Setting up a Google Ads or social media business account one day and dumping a lot of money into it without understanding who your core client base is, in many cases, is the equivalent of throwing your money away. You want to focus on who your target market is before going on any type of campaign, especially on social media, because there are a few preliminary steps to take. Here's how to know your target market before you put more money into your digital marketing efforts.
What we mean by target market and target audience for social media
Before diving in, it helps to understand two terms you'll see throughout. Your target market for social media is the broad group of people who could potentially buy your product or service. Your target audience for social media is a more specific subset of that group (i.e., the people you're actively trying to reach through your branding, ads, and social content. It is usually built as a primary user profile dictated by their gender, age, income, and sometimes their location.
How to define your target market for social media
Your target market is defined by who has a need for what you're selling, so the first step is looking at the landscape of your industry to see who is already buying.
Target Market Research Tips for Marketing
After you check to see who is already buying, look at competitors, including who they are speaking to, what demographics show up in their content and advertising, and where they are showing up. Industry reports, trade publications, and market research tools can also give you a data-backed picture of the general consumer base in your space.
If you already have customers, your own sales data is one of the most reliable sources you have. Who is buying from you, how often, and at what price points? Look for patterns. If you're just starting out, lean on competitor research and broader industry data until you have enough of your own to work with.
The goal at this stage is not to get specific, but rather it's to define the realistic pool of people your business could serve. From there, you can start narrowing that market down into the target audience you'll actually focus your social media efforts on.
How to identify your target audience for social media
Start by pulling your existing data from sources such as Google Analytics, social media insights, and even your sales records, which can tell you a lot about who's already engaging with your brand in terms of age, gender, income, and location.
Secondary data points such as their hobbies and interests, education level, who they follow and buy from, and what their marital status is, are also important to factor in. You will get a holistic profile when you have as many different data points as possible. This is what is known as user personas, where fictitious names and personalities are assigned to what your target market looks like. Whether it's 'John the DIY enthusiast' or 'Jamie the Gamer', these help with how you proceed overall on social media, what type of content you'll make, and which social media channel to choose.
Once this is established, the proper social content can be displayed for that target audience. So yes, it's possible to have a primary target-focused audience and some secondary and ancillary target audiences to focus on.
Yet while you're working on building up your social media, you want to focus as much as possible on that primary target audience. After all, they will be the ones who will most likely help generate sales and revenues for your company, so it only makes sense to give them a laser focus.
It's just as important to know who your target audience isn't. So make sure to be extremely specific in who you want to target. Again, this comes up later on when you're reviewing your social media analytics to see exactly what type of demographic you end up with.
Setting the tone in your Digital marketing
Once you determine what your target market and target audience are, and through extensive market research, you need to set the overall tone of your content. For example, if you're looking toward a more luxurious target audience, then your tone and overall style should be formal and sophisticated. On the other hand, if you're a bakery making delicious foods, your tone should be light-hearted and colorful.
While you keep your content distribution consistent, you want to make sure you have the right tone consistent throughout. For example, even when replying to customers off social media channels, such as via email or chat, always keep that same tone throughout, as that is what your target audience and market will expect.
Consistently shifting
Data is your key here, meaning you want to review it as often as possible. Target markets can shift, and your goldmine target audience can also change from time to time. It may be due to consumer appetites or what is currently trending, but regardless, you want to give yourself periodic reviews to ensure that you are still on track with your main target market.
When you do targeting with social media advertising, it will be something that will be asked of you, so when you’re aligned between what your advertising strategy audience is and your target audience, it will help make those advertising dollars go even further.
Use all the digital marketing tools available
Of course, social media channels come with their own dashboards and reporting. These are your primary sources of information to see if you're on track with your target audience. Yet the one thing about data is that you want to make sure that you have enough data points to actually make the right decisions. That means having a large enough social media presence.
While organically growing your social media presence is important, it can take a significant amount of time, and if you're not giving it full attention, that could be several years. So if you're looking to jump ahead and start focusing on your target audience today, then get yourself signed up with our SMM panel. This will give you the user growth and engagement of those users who would have eventually started following you on social media, albeit a bit faster.
We offer competitive pricing to grow your channels with no obligations. You are able to invest as little or as much as you require, and we'll always help give an estimate of the expected user growth.
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