We’ve heard this saying so often that it’s almost become cliché: know your audience. But instead of letting the words bounce off our eardrums and evaporate into the ether, let’s stop and consider what they mean.

I bet if I asked, you could describe your ideal customer. You’d probably rattle off the person’s sex, age, income, etc. But does that mean you really know your customer? No.

Yes, you know certain characteristics about this customer, this audience member. And don’t get me wrong—these characteristics are important. But you need to dig deeper. What does it mean if more of your customers are women than men? What does it mean if most of your customers fall into the 18- to 34-year-old bracket? What does it mean if the average income is 48K a year? These things don’t mean anything unless you dig deeper into an audience member’s psyche. You need to get inside their heads if you’re going to fulfill their needs.