
Now consider the alternative: Instead of beginning with the audience, start with yourself. Ask, “What makes my brand, product, or service different from all the others?” This question can feel daunting, but it’s the foundation of a strong strategy. Difference is what sets you apart from the pack. It’s what gives you leverage, character, and a reason for existing that isn’t just “me too, but cheaper.”
Starting with difference means identifying your unique angle. Perhaps you have a novel production method, a distinctive philosophy, or a radically innovative pricing model. Maybe you’ve got an original creative voice or a proprietary technology that sets you apart. The nature of the difference is less important than its authenticity and capacity to create value.
From Difference to Value
Once you’ve pinpointed your difference, the next step is to figure out why it matters. Not every quirky angle or unusual approach will deliver something people want. So ask yourself: Does this difference solve a previously unaddressed problem? Does it offer a new way of approaching a tired category? Does it bring fresh perspective, convenience, or joy to a world that’s been crying out for something new?
This step is about turning difference into meaningful value. It’s not enough to be different for the sake of it. Your difference should resonate with people in some tangible or emotional way. It should say, “Hey, there’s a reason this exists, and it’s going to make someone’s life a bit better or more interesting.”
Connecting Difference and Value to Audiences
Only once you’ve clarified your difference and established why it’s valuable should you start thinking about audiences. Now you can begin asking, “Who would benefit from this value? Who would find this intriguing or even indispensable?”
In a world where artificial intelligence tools abound, you can quickly brainstorm or generate a range of potential audience segments. But the key here is that these groups aren’t dreamed up in a vacuum. They emerge from something real and well-defined: the value of your difference. You’re not picking people at random or just following the largest demographic. You’re seeking those who will respond naturally and enthusiastically to what you bring to the table.
Narrowing Down the Audience: Who Needs It Most?
If you’ve done the steps above thoroughly, you’ll likely identify multiple groups who could benefit from what you offer. Now it’s time to ask which group has the most acute need—who’s really crying out for exactly what you provide. This might not be the biggest audience, or even the one you initially expected, but it will be the one most likely to embrace your offering wholeheartedly.
Choosing the audience with the strongest, most immediate need ensures that your early marketing efforts don’t fall on deaf ears. Instead, you connect with people who instantly get why you matter. You don’t have to persuade them that what you’re doing is important; they already know it because your offering directly addresses their burning issues.
Practicality Over Perfection: Who’s Easiest to Reach?
Once you’ve identified the segment that needs you most, consider who you can actually reach with your current resources and constraints. Sometimes, the group that could benefit the most is hard to get in front of—maybe they’re geographically distant, hard to access via your usual channels, or beyond your current budget to target effectively.
In this situation, choosing an audience you can easily access might be the smarter move, even if they’re not your ideal fit on paper. After all, the best product or service in the world is useless if no one knows about it. By balancing need with practicality, you pick an audience that not only appreciates what you offer but also lies within your marketing grasp.
The Audience Chooses Itself
By the time you’ve walked through these steps, you’ll find that you never really “chose” an audience in the conventional sense. Rather, you allowed your difference and its inherent value to guide you naturally towards the right people. Your strengths, weaknesses, resources, and unique selling points shape the audience that is best for you to target. They come to you because what you’re offering resonates with their situation.
This approach results in a more authentic connection between what you do and who you serve. Instead of straining to please an audience you plucked out of thin air, you let your true value shine and attract the people who appreciate it.
Comparing to Conventional Agency Thinking
Many agencies love the traditional approach for a few reasons. It’s straightforward, teachable, and easily fits into a PowerPoint deck: “Here’s the target customer, here’s their problem, and here’s our solution.” But this tidy format can be superficial. It often leads brands down a path of incremental improvements, minor tweaks, and superficial differentiation, because they’re moulding themselves to fit what they believe the market wants.
The method I’ve described is more organic and potentially riskier. It asks you to trust what makes you unique. That might mean you end up targeting a smaller or more niche audience than your competitors, but that audience is likely to be more passionate and engaged. Because you’ve started with difference and value, you’re not just another voice in a crowded marketplace. You’re something genuinely original that people can latch onto and champion.
How Does This Align With Seth Godin’s Advice?
I’m a huge fan and advocate of Seth’s work and writing on marketing. So much so that I actually struggled with writing this theory as I felt it went against what he famously once advised; “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.” His point was that you should never force a product onto people who don’t need it. Instead, begin with empathy and solve existing problems, so you’re delivering what customers genuinely want.
At first glance, this might seem at odds with what I’m suggesting. Am I not essentially finding customers for my products? But consider that I’m not starting with a product in a vacuum. I’m starting with the difference itself—the unique perspective or capability that I bring—and determining whether it has intrinsic value. By the time I identify my audience, I’m not forcing my product on them; I’m revealing who already wants what I’m offering, whether they knew it before or not.
In that sense, this approach can be seen as an indirect alignment with Godin’s philosophy. Rather than assuming what people want and trying to reverse-engineer a product, I’m beginning with something authentic and seeing who naturally resonates with it. It’s a more subtle interplay, but it preserves Godin’s core principle: you end up serving an audience that actually cares about what you do, rather than manufacturing interest where it doesn’t exist.
Making It Work in Practice
How can you implement this in your own strategy? Start by taking a good, hard look at your brand or product. What do you do that’s different—truly different—from everyone else out there? This might take time and introspection. It may involve talking to team members, partners, or even current customers to understand what sets you apart. Sometimes, your difference isn’t what you think it is, and it’s worth the effort to uncover it.
Next, test the value of this difference. Brainstorm potential benefits, scenarios, and transformations it could spark for potential customers. Is it enough to grab attention in a crowded market? Does it solve a long-ignored problem or reframe a familiar challenge in a new light?
Only once you’re confident in the value of your difference should you consider who might care. Think broadly at first. Identify a range of possible audiences, then narrow down to those with the most urgent need. Consider how easily you can reach them based on your current channels, connections, and resources. This might mean selecting a smaller audience that you know how to approach directly, rather than an ideal but unreachable group.
Finally, embrace the process. Realise that by letting your difference lead, you’re not rejecting market research or ignoring customer needs. You’re simply approaching the challenge from another angle—one that can yield a more sustainable and authentic alignment between what you offer and who you serve.
Letting Your Audience Choose You
Our offline and online media is saturated with brands all vying for the same audiences, the standard “pick your audience first” approach often leads to a homogenous marketplace where differentiation is harder than ever. By flipping the script, you focus first on what makes you unique, then trust that this uniqueness will guide you towards an audience who genuinely values your contribution.
Rather than ignoring your customers’ needs, on the contrary, we’re actually looking to connect more deeply with the right customers—the ones who don’t require a hard sell because they recognise the inherent value of what you bring. In doing so, you create a more meaningful, memorable, and ultimately successful strategy.
So the next time someone insists you must start by defining your target audience, challenge that assumption. Begin by defining yourself—your difference, your strengths, your authentic value. Let that be the seed from which your audience grows. Instead of choosing them, let them choose you. It may feel radical at first, but it could be the key to standing out in a marketplace that’s desperate for something genuinely new.
