This may be difficult for you to envision but the online market can be a lot like that. Unfortunately some companies spend a lot of time and money,‘ calling out their wares’ and screaming as loud as they can only to catch the attention of people who are not interested in their product at all.
What will make your marketing stand out? How do you harness your marketing energies so it’ s making the desired mark? The trick is to engage with purpose. By that, I mean choose your online platforms with the end in mind.
There are a myriad of platforms out there, you want to market yourself on the ones that can give you the most exposure and advantage. Think of the online space as your rowdy, busy, marketplace and ask yourself these questions:
What am I offering?
Sure, you know what you do. But how do you categorize it? Is it a product or a service? Will visual appeal help enhance your marketing strategies? Then you might want to go with a platform that helps you make eye-catching displays. E. g. think of a Florist’ s displays on Facebook, Pinterest, or Video ads on YouTube.
Who am I offering it to?
Your target audience is just that. Your target. Knowing the demographics will help you decide on a suitable platform( or platforms as the case may be.) A study on the demographics of twitter users in 2012 shows that people between the ages of 15 and 25 are the most engaged twitter users. If you passionately need to reach teenagers and young adults, you know where to direct your energies. Where is your target audience? That’ s where you should go.
How well am I doing?
Analytics can save your life. They give you an insight into what your audience likes, what they find interesting, and what they’ re willing to go an extra mile for. This can be a tasking and time consuming process but if you need to know how well you’ re engaging then it’ s an investment that will pay off. The information you get here may also let you know if you’ re reaching out either to the wrong audience or through the wrong platform.
How well is my platform doing?
It may not be all your fault. If your social media marketing isn’ t making the impact you desire you may need to look into how well your chosen platform is doing in the scheme of things. There are so many networking sites out there and more are springing up every day. Competition is stiff and users have the liberty to migrate at will. Don’ t be caught sleeping. Go where the action is.
Be open and deliberate about your marketing. No harm in kissing a few frogs before you settle on the platform that’ s right for you, but getting on every social networking site out there may not be the best idea. You may spread yourself too thin when you could be digging deeper in one spot and creating an engaged community. Remember, engaging with a purpose is what you’ re trying to do not getting on every wagon because it’ s going somewhere.
62 POWERCULTURE APR2013