How to Attract Your Ideal Audience on Social Media (Not Just Get More Engagement)

Getting lots of views, likes, and comments on social media feels great.

But what if your content is attracting people who love watching what you do without ever intending to buy from you?

This is a surprisingly common problem for artists, makers, and small business owners. You figure out what gets engagement, make more of it, and watch your numbers climb… but those numbers don't necessarily translate into sales. So what's going on?

Well, you might be attracting an audience that doesn't actually match your business goals.

When you're creating discovery content for organic social media marketing, it's important to think about WHO you're trying to reach, not just how many people you can get to watch your videos or interact with your posts.

Because here's the thing: the people who enjoy your content aren't necessarily the same people who will buy your products or services.

And that's okay! Other artists, fellow business owners, and enthusiastic fans can be wonderful parts of your online community. The trick is understanding what kind of audience you're building and whether it supports your goals.

Let's look at how to figure out who you want to attract, create social media content that appeals to them, and use your analytics to figure out whether your strategy is working.

New to the idea of target audiences? Start with my guide to Target Audience & Market Research for Artists, which covers the basics of identifying your audience and learning more about the people most likely to buy your work.

Why Your Target Audience Matters in Social Media Marketing

When you're creating content for social media marketing, your goal shouldn't simply be to get as many people as possible to see it. What you really want is to get your content in front of people who are likely to care about what you offer. That's an important distinction that can be easily forgotten in the quest for more eyeballs.

Content creators might earn money based on views, but businesses ultimately need sales.

Views, likes, comments, shares, saves, and other engagement metrics can give you valuable information about how people are responding to your content. But they're only one piece of the puzzle.

More engagement isn't automatically better engagement. In fact, having a post go viral can sometimes bring you a huge audience that has very little interest in buying what you actually sell. I wrote more about that in my blog article, Why Going Viral Could Hurt Your Small Business Marketing.

A lot of engagement can still be the wrong kind of engagement. When planning and creating content, you don't just want to get views. You also need to consider who is responding and whether those people are part of the audience you want to build.

Let's say you're a ceramic artist who sells handmade pottery.

You see that your pottery process videos get WAY more views and comments than your photos of finished pieces. Naturally, that leads you to make more process videos. And maybe you should probably experiment with that! The whole point of discovery content is to get discovered, after all.

HOWEVER, what if when you look at your comments you notice that most of the engagement is coming from other ceramic artists?

They're asking what kind of clay you're using. They're talking about your glazing technique. They're sharing their own experiences with pottery. That's great! You've clearly created content that other ceramic artists find interesting.

But ask yourself:

Are you attracting people who will to buy your pottery, or people who also make pottery?

Those are two very different audiences. Sure, there can certainly be overlap, and there is nothing inherently wrong with attracting other artists. Maybe you want to network with other ceramicists, sell educational content, or simply participate in the creative community.

But if your primary business goal is selling handmade pottery, you don't want to accidentally build an audience made up mostly of people who want to learn how to make pottery themselves.

The solution might not necessarily be to stop making process videos altogether. But you do need to think about how you can make content that appeals to the people who will actually buy your work.

Which brings us to the first step...

Step 1: Figure Out Who You're Trying to Attract

Before you can create content that appeals to your ideal customer, you need some idea of who that person is.

Your ideal customer is the type of person who's an especially good fit for your business: someone who values what you offer and is likely to buy it.

You don't need to invent an elaborate fictional person with a name, a job, and a detailed morning routine. (I mean... unless that's your thing. You do you, my friend.) You just need to understand the people most likely to connect with your work and become customers.

If you haven't done much research into your audience yet, your can start by paying attention to what's already happening around your business.

Four Simple Ways To Research Your Audience

1. Look at your existing customers.

Who actually buys from you? Look at your sales data, the products that sell, and the people who visit your booth at markets. What do your customers have in common? What do they seem most excited about? Your actual customers can tell you a lot more about your market than your follower count alone.

2. Look at your social media audience.

Who follows you, comments on your posts, shares your content, saves it, or sends you messages? Do these people overlap with your customers, or are they mostly other artists, industry peers, or people who enjoy your content without buying? Remember, those groups aren't necessarily the same.

3. Look at similar businesses.

If you're new and don't have much customer data, look at artists, makers, or businesses with similar products, styles, or audiences. Who is commenting on their posts? What questions are people asking? Which products seem to generate interest?

You're not trying to copy their business. You're looking for clues about the people who might be interested in yours.

4. Get out into the real world.

Visit art markets, galleries, conventions, trade shows, or community events where your kind of work is being shown. Pay attention to who stops at different booths, what catches their attention, what they ask about, and what they actually buy.

Market research doesn't have to involve a giant spreadsheet and a stack of industry reports. Sometimes it means having a conversation with someone who's holding your artwork and deciding whether to take it home.

Look for patterns, not just individual interactions

Once you've gathered some information, look for commonalities.

Maybe your customers are primarily local people who enjoy gardening, handmade goods, and sustainable products. Maybe your social media audience is mostly other artists, while your actual customers are dog owners. Maybe the people who buy your work are different from the audience you originally imagined. That information can help you make more informed decisions about your content.

You're no longer just asking, "What posts get the most engagement?"

You're also asking, "What do I know about the people who are engaging, and are they the people I want to reach?"

Step 2: Make Content That Appeals to Your Ideal Customer

Okay, so you've figured out who you want to attract. Now what?

The next step is to create content that connects your work to the things those people care about.

This doesn't mean you have to stop showing your process, talking about your materials, or sharing your creative life. Those things can absolutely be part of your marketing. But if every post is about the technical side of making your work, you may mostly attract people who are interested in the process rather than the finished product.

You need to give potential customers a reason to care about what you make, even if they have no idea how you made it.

Let's go back to our ceramic artist.

Other ceramic artists might be fascinated by the exact temperature of the kiln, the type of glaze, or how you centre clay on a wheel. Someone shopping for a handmade mug, on the other hand, might care more about how it feels to hold, whether it fits their morning coffee ritual, or how lovely it would look on their kitchen shelf.

Both audiences can appreciate the same mug, but they're interested in different things about it. Your job is to think about what your potential customer might find interesting, useful, relatable, or exciting.

Talk about what your work means to the people who buy it

Let's say you're an artist who creates custom dog portraits.

If your entire social media presence revolves around what you drew, how you drew it, which paints you used, and what paper you prefer, you might accidentally build an audience full of other artists.

But your potential customers aren't necessarily artists... they're dog lovers.

So how can you connect your art to the things dog lovers care about?

Instead of saying, "Look at this cool new PITT pen I got!"
You could create a Reel about your dog's reaction when you say the word WALK.

Instead of focusing entirely on the watercolour technique you used for a commissioned portrait, tell us something about the dog in the portrait. Maybe they have one ear that never quite stands up, an absolutely ridiculous sleeping position, or a very specific expression they make when they're about to steal someone's lunch.

You could share a story about why their human wanted the portrait in the first place, or explain how you turn someone's favourite photo of their dog into a piece of art they can keep forever. You're still showing your work. You're just connecting it to the interests and experiences of the people who might actually want to buy it.

This applies to all kinds of creative businesses.

• Illustrators: Talk about the characters, stories, aesthetics, or interests behind your work, not just your drawing technique.

• Musicians: Share the feelings, experiences, influences, or communities your music connects with, rather than only discussing the equipment you use to record it.

• Jewellery makers: Show how a piece fits into someone's personal style, identity, or everyday life, not just how you made it.

• Photographers: Talk about the moments, people, and experiences your clients want to remember, not just the camera gear you use.

• Small business owners: Show how your products or services fit into your customers' lives, solve a problem, or help them do something they care about.

It isn't one or the other; it is both. When you only focus on your process, your posts are less likely to pop up on the feeds of non-artist potential customers, but you don't have to hide or ignore your creative process. The point is to give people more ways to connect with what you make.

Use words your potential customers actually care about

The same principle applies to your captions, on-screen text, and other written content.

Think about the words and phrases your ideal customers might search for, recognize, or use themselves. For example, if you paint watercolour owl illustrations, you might be tempted to write a caption that simply describes the image: "Watercolour painting of an owl."

That's not wrong, and some people might actually be searching for watercolour oil paintings! However, it doesn't touch on all the other ways people could be discovering your work.

What if your ideal customers are people who love woodland animals, cottagecore decor, birdwatching, or cozy nature-inspired art? Depending on the piece, you might talk about a tiny owl illustration for a nature-inspired gallery wall, a whimsical woodland print for a cozy reading nook, or a gift for an avid birdwatcher who can't get enough of owls.

These descriptions help communicate not just what the artwork is, but who might love it and why.

Use relevant keywords naturally in your captions, on-screen text, titles, and descriptions. These help people understand what your content is about and can make it easier for interested people to discover it through search. When it comes to choosing keywords, you shouldn't just describe the item; you should describe your audience.

You don't need to cram every possible keyword into every post. Think about the language your customers use and choose words that genuinely describe your work and its appeal.

Step 3: Spend Time With the Community You Want to Attract

Here's a question for you: Who are YOU interacting with on social media?

It's easy to think of social media marketing as a one-way process: you create a post, publish it, and wait for the algorithm to deliver it to future customers.

But social media is social. The relationships you build, the conversations you participate in, and the communities you spend time in are all part of your marketing.

Let's say you're a social media marketer who wants to attract small business clients... so, let's say you're me.

If you spend most of your time creating funny memes about the frustrations of being a social media marketer, who is probably going to engage with those posts? Other social media marketers.

If you spend most of your time commenting on posts by other social media marketers, who are you building relationships with? Other social media marketers.

And if you consistently create content that other social media marketers find interesting, you'll likely continue attracting attention from that community. Whoops.

Yes, this is a confession. I definitely have caught myself doing this on LinkedIn a few times. It's easy to fall into the habit of talking to people who do the same work you do because they understand your jokes, share your frustrations, and speak your language.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that if your goal is to network with other social media marketers, make friends in your industry, or simply have fun. Being social on social media is kind of what social media was supposed to be about! But if your goal is to attract potential customers, you also need to make space for the people you want to work with.

Go where your potential customers are

If you're a dog portrait artist, interact with dog accounts. Join conversations about pets. Comment on posts from dog lovers. Participate in communities where people share stories about their animals.

If you sell handmade jewellery for people who love alternative fashion, spend time engaging with relevant fashion, music, and style communities.

If you're a local business, participate in conversations happening in your community. Engage with local organizations, complementary businesses, and the people who live in the area you serve.

You don't need to show up in someone's comments and immediately pitch your products... Please don't. Nobody enjoys discovering that a seemingly friendly comment was actually a sales ambush. Instead, participate genuinely. Have conversations. Learn what people care about. Let them get to know you and your work when it's relevant.

You can also use those interactions as inspiration for your content. What questions do people ask? What experiences do they share? What problems or interests keep coming up?  (It's all market research, baby!)

Those conversations can give you ideas for posts that speak directly to your audience.

You don't have to abandon your creative community

I want to be clear about something: you don't have to stop talking to other artists, makers, or business owners.

Your creative community can be an important source of support, friendship, inspiration, and collaboration. Those relationships have value beyond whether they lead directly to sales.

What is important to keep in mind when you have limited time and energy for marketing is that you need to be intentional. If you want to network with other artists, go for it! If you want to reach potential customers, make sure you're also creating content for them and participating in their communities.

The community you belong to isn't necessarily the same as the community you're trying to sell to. Knowing the difference can make a big difference in how you approach your social media marketing.

You Don't Have to Market to Everyone

This is probably the biggest takeaway I want you to have.

You don't need to appeal to everyone.

In fact, you shouldn't!!! Trying to make your marketing appeal to absolutely everyone can make it much harder for anyone in particular to feel like you're talking to them. Your job isn't to gain the largest possible audience. Better marketing understands the people who are most likely to value what you offer and then finds ways to reach them.

That means thinking beyond how many people see your content. It means paying attention to who engages, learning about your potential customers, creating content that connects your work to their interests, and participating in the communities where those people spend their time.

And it means remembering that you don't have to change yourself or your art to appeal to everyone on the Internet. You just need to figure out how to be found by the people who will love you!

So the next time you're planning your social media content, ask yourself two questions:

1. What do I want this post to accomplish?

2. Who am I trying to reach with it?

Those two questions can help you make much more intentional decisions about what you post, how you talk about your work, and where you spend your time online.

Because the goal isn't just to get more engagement.

It's to build an audience that cares about what you do, and give the people who might become your customers a reason to stick around.

Step 4: Use Your Analytics to Learn Who You're Attracting

So you've started creating content with your ideal customer in mind. You've adjusted your captions, tried new topics, and spent more time interacting with the communities you want to reach.

How do you know whether it's working?

This is where your social media analytics come in.

It's tempting to look at your most-viewed post and immediately decide that you should make more content like it... And sometimes, that's exactly the right decision!

But before you do, take a closer look.

Ask yourself:

• Who is engaging with this content?

• Are people asking questions related to my products or services?

• Are potential customers visiting my profile?

• Are people clicking through to my website, shop, portfolio, or booking page?

• Am I getting inquiries, sales, or other actions that support my business goals?

You might discover that a funny Reel about your dog gets thousands of views and no profile views, while a post about your latest product gets a fraction of that attention.

That doesn't automatically mean the post about the product was a flop because it didn't get much attention OR that the funny Reel is a waste of time because it didn't automatically get sales. Sometimes different content needs to do different jobs. The important thing is that content is created strategically to appeal specifically to your target audience.

A funny reel might introduce new people to your work, help them get to know you, or encourage them to visit your profile... this is great for growth! However, if your goal is sales over growth, you also need content that helps people understand what you offer and why they might want it.

Don't evaluate every post by the same metric. Evaluate it by what you wanted it to accomplish.

A post designed to reach new people might be successful because it introduces your work to a new audience. A post designed to build trust might be successful because it generates meaningful questions. A post designed to encourage sales might be successful because it leads to product-page visits or purchases.

Over time, look for patterns. Which topics attract people who are likely to become customers? Which posts encourage people to explore your work? Which kinds of content lead to inquiries or sales?

You don't need to analyze every post in exhausting detail. Set aside time periodically to review your analytics, compare them with your business goals, and decide what you'd like to experiment with next.

Social media engagement alone can't tell you exactly who everyone is or whether they're going to buy. Use the information you have alongside what you learn from actual customers, conversations, and sales.

Your analytics are clues, not a verdict.

Want Help Putting This Into Practice?

Want help figuring out what this looks like for your business? Check out my digital marketing support services and book a discovery call. We'll talk about your goals, take a look at what you're currently doing online, and map out a simple content strategy that helps you reach the people you actually want to reach.