One of the most challenging aspects of creating a social media account is defining your target audience and how best to reach out to them.
Many business owners see social media as an extension of their brand. They use the same content, whether designing a brochure or posting to their newsfeed. Social media isn’t a tool where you push forward your sales and marketing messages ad nauseam.
To use social media effectively, it pays to start by gaining a thorough understanding of your target audience, creating your customer avatar based on the platform, and engaging with them effectively. So, how do you do that?
Get a Better Understanding of What Target Audience Means
Not every social media platform targets the same audience. Who you reach on X (formerly Twitter) is probably not the same people you’ll connect with on Instagram. Yet both may be beneficial to grow your customer base.
To discover how to connect with people, start by defining your customer avatar. You may have several, each with their own needs and desires. Let’s say you are a custom home builder. You may target growing families ready to move out of a starter home and looking for an opportunity to build their dream homes. You may also target empty nesters who want to sell the family home and create an elegant home they can enjoy in this new phase of their lives.
One business. Two very distinct clientele. Each with its own persona, different wants and desires. By knowing this, you can:
- Focus your marketing messages
- Spend your marketing dollars more wisely
- Build a clearer message with each target audience
- Resonate with individuals on a deeper level
Defining and refining your target audience is a never-ending process. The more you learn about them as individuals, the deeper you can go with your messages. This can spawn new ways to connect.
Take a Closer Look at Your Current Audience
What is already working for you? This is one of the best places to start. If you’ve thrown content at social media without much thought about engagement, now is the time to dig deeper into statistics. Make a list of what is working on the platform of your choice, keeping in mind that people often have different needs. Common reasons people engage are:
- Learning about new products and services
- Learning more about a company’s goals and ethics
- Learning about specials and promotions
- Being entertained
This is where you see demographics splitting into different social media platforms. X attracts more newsy clientele while Instagram caters to visually appealing content. Knowing this can help you decide how to reach out and give people what they want.
Don’t just pay attention to what your customers and followers want. Especially if you’re in growth mode, it’s wise to use social media listening tools that give you a broader perspective of what people in your niche are saying. Your competitors can leave clues as to what’s working for them, giving you ideas to grow for yourself.
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Checking Out the Competition
If you’ve ever thought, “There’s no one else out there doing what I do,” think again. While they might not have the same approach, every business today has a competitor vying for customers’ attention. Use these as motivation as you build your own brand. Keep in mind that they don’t have to sell identical products or services to be a competitor. If your prospects can turn to another business in their quest to solve a problem, they compete with you. This allows you to see what channels they are using, and how effectively they reach their audiences. Follow the trail and learn as you go.
Picking Up Influencers Along the Way
As you continue to search, you may find brands that reach out to the same audience as you, yet do so differently, with different products and services in their toolbox. These are potential influencers who may be great partners for you as you build your business. Don’t think of influencers as accounts with millions of followers. If you find people more in line with your own current reach, you can build relationships that will help both of your businesses grow. These partners can help you discover hashtags, keywords, and other social accounts that may be beneficial to your growth.
Creating Content for Your Target Audience
Sometimes the best way to develop a plan is to dig in and start doing it. As you spend more time on the platform of your choice, you’ll start finding ways to reach out to your own audience. Make a sample file and fill it with content ideas you find as you perform your research. Then use these ideas to create your own.
Quite often, marketers will spend time designing what they consider the “perfect” piece of content, only to find it falls flat once they release it online. What wins and gains traction is something totally unexpected.
Social media is always a game of trial and error. It’s about trying and trying again. If something is important, A/B testing is a great way to find out what works. Keep your core message, adjust words, graphics, fonts, sizes, images, and so on—see what works, and build on that as you grow.
Not everyone who enters your social media platform will be at the same stage. Some will be starting the purchasing process, while others may be repeat customers. Awareness will help lead you to develop the right content, and share it repeatedly to ensure every follower’s needs are met.
Keep researching.
Keep experimenting.
And try it all over again.
Social media will never be an exact science. If you’ve decided to use it as a marketing channel, your best course of action is never to give up. Dive in and learn your target audience well. The more in-depth you define them, the clearer your message will be.
Contact our team today to take this one step further, and learn more about the power of building a solid social media message.
