3 Steps to Finding (and Keeping) the Right Audience
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Before the next marketing budget gets approved...one question needs to be answered:
Are those dollars targeting the buyers who actually move the needle?
Smart companies miss this all the time.
Look at Canva.
If they had gone after all designers, they never would’ve survived.
Adobe owned that space. Hardcore designers weren’t switching.
So Canva focused on the incomplete buyers—the marketers, the small teams, the non-designers who still needed pro-level output.
That focus made them unstoppable.
Now flip to Slack.
Everyone loves it.
It spread fast through small teams.
But when the enterprise stage hit—that’s where the momentum stopped.
The users loved it.
The buyers didn’t own the budget.
CIOs cared about security, compliance, cost.
Microsoft bundled Teams into software enterprises were already paying for.
Slack optimized for user love.
Microsoft optimized for the buyer.
Guess who won.
So here’s the real question:
Are you investing in the audience that loves you most or the one that pays you most?
In this episode of The Storyteller’s Edge, Ginger Zumaeta—3x Emmy winner, author of Deckonomics®, and messaging strategist—breaks down how audience clarity drives results that positioning alone can’t.
This is about knowing exactly who you’re for, who you’re not, and how to make every dollar work harder by focusing on the right buyer.
What We’re Covering
1. Identify Your Core Audience
Most teams think “audience” means “anyone who might buy.”
That’s how budgets vanish.
Start by asking three questions:
- What category are we trying to own, not just play in?
- Who are we really up against when the buyer decides?
- What advantage tips the scale for our best-fit customer?
Clarity here means spending where belief—and budget—actually live.
2. Segment for Relevance, Not Complexity
Treating all buyers the same doesn’t scale...it dilutes.
Ignore differences and you get a story that fits no one.
Case in point: J.C. Penney, 2011.
Their core loved discounts. Coupons were part of the brand’s heartbeat.
A new CEO killed all coupons.
The loyal base left. The new audience never came.
One year later, sales dropped 25%.
Flattened audiences flatten results.
3. Customize Without Losing Consistency
Tailoring doesn’t mean twelve versions of the story.
It means one core narrative, adapted through different lenses.
Example:
“We help organizations future-proof their workforce.”
To a Fortune 500 CHRO → pipelines, DEI, board metrics.
To a mid-market CEO → retention, employer brand, cost per hire.
To a government agency → compliance, skills gaps, accountability.
Same promise. Different urgency triggers.
This works through the self-referential effect; people remember what feels personal.
4. Align the Team
Knowing the audience isn’t enough if the rest of the organization isn’t aligned.
Run an Audience Alignment Audit:
- What category are we trying to own?
- Who do we lose to most often—really?
- Which audience delivers the highest ROI per dollar?
- Where are we spreading ourselves too thin?
If Sales, Finance, and Product can’t answer these the same way, the problem isn’t messaging---it’s strategy.
Audience clarity protects every marketing dollar. It defines who matters most, where focus belongs, and how stories scale.
Tiny Challenge
Pull your last three campaigns.
Ask: “Who was this really for?”
If the answer isn’t consistent; start there. Focus beats volume every time.
🎧 This episode of The Storyteller’s Edge is your guide to knowing exactly who your story should reach, and how to stop wasting budget on the rest.
Listen in. Save it. Use it before the next budget meeting.
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