How to Learn What Your Audience Actually Likes
Let’s start with an easy question: Are you a cat person or a dog person? Most people know their answer almost immediately. Maybe you love dogs because they’re loyal and always ready for attention. Maybe cats are more your speed because they’re independent, observant, and perfectly happy being left alone. Maybe you like both.
The point is, we all have preferences. Those preferences shape what gets our attention, what we enjoy, what we ignore, and sometimes even what we buy.
Your customers are no different. They have preferences about the content they consume, the questions they want answered, the brands they trust, and even the way they like businesses to communicate with them. The challenge is figuring out what those preferences actually are instead of assuming you already know.
Do You Actually Know What Your Audience Likes?
People have their own ideas about what they want to see, hear, and experience when it comes to the things they’re interested in. We could assume people want more video. We could assume nobody reads long emails, or that a certain topic will perform well because it sounds interesting to us. Sometimes those assumptions are right, but sometimes they’re based more on instinct than evidence.
A better place to start is by asking what your audience is already showing you. Every click, scroll, comment, form submission, email open, video view, and website visit creates a small piece of information. On its own, one interaction may not tell you much, but over time those behaviors start to reveal patterns. That’s where audience preferences become useful.
If one type of content consistently earns more attention, if certain topics keep generating questions, or if one page on your website routinely leads to more inquiries, those are all signals worth paying attention to.
Look at What Gets Their Attention
One of the easiest ways to understand your audience is to review the content you already have. Which social posts get the most saves, shares, or comments? Which emails generate the most clicks? Which blogs continue bringing traffic long after they were published? Which videos keep people watching? Which website pages lead to calls, bookings, or form submissions?
You’re not looking for one lucky post that happened to perform well. You’re looking for patterns that repeat. When the same kinds of topics, formats, or messages continue earning attention, your audience is telling you something.
Listen to the Questions People Keep Asking
Some of the best audience research isn’t in analytics at all. It happens during ordinary conversations with your customers.
Think about the questions that come up during sales calls, in emails, through contact forms, in social media comments, or in direct messages. If several people keep asking the same thing, that question deserves attention. Those repeated questions can also become some of your strongest content because you already know people care about the answer. They can turn into blogs, FAQs, videos, emails, or even new sections on your website.
It is also worth paying attention to the actual language people use. Businesses tend to describe problems with industry terminology. Customers usually describe them in much more natural language. When your content starts sounding more like the way your audience actually talks, it becomes easier for people to recognize that your message is meant for them.
Sometimes the Best Research Is Simply Asking
Of course, you can also ask people directly. That’s part of what makes a question like “cats or dogs?” so effective. It is simple, familiar, and easy to answer. People don’t have to think very hard before responding.
You can use that same idea in your content and marketing strategy.nAsk your audience which topic they want you to cover next. Ask whether they would rather watch a quick video or read a detailed guide. Ask what part of your industry feels confusing. Ask what problem they are trying to solve right now. Polls, social posts, email surveys, customer interviews, and even casual conversations can reveal a lot. Keep the question focused enough that people know exactly how to respond and can do it quickly.
The easier it is to answer, the more useful the feedback tends to be.
Your Audience Shows You What It Dislikes, Too
What people ignore can be just as revealing about what they like.
An email with very few clicks may be telling you the topic was not relevant. A website page people leave quickly may be confusing or difficult to navigate. A video that loses most of its viewers in the first few seconds may need a stronger opening. A contact form that gets started but rarely completed may be asking for too much information.
Those negative signals are information you can use to make the next version better.
Create More of What Connects
So, cats or dogs? Your answer may be completely different from the person sitting next to you, and that’s exactly the point. People have preferences. Your customers do too.
The businesses that take the time to understand those preferences can create content, websites, messaging, and experiences that feel more relevant to the people they want to reach.
If you’re not sure what your audience is responding to (or your marketing still feels like a lot of guessing) just fill out the form below.
The JHD team can help you look at your website, content, and customer journey to uncover what’s connecting and where you may have the biggest opportunity to improve.
Jason Bass is a marketing strategist, community builder, and founder who turns bold ideas into real momentum. At the helm of Jason Hunter Design, Pixel Partner Digital, and The Citizen, he brings clarity to chaos, structure to startups, and firepower to brands ready to scale. Known for his visionary thinking and down-to-earth leadership, Jason helps businesses grow — not just in revenue, but in purpose and impact.