With an ever-growing number of registered users and social media platforms, implementing a successful marketing strategy allows you to promote your business effectively and gain a number of advantages. A well-defined target audience provides the road map to maximize growth - who you should focus on, how you will position the brand, and where you will reach the audience. By being able to segment your audiences you can make sure that your message goes to your market and your market only, avoiding those who have no interest in your services.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social Media Marketing is a branch of digital marketing that deals with the development of strategies that allow a company or a brand to achieve certain objectives on social networks. Objectives such as strengthening a company’s reputation, establishing dialogue with existing and potential customers, gathering new contacts, and expanding the customer portfolio. It includes planning, management and control of marketing and communication activities on social media.
What is a Social Media Target Audience?
A social media target audience is a group of people that you’ve identified by their attributes that you want to appeal to. This can be based on demographics such as age, job title, income level, education, location, or behavior. Your social media target audience consists of the people who are most likely interested in your product. For your social media marketing efforts, your audience will be the key to a lot of your decision making. Knowing who your audience is, on every level, will help you speak to them in a way that engages their interest and develops loyalty with your brand.
Benefits of Targeting Your Audience on Social Media
- Increase brand awareness –
Social media is one of the most cost-efficient digital marketing methods used to syndicate content and increase your business' visibility. Implementing a targeted social media strategy will greatly increase your brand recognition more so than trying to engage a broad audience of consumers. Having interested people interact with your content will increase brand awareness and begin building your reputation as a business.
- Increase user engagement -
Social media is the communication channel that allows you to increase the level of engagement more than any other medium. However, you have to keep in mind that social networks are not born with the aim of expanding knowledge of a brand or promoting a company, but that of involving and connecting users. For this reason, it is essential to create an authentic bond with your target audience promoting direct interaction - responding to comments and questions will engage that targeted audience even more.
- Increase website traffic –
Social platforms are an excellent tool for generating interest. You can take advantage of both organic posts and the different advertising formats offered by the platforms to drive target customers to your website.
- Increase potential customers –
Another benefit that your company can derive from the implementation of a social media target audience strategy is the collection of new contacts potentially interested in your products via lookalike audiences. The collection of new contacts is one of the basic principles of traditional marketing and is an activity that in the past has required much effort. Today, as social media is a feature in most people lives, this activity has become tremendously easier. Like offline marketing, on social media every company must find the right way to attract the attention of its potential customers and to encourage them to leave contact information.
- Increase effective use of advertising resources –
By being able to target people meeting the criteria you set, you avoid throwing money away and only spend money on the people who matter. Also, If you have more information regarding your target audience, you can use this information to make more concise decisions. Growing understanding of your target audience will result in fewer people, less time, etc.
How to Identify your Target Audience on Social Media
- Identify or create buyer personas -
Think about the demographic details of your current customers. A lot of the demographic details can be found by looking at your analytics - look at your social media numbers and track any current campaigns. This information should allow you to build on what you already know about your audience. Additionally, consider traits such as spending power, spending patterns, and their stage of life. All of this information plays into how customers interact on social media and spend their money. Keep in mind, you might have more than one persona if you sell more than one product.
- Identify where your audience is most active –
Once you understand who your audience is, figure out where they frequent online.
For example, studies show older generations have increased their Facebook use in recent years while Twitter appeals to younger audiences. Instagram also appeals to the younger generations. Figuring out where your audience is will help you prioritize which social media platforms you want to focus on.
- Look at your competitors -
When you're trying to flesh out your target audience on social media, look to your competitors and try to determine their demographics. You can figure this out by looking at who's responding to their posts and engaging with them. Also, take note of what social networks they're active on, who their top followers are, what their engagement rate is, and what hashtags they use.
- Survey your customers -
Although you'll have plenty of statistics available, it's always a good idea to talk to your current customers. Surveys help you figure out who your real customers are and what social media networks they prefer. You can ask what type of content they consume, what social media sites they like, or who they follow.
Every business goes through phases of trial and error and their moments of glory. Thus, as a business owner, you should always be open to attempting, improvising, and accepting new trends for your digital and social media marketing campaigns.
Consumers benefit from targeted advertisements by being relevant and helpful to their immediate needs while the advertiser sees their marketing efforts and dollars now going to waste. These days, reaching your target audience through social media is essential in ensuring the survival of your business.