How to Identify Your Ideal Audience Persona (IAP) and Why It Matters

When I first started posting content on LinkedIn, I made what seemed like a counterintuitive decision: I didn’t limit myself to healthcare marketers, even though they were my ideal clients. Instead, I focused on building an Ideal Audience Persona (IAP) that was broader but still purposeful.

That decision has been one of the most impactful choices in my audience-building strategy. By engaging with marketers across industries and career stages, I’ve ensured that when someone does need expertise in healthcare marketing, whether today or years from now, I’m already top of mind.

This approach can work for anyone trying to expand their reach strategically. If you focus only on your Ideal Customer Persona (ICP), the people ready to buy from you right now, you may be missing out on a long-term pipeline of future clients, industry influencers, and key decision-makers who aren’t in the market yet but may be later.

What’s the Difference Between an IAP and an ICP?

Your ICP consists of the people who are the best fit for your product or service today. They align with your business model and have the budget and authority to make purchasing decisions. Most businesses spend the bulk of their marketing efforts on this group, and while that makes sense for a business, for a personal brand it can be limiting.

Your IAP, on the other hand, includes a broader range of professionals who may not be ready to buy now but could be in the future. This group consists of industry peers, rising professionals, and those who have the potential to become decision-makers later. They might also be well-connected within your industry and could refer business your way.

For example, my ICP is healthcare marketing managers, directors, and executives—decision-makers in healthcare who need performance marketing solutions. But my IAP includes marketers across all industries and career levels. Many of them aren’t in healthcare marketing, but some are. Others may transition into those roles in the future. Some have friends, colleagues, or team members in healthcare marketing who could benefit from my expertise.

By engaging with this broader audience, I ensure that when someone does need healthcare marketing insights, I am already part of their network and one of the first people they think of.

Building Your Own IAP

Creating an IAP isn’t about casting a wide net with no strategy. It’s about identifying a broader audience that still aligns with your expertise in meaningful ways. The key is to find common ground between the people you want to sell to now and the people who may become your prospects later.

One way to do this is by developing an audience persona, like my ALEX persona. ALEX is a senior-level to director-level marketer who is ambitious, data-driven, and loves a bit of corporate humor in their day. They may not be in healthcare marketing now, but they are constantly seeking growth opportunities. Whether advancing in their current industry, pivoting into new sectors, or expanding their leadership influence. ALEX values performance-driven insights, emerging marketing technologies, and data-backed strategies, and they are responsible for budgets, teams, and high-impact marketing decisions, making them influential voices in their organizations.

I make sure to run an "ALEX Check" for all my content.

Would ALEX care about this?

Would ALEX share this?

By understanding and engaging with ALEX, I ensure that my content remains valuable across industries and career stages, building trust and authority with a highly engaged audience that naturally feeds into my ICP over time.

To build your own audience persona, ask yourself:

• Who engages with my content the most?
• What knowledge gaps do they have that I can fill?
• Where do they typically end up in their careers?
• What shared challenges or goals do they have that align with my expertise?

By answering these questions, you can identify an audience persona that will allow you to build relationships before they become transactional.

How to Find and Engage Your IAP

To identify your IAP, start by analyzing your current audience. LinkedIn analytics can show you job titles, industries, and engagement trends. Look at the types of conversations happening in your comments and messages. Which topics generate the most discussion? Which posts get the most shares? These are indicators of what your IAP finds valuable.

Beyond data, consider career trajectories. Your audience today includes tomorrow’s decision-makers. Instead of focusing only on your ideal clients now, think about where they’re coming from and where they’re going. Which industries frequently transition talent into your ICP? Where did your most successful clients start before reaching leadership roles? Recognizing these career paths allows you to create content that supports professionals as they grow, making it more likely that they’ll turn to you when they need your services.

Your IAP has shared challenges and aspirations. What pain points do they experience that you can address? What are they trying to achieve in their careers? When you understand these motivations, you can create content that truly resonates, positioning yourself as the expert they will trust when they reach decision-making roles.

Validating and Refining Your IAP

Once you’ve outlined your IAP, test it in the real world. Create content specifically designed for them and see how your audience responds. Pay attention to who is liking, sharing, and commenting. Are people reaching out with deeper questions? Are they tagging colleagues who could benefit from your insights? These are signs that your IAP is well-defined. If not, refine and adjust based on what you learn.

Your IAP will evolve as industries change and professionals advance in their careers. Monitor engagement trends, track when your engaged followers transition into ICP roles, and adjust your content strategy accordingly. The better you refine your IAP, the more naturally your content will attract the right people, making your marketing more effective, sustainable, and strategic.

The Long-Term Payoff

Building an IAP requires patience, but the long-term benefits are worth it. By focusing on audience growth beyond immediate buyers, you:

• Build relationships before they become transactional
• Establish expertise and trust early in your audience’s journey
• Remain top of mind when professionals transition into roles that align with your ICP

I’ve seen this play out repeatedly. Marketing professionals who followed my content for years eventually moved into healthcare marketing roles and reached out because they remembered my insights. Others have referred me to their colleagues because they were already familiar with my work. This is the power of a strong IAP—it ensures that when the need arises, your audience already knows and trusts you.

Your Next Steps

Take a step back and evaluate your audience. Who are they today, and who might they become? How can you provide value now while positioning yourself as the go-to expert for their future roles?

Building an IAP that’s broader than your ICP helps plant seeds for future growth. Professional journeys are rarely linear, and by recognizing that, you ensure you’re not just reaching today’s ideal clients but also cultivating tomorrow’s.