Knowing your audience is the first step to achieving marketing success!
The goal of social media marketing for businesses is to connect with a potential audience, while spreading the word about your product or company; doing so will increase knowledge of your company, as well as income in your pocket! But in order to achieve digital marketing notoriety, you first need to connect with your audience.
Determining your audience is the first step in developing any business, and is imperative when it comes to social media marketing. How can you be successful in social media if you don’t know who you are trying to have a conversation with? Who do you write content for? How do you encourage engagement?
The best way to figure out who your audience is, is by asking a long list of questions based on what your company does. Think of the people you are targeting and answer the following questions:
Who is your audience? How old are they? What is their gender? What is their ethnicity? What is their education level? Their religion? Economic Status? Sexual Orientation? Do they have kids? Grand kids? Where do they live? Why do they live there? What brands do they like? Why do they like those brands? Why should they like your brand or care it exists?
From these questions, you should be able to outline one, if not more, of the demographics for your company. From that data, build a “sample person,” or an ideal customer. A great way to always keep that person in mind is to name them and then fill in the rest based on your ideal demo. How old are they? What is their income bracket? Are they single? Etc..
Now that you know who you’re talking to…
Dig deeper! Identify the personality of your social media audience. What is Sample Person Sally’s personality? Values? Interests? What is her lifestyle? Habits? Understanding these things will allow you to better understand what your target audience cares about, and more importantly, why.
Now that you have these psycho-graphics, overlay them onto your basic demographic profiles. Who are these people?
Remember that although you have a very clear range, there is no absolute standard potential customer, ie: not all 35 year old men drink beer and watch football, just as not every 30 year old female uses Pinterest, however you can still make generic assumptions about your sample demographic that will allow you to narrow down your target audience.
Define Your Message…
A good way to develop a message that conveys your brand is by thinking of what would be relevant to each group. Take the key, general messages you’ve developed for your company and refine them for each of your audiences. A good way to do this is to think about what social channels each particular audience spends the most time on, and what specific context appeals to them.
Deciphering your audience, and the best way to cater to them, is a process that won’t happen overnight, but as you begin to advertise to these different groups, the effectiveness of your tools will begin to be apparent. It is important that you continuously ask these questions of your business to ensure that your company is staying true to your audience and the brand you are creating. Remember – your audience is real, breathing people with purchasing power and should be kept in mind when making all advertising and design decisions. This applies to social media content creation , the tone and look of your website, and the promotions and sales you run. Finding your specific audience can be a tricky process, but once you resonate with them, your ROI will undoubtedly increase.