Identifying Your Target Audience & Channel for Social Media Marketing
Small Biz Tips
Identifying Your Target Audience & Channel for Social Media Marketing
Knowing what channels are appropriate for your business is the single most important thing when using social media and online marketing. What works for one type of audience will most certainly not always work for another, and unless you’ re looking to waste valuable time and money posting irrelevant content, you’ ll want to determine your audience in the beginning stages of the marketing strategy.
Determining your audience is essential for deciding on your key channels and will allow you to develop compelling content for all platforms.
In order to determine your audience, you’ ll need to evaluate the demographics and psychographics of who you’ re trying to reach. Demographics include:
Age, Gender, Income, Location, Occupation, Background and Education
Let’ s apply it to real life … Jan, mid 40s, lives in rural Houston. She is a stay at home mom but also works part time at a local law firm. Her income is roughly 60k since cutting back her hours.
Now, equally important, let’ s determine Jan’ s Psychographics! They’ ll include:
Personality, Attitudes, Values, Interests / hobbies, Lifestyles and Behavior
Jan, mother of 4, enjoys horseback riding, testing out new recipes and attending painting parties and wine nights with her girlfriends. She believes in“ getting what you pay for” and doesn’ t mind spending a little extra if it means high quality goods and services.
Jan is NOT someone that you should attempt to reach through Snapchat. She would be better reached on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Another example, is someone with vastly different interests from our friend, Jan.
Josh, 30 of Galveston. He’ s freelance writer and proud father to a Goldendoodle named Hank. He enjoys running and craft beer, but thinks CrossFit is a sham … He’ s not really attached material possessions because“ life is fleeting” and who really has time for throw pillows these days? Platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter would all be ideal for targeting Josh.
BUT WHY?
By: Rae Ann Rindhage Empire Creative Marketing raeann @ empiread. com
- Jan’ s age will be the easiest way to eliminate certain platforms. Working part time means she has a bit more time to read articles and network with people who share similar interests. LinkedIn and Facebook are both word content heavy as opposed to the more visually appealing platforms like Instagram or Tumblr. Pinterest is a wellknown resource for gathering recipes and at-home project ideas. It’ s also commonly“ therapeutic” for working women who sometimes need to browse the internet but want to look at a variety of things all on one site.
- Josh is young and involved in current trends, which means he’ ll be involved in the social media platforms of his generation. He’ s a freelance writer, so he’ ll want to connect with others in the industry likely via LinkedIn and Twitter, and Instagram is known for its large community of petrelated accounts. Naturally, Hank the Goldendoodle will have a tremendous amount of admirers.
Social Media Content Rules of Thumb
If your content will be very photo heavy, lean towards platforms like Instagram. However, If you’ re looking to become a thought leader in your industry, and like to share small quips of info – Twitter is your place! Twitter is also excellent for customer service management and crisis prevention. Facebook is helpful for more businesses as long as you have relevant information to share regularly and can connect with your audience on a personal level. It’ s also great for customer service and brand development. Fair warning, Facebook is more keen on showing users content that they’ ll engage with regularly … so you’ ll want to make sure that posts are directed at the correct audience and will add value to their lives.
All marketing channels point to your website, so maintaining consistency is essential. Some brands post the same content – on the same day – on all platforms... There isn’ t a rulebook that says this is or is not okay, but some content just performs better on different platforms.
Spend some time thinking of your ideal consumer and create a case study like Jan and Josh … Where do you think you’ d most effectively capture their interest? Once you’ ve determined your target, you can begin the adventure of creating compelling content … good luck!
9 MOMENTUM / April 2018