How to Learn Who Your Audience Is on Medium

Ever wonder who’s reading your stories on Medium?

Photo by Jenna Anderson on Unsplash

You work hard to write great content, but how much do you know about the people who follow you?

I used to think I knew my audience. I figured that because my stories got claps and responses, I had a pretty good understanding of what they wanted.

But then I hit a plateau. My follower count stagnated, engagement dropped, and I started to wonder—who are these people really, and why did they stop caring?

That’s when I built a game-changing tool that showed me the reality:

I had no idea who my audience was.

One day, I decided to dig deeper. I built a simple tool, and within minutes, I had a spreadsheet of all my followers—their names, profile links, bios, and, most importantly, the topics they cared about.

I quickly realized my biggest mistake: I had been writing about 179 random topics I was interested in, but my audience was full of writers, engineers, and entrepreneurs interested in writing, tech, business growth, and marketing. They had a passion for creative expression, storytelling, and lifelong learning.

Armed with this knowledge, I pivoted. I started tailoring my content to the topics my audience cared about.

Within a month, my engagement grew by 300%, and I saw an influx of claps, comments, and shares.

My engagement numbers by top 10 topics (by author)  

I realized it wasn’t just about writing good content but about writing good content for the right people.

In this post, I’ll show you how you can do the same. Let’s dive in!

Step 1: Use my free tool to download your followers’ data

Medium doesn’t offer in-depth analytics about your followers, but don’t worry—there’s a simple workaround.

The free tool I created extracts your followers’ essential information (like their names, bios, and topics they write about) into a CSV file.

Here’s how:

1. Download the free tool: Go to Gumroad and get the Medium Followers Exporter - Chrome Extension. Follow the instructions for installing this Chrome browser extension.

2. Export your follower data: Once the tool is installed, you can export your followers’ names, bio descriptions, and other details into an easy-to-read CSV spreadsheet.

3. Analyze the data: Instead of manually going through your follower list, you now have all the information in one place. I imported the CSV file into Google Sheets for spotting common keywords, patterns, trends, and critical insights.

These three simple steps take just a few minutes and will give you an excellent audience overview.

Step 2: Discover what they care about

Now that you have your followers’ data, it’s time to explore the topics they’re most interested in.

Your Google Sheet has a username column with a link to each user’s profile. 

Review sample profiles to get a sense of your audience. If you have hundreds or thousands of followers, this might take a long time.

How to get an audience overview quickly? 

Here is a clever shortcut to get an overview of your audience:

Add the following formula to cell H2

=ArrayFormula(QUERY(FLATTEN(IFERROR(SPLIT(TRIM(REGEXREPLACE(LOWER(C2:C),"[^\w]"," "))," "))),"SELECT Col1, COUNT(Col1) Group By Col1 ORDER BY COUNT(Col1) Desc",0))

You should now see a table for the most common words from column C that contains bio description of your followers:

Followers in Google Sheet (by author)

Copy the columns for the most common unique words and word counts as shown above and paste them after the following chatGPT prompt:

Analyze the following table, which contains unique words and word counts. Identify the top 10 themes from the list.

Here is the analysis of the top 10 themes from my data:

Based on the word frequency in the table, here are the top 10 themes that emerge:

1. Writing and Writers: Words like "writer," "writing," "write," "stories," "author," "content," and "medium" highlight the theme of writing, the role of authors, and content creation.

2. Technology and Engineering: Terms like "tech," "engineer," "software," "AI," "data," "developer," "digital," "business," and "technology" point to a focus on the tech industry, engineering, and digital content.

3. Personal Development and Growth: Words such as "life," "self," "journey," "growth," "health," "psychology," and "improvement" emphasize self-development, personal growth, and wellness.

4. Entrepreneurship and Business: With terms like "business," "entrepreneur," "marketing," "development," and "founder," there is a clear focus on business growth, entrepreneurship, and professional development.

5. Creativity and Art: Words like "creative," "art," "fiction," "passion," "artist," "storytelling," and "poetry" suggest a focus on creative expression, art, and storytelling.

6. Learning and Education: Terms such as "learning," "knowledge," "education," "professional," "learner," and "coach" indicate a focus on education, lifelong learning, and knowledge-sharing.

7. Technology and AI: Words like "AI," "software," "technology," "data," and "digital" suggest a recurring theme around artificial intelligence and the broader tech ecosystem.

8. Community and Sharing: Terms like "share," "people," "personal," "community," and "help" emphasize community-building, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing.

9. Work and Career: Words such as "work," "career," "development," "professional," and "entrepreneur" highlight the importance of professional growth and career paths.

10. Health and Wellness: Words like "health," "mental," "fitness," "wellness," and "self" point to an interest in physical and mental health, as well as overall well-being.

These themes indicate a broad focus on writing, creativity, technology, personal development, and entrepreneurship.

The above is the summary of my 824 followers. They describe themselves in their bios using these words. 

Can you find yourself in this summary?

Each person found something valuable in my stories, which made them follow me and eventually engage by clapping or responding with a comment.

Step 3: Learn how to adjust your writing

As I continued digging into their profiles, I realized another critical insight: many of my followers described themselves as “writers,” “engineers,” “entrepreneurs,” and “founders.” 

It wasn’t just their interests that mattered — it was their identity.

Once I saw this, I started tailoring my tone, and my stories became more practical and business-focused, aligning them with my audience’s mindset.

I started building tools and how-to guides and using AI to analyze data and help grow your business.

Understanding how your audience identifies themselves can make all the difference. You can build stronger connections and create personalized and more relevant content.

Why This Data Matters

Knowing who is reading your content helps you create better and more relevant stories.

• You’ll write with more intention: Rather than guessing what your audience wants, you’ll know based on the data. This allows you to align your content with their interests and preferences.

• You’ll foster deeper connections: When you understand your audience’s values and backgrounds, your writing can speak directly to them, promoting trust and engagement.

• You’ll grow faster: Creating content that resonates with your audience will lead to more claps, comments, and shares, helping you grow your Medium presence more effectively.

Final thoughts —  learning your audience is easier than you think

Learning who your audience is doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

You can download and review critical insights about the people following your stories in just a few minutes. 

Understanding who they are, what they write about, and how they describe themselves will help you craft more targeted, impactful content.

Call to action

So why wait? Start today by using this free tool, and take the first step toward writing stories that reach people and truly resonate with them.

If you found this guide helpful, let me know by clapping or sharing how it helped you get to know your audience better.

And if you want more tips on creating meaningful connections through your writing, subscribe to my newsletter for exclusive insights!