Communication and marketing professionals have long recognized the importance of identifying target audiences with their messages. In this age of digital communication, targeting becomes even more crucial and manageable. In the past, targeted communication or marketing implied “getting the right message to the right person or group of people.” In our digital age, there are added benefits, as defined by the Content Marketing Institute. Now, with the use of digital media, targeting included “reaching the right person, with the right content, at the right place, and at the right time.”
How does one “reach” all of those targeting objectives by utilizing social media and digital communication? When establishing a target audience for your digital marketing campaign, here are four steps to consider in order to enhance this effort:
- define target audience and segments within that audience. This might include looking at things like demographics, lifestyle interests, and how media is utilized by a person (or group of people).
- create personas for each audience/segment. You can develop a “persona” for the typical target for your campaign, including their behaviors, needs, roles, and interests.
- develop a media plan for each targeted audience/segment. The media plan could involve details such as the messaging itself, different types of media to be used, scheduling, evaluation measures, etc.
- optimize media schedule and posts. Determine the best days and times to post your messages, as well as optimizing posts for each platform or network being used.
In this day of “big data”, communication and marketing professionals have large amounts of information available to them that help to target specific audiences. These include targeting specifically based on purchasing and other behaviors, social media connections, identified interests, determining similar people and what has been successful with them, and location targeting.
All of these factors contribute to a dynamic ability for brands and businesses to specifically target their audiences, leading to more efficient and successful marketing spends and campaigns.
Want to target those specific audiences that will most benefit from your messages? Contact the experts at Reach Beyond Marketing today!
Source: "Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach"