Identifying the Target Social Media audience for your business is vital. Social media marketing can be a great tool for raising brand awareness, increasing sales and building relationships with potential customers. Social Media is one digital marketing method that should be part of your overall marketing strategy.
The key to success with your social media marketing is to understand your target audience. It is important to identify them from the outset. Knowing your target audience will help you to create content that will be of interest to them. You need to keep your audience engaged with your social media pages.
It can also help you identify which social media platforms your business should be using and which ones are less relevant for targeting your audience. Many businesses fail at social media marketing because they take a scattergun approach to all social media platforms, often thinking that the more platforms they are using the better the results will be. It is in fact far better to concentrate your efforts on one or two platforms than try to keep four or five up-to-date.
Identifying your Social Media Audience
When devising your social media plan, think about the types of people that are likely to be interested in your product or service. You need to consider their age, gender, location, interests, personality traits and pain points to build up profiles for each section of your audience.
Look beyond people that are likely to be potential customers, think about industry influencers – the people that stand out in your communities and that other people listen to. These are likely to be peers, journalists, and thought-leaders. Are there any existing relationships you could maximise on via social media, such as existing customers, suppliers, and partners?
The types of audiences you could be looking for include:
- Current clients or customers
- Potential clients or customers
- Associates of current / potential clients or customers
- Journalists and editors
- Bloggers
- Suppliers
- Thought-leaders / influencers
Once you have built your customer profiles and identified your target audience, you should have a clearer idea of the social media platforms that are best suited to your business. For example, if your product or service is aimed at 16 -24 year-olds, you want to choose social media platforms where there are a high number of users within that age range, such as Facebook and Instagram.
Engage your Social Media Audience
Once you have built your customer profiles and identified the social media platforms you should be using to reach your target audience, you need to think about the content you are going to post to your social media channels. Think about areas that are likely to be of interest to your audience. Create content that deals with the likely pain points your audience are experiencing.
The majority of your posts should offer some value to your audience and you should limit the number of posts that are direct sales pitches. Ensure your posts are attention-grabbing, short, simple and easy to consume. Create content that people want to interact with and share to increase the success of your social media marketing campaign.
If you have any queries or questions about social media marketing or about what Blackberry Design could do for your business, get in touch on 01527 517309 or fill in our contact form.