Content that clicks: using audience intelligence to create viral content

Do you remember the show about hoarders on TLC? It was called “Hoarding: Buried Alive”.

That’s kind of what the internet feels like now, it's become a hoarding ground for content. The internet has become so saturated with it, that consumers are feeling “buried alive” in the amount of content they are exposed to each day. And yes I realize the irony of that statement as I sit here writing more content for you. 

Many marketers in 2024 are wondering if content even has the power it once had to connect with audiences. But the issue is, “you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t”. 

On the one hand, if your brand isn’t posting content it looks like business is slow, and that you are asleep at the wheel. But on the other hand, if you are just pumping out crappy content (maybe written by chat gpt) it can create a bad brand image. 

So let’s simplify things - stop creating content for the sake of it. Audiences are smart, they can pick up on SEO tricks, and they can tell if something was written by AI - you think they can’t but they can. 

The brands who have content still working for them are the ones who know their audience to a T. And every piece of content they produce provides clear value to that audience. 

Create content that your audience needs

In the show TLC hoarders, someone is brought in to clean out a hoarder's house, and remove all the unnecessary shit, and what’s left is the bare essentials - the things someone needs in their house to live. 

This is how you should think about content: know your audience and only create content that audience NEEDS. This is the type of content that gets clicks, and this is the type of content that goes viral. 

So how do you discover what kind of content they need or are yearning for? The answer lies in audience intelligence. 

Audience intelligence tools can highlight key personality insights on your audience, and top media interests, and both can be applied to create winning content. 

Let’s get into it. 

Audience intelligence 101

Audience intelligence is the method of surfacing key and valuable insights about your brand’s target audience through various different data sources. These insights include things like personality traits, media influences, and online behaviors.  These can then be applied to inform, and create content that speaks directly to the interests and needs of your audience. 

Imagine that you have to create content to promote a skincare brand to a mature audience. Initially you might focus on promoting the benefits of the skincare product as it pertains to looking younger and more youthful - benefits you think your mature audience will resonate with. 

But upon diving into the data, your audience intelligence tool discovers something different. It surfaces that your mature audience actually doesn’t want to see more ads or content around looking younger, and they are more interested in a brand that helps them embrace their age vs trying to reverse it. 

This is the exact angle L'Oréal Paris took when creating their viral “Lessons of Self Worth” ads. 

Understanding your audience on the deepest level

The lesson from above is that although we may have assumptions about our audience’s preferences, relying solely on intuition can be misleading. You need to take a data-backed approach and look at the insights instead - that is what tells us what our audience really wants to see. 

Tools like Audiense provide a wealth of insights into your audience's personality traits, media interests, and online behaviors. By analyzing this data, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of what drives your audience and what they're looking for in content.

Let's take a closer look at a specific example. An Audiense report on the L'Oréal millennial audience revealed the following key insights:

The personality insights tell us that this audience is “helpful, social and expressive. They are persistent: they can tackle and stick with tough tasks. They are empathetic: they feel what others feel and are compassionate towards them. And they are energetic: they enjoy a fast-paced, busy schedule with many activities.” 

Their choices are driven by a need for prestige. They value their independence and helping others. They think it's important to care for those around them. They also like to set their own goals to decide how to best achieve them. 

Their personality type (of the big 5) is “Conscientious”. This means that they enjoy setting plans and making strict schedules, they want to keep their environment tidy and organized, they are the type to finish projects way before the deadline, and they are very detail oriented. Keep all these insights in mind for the next section when we use these insights to inform our content strategy. 

Other key insights that Audiense highlights are…

Their overarching interests: 

(beauty, aging and shopping) 

Their top media outlets: 

(POPSUGAR beauty, allure magazine, InStyle) 

The top media channels they use: 

(Pinterest)

The top content they gravitate towards: 

(Articles about personal development, style guides, self-improvement/ self discipline techniques, cosmetic news, natural personal care) 

And the top posts they are liking and sharing: 

By analyzing insights like personality traits, you can understand what motivates your audience and what’s going to push them to read your article/blog/etc. The top content they gravitate towards tells you which topics have them clicking to learn more. Media influences reveal the channels they trust and engage with, and therefore which ones you should be promoting your content through for top engagement. The top posts direct the type of copy, short media and imagery will get the most likes and shares from your audience. 

By now you should understand how audience intelligence is applied to create highly targeted content for your audience. 

Now let’s actually apply these insights and see what content we can come up with. 

Analyzing and summarizing the insights 

Based on the insights above, here’s what we know/ have summed up about our audience: 

Audience Summary

Our millennial beauty enthusiasts are particularly interested in anti-aging. Unlike our older L'Oréal audience, they're actively seeking solutions.

Beyond beauty, their interests include shopping, education, and curling. While this might seem unconventional, it provides valuable insights.

Core Personality:

• Helpful, Social, and Expressive: They connect with others and share their experiences.
• Persistent: They're determined to achieve their goals.
• Empathetic: They understand and care for others.
• Energetic: They thrive in a fast-paced lifestyle.

Motivations:

• Prestige: They seek opportunities to enhance their social status.
• Independence: They value self-reliance but also care for those around them.

Personality Type:

As "Conscientious" individuals, they:

• Plan and Organize: They enjoy structure and schedules.
• Prioritize Order: They keep their environments tidy.
• Meet Deadlines: They complete tasks efficiently.

Digital Habits:

• Beauty Magazines: They remain loyal to traditional beauty media.
• Content: They're drawn to personal development, style, self-improvement, cosmetic news, and natural care.
• Social Media: They prefer Pinterest but also engage with pop culture content, especially related to Sabrina Carpenter.

Applying the insights to create viral content

Using what Audience has told us about this L'Oréal millennial audience we can come up with some ideas for viral content: 

We know they gravitate towards beauty articles, they are interested in anti-aging, they are interested in goal making, and strict routines and we also know they have a busy schedule. Based on these insights you could create an article titled:

“Meet your anti-aging skincare goals: The 3 products you need for a speedy but comprehensive nightly skincare routine.”  

This audience loves Sabrina Carpenter and they like educational content, knowing this you could create a video like: 

“Recreate Sabrina Carpenter's makeup look with L'Oréal products”, and it could be an educational step by step tutorial, featuring an influencer using only L'Oréal products to recreate Sabrina’s makeup looks. 

We know this audience loves shopping, and organizing and they have a strong need for prestige. With this insight you could create an article titled: 

“Out with the old and in with the new: how to organize your makeup drawer, and keep the “it girl” products while getting rid of outdated makeup.”

These are all light examples that are meant to get you thinking about how you could apply the insights towards creating content you know your audience will click on. 

Wait, there’s more! 

In addition to the insights that can inform the content, Audiense also provides insights that help you select the top media channels and influencers to advertise this content through. Take a look!

Here are this audience’s top macro influencers: 

The top micro influencers: 

Top media channel: 

Top media outlets: 

Based on these insights it would be best if we used Pinterest to promote our content on, and bought ad space on the Perez Hilton or Oprah Winfrey blog, and hired influencers Manny MUA, or Mally Beauty to promote it on their channels or be featured in the content itself.

This step (analyzing the top influencers and media outlets) is necessary because you could have great content but if it isn’t placed where your audience will see it, then it doesn’t matter how good it is. 

Going a step further 

Audience intelligence is the best step and first step you should take when creating a plan for your content, but there are other tools you can use along the way. 

Google Trends for example can help you stay on top of emerging trends.

Social listening tools like Meltwater can highlight what your audience is talking about online, and you can incorporate this insight into your content as well. 

SOPRISM is another audience intelligence tool that you can use in tandem with a tool like Audiense to gain an even deeper understanding of your consumers. 

You can never have enough audience insights so the more tools you can tap into, the better. 

Watch your content go viral 

In today's crowded “hoarder like” digital landscape, creating content that resonates with your audience requires more than just your intuition - it requires audience intelligence. 

By leveraging tools like Audiense, you can cut through the extra crap and craft content that not only captures your audience’s attention but that speaks to their needs and delivers real value. 

With deep insights into your audience’s personality traits, media preferences, and online behaviors, Audiense helps you make data-backed decisions to create content that clicks and drives engagement.

Ready to create content that goes viral? Sign up for Audiense today and start unlocking the insights that will completely transform your content strategy!