I like to define it as "the category of people that would buy from you without hesitation"

The "without hesitation" is important as, that's you addressing a pressing need for that particular person.

Examples:

I sell bookkeeping/financial advisory support for Startups/SMEs.
Target Market:
- VC-backed companies (why? because they have money they are required to manage and report back to investors). This discards any company that is not funded.
- Companies in non-traditional sectors like biotech (why? because it is less likely that they have someone business/operations oriented, as most of their team requirements is technical at the onset. And they're not interested in doing what many would consider admin work). This discards companies in fintech for example.

I also produce and sell sterling silver jewelry (yes, weird mix 😅).
Target Market:
- Women (70% of jewelry buyers worldwide are women)
- Specifically, those looking for (1) real precious metals (no "coated stuff"), and (2) nice pieces they can wear every day, but without having to spend on big brand names.
- this immediately discards anyone looking for just cheap jewelry to wear, and those looking for upscale pieces.

This does not mean I don't sell or cannot appeal to anyone outside of this criteria, but I'd say 80% of converted leads fit these categories I've just described.

I've always found that defining niche and audience is the thing talked about a LOT, but I'm a brand strategist so it tracks I'd find this content a lot in the wild.

Here's what I do/think about:

1. What's your offer and the specific result it gets?

2. Who needs that result because the pain it solves is so large that they're willing to pay a premium for it?

You can shift messaging through almost any context (audience) and highlight different results based on what they want.

For ex: I'm also a freelance writer, but the way I position my service is dependent on which audience segment I'm talking to.

• executives: ghostwritten articles positioning them as a thought leader

• creators: repurposing video content into articles to grow their audience by leveraging the content they've already created

• small businesses: SEO articles to rank in local searches

The product is the same (articles), but the way I present it is different depending on what they care about (aka what they'll pay for).

The important thing, in my opinion, is to just pick an audience and start marketing to them. The results will speak for themselves, and if you're getting crickets or too much resistance, either tweak your messaging (simple) or change your audience (also simple) til you find what works.

So many of my past clients have dragged their feet because they believed they had to find The Perfect Audience for their offer, and it's simply not true.

Distill what your product/service does and the problem it solves, make a list of people who have that problem (and are aware they have that problem), then go out and experiment.

Maybe a simplistic take but the more experiences you have (including 9-5 work) the more exposed you will be to industries/audiences/problems you had no idea existed. Also 'scratch your own itch' etc. I'm fairly confident it's impossible to know an audience deeply just by researching from your bedroom.