Who's Your Crowd? Mastering Social Media Target Audience

When you cast a net into the waters of Social Media, it’s best to try and get the biggest audience possible, right? Not necessarily. Defining your target audience can actually bring better results! 

Having one hundred people see your ad doesn’t do much good if only a couple of them would realistically purchase your product. Casting a smaller, more targeted net will not only get you a better ROI for your marketing efforts, it can make those efforts easier.

What Is A Target Audience?

Take a moment to sit down and think about your customers. Who is most likely to purchase your product? Targeting a niche allows you to refine your message and gives you a solid direction for your marketing campaign. You should consider:

• Gender and marital status
• Average income
• Geographical location
• Where to find them on social media
• What type of message they’d respond to

The point of a targeted message is to stay relevant to the group of people you just defined. If you try to make your message broad enough to target “everybody,” you make it difficult to resonate on a deeper level with anyone in particular. The more you can connect with someone, the more likely they are to become a loyal repeat customer.

Researching Audience Demographics

Defining demographics isn’t always as clear cut as you might think. If you produce baby products, you know you’ll be selling to the parents, but how do you pin down an age range or marital status for them? In the same token, if you provide enterprise-level products for businesses, how do you target a specific age or gender group? Defining your target audience is all about averages. 

Let’s take the example of baby products. Once you know you’re looking for parents, do some research to find the average age range of new parents in the last couple of years and go with that. You can also find statistics on the average marital status of new parents.

There may be people outside of this group who would make purchases, like a friend buying a baby gift for a new parent, but you want to keep your focus on repeat customers, the parents themselves.

You can apply this logic no matter what products or services you offer. The goal is to get a classification like ‘parents’ and then find the averages within it. The narrower you can make your message, the more chances you have of connecting with the people who will buy from you again and again.

Narrow Your Focus To Define Your Audience

Once you’ve got those numbers, you can further refine your results by looking realistically at who your potential customers would be within that group. This is where we look at things like income level and geography. The funny thing about this set of demographics is that they will likely be defined more by your business than your customers.

Take setting the target income level for example. Is your product a necessity or a luxury? If your product fulfills a basic need, the income level of your customers isn’t as much of a consideration as it is with luxury items. 

Ask yourself who can afford what you’re offering, and how badly they need it. To demonstrate this, consider a luxury jewelry company. Obviously, older, upper-middle-class women would be a better group for them to target than struggling college students. Income level is one of the most important considerations in defining your target audience. You don’t want to waste your limited marketing budget targeting people who can’t afford to purchase your products.

Geographic location is another one that is going to largely depend on your business model. There may be plenty of potential customers in San Francisco, but if you provide a local service in Des Moines, targeting those customers won’t do you much good. Define your geographic location by where you can actually provide your products or services. This can wind up being as broad as “I ship to the entire US,” or as small as a city or local community.

Crafting A Targeted Message

Now that you have an idea of who you’ll be speaking to and where they are, it’s time to create a message that will resonate with them. Using the metrics we defined earlier, figure out where your customers spend their time on social media. Take a look at what’s being discussed in groups. What do they care about? What do they worry about? The amount of free information that is available to you about your specific customers is staggering, you just have to invest a little bit of time to find it and define your target audience.

This is where the core values of your company come into play. Do any of the topics you discovered in those online groups align with your company’s mission or purpose? If you can pick out two or three bullet points that match up, you’ve got a base for your message. Congratulations! Now all you need to do is shape that message to reflect your company’s values and put it directly in front of your newly defined potential customers.

Choosing To Outsource Your Social Media

When you get to know your customers, you’ll be able to connect and build deeper relationships with them. But what if you don’t have the time to spend on creating the content? There are lots of reasons to consider outsourcing your social media, but saving time and building consistency for your brand are the biggest ones. At $99 Social, our expert copywriters can craft a consistent message to deliver to your customers, whoever they may be. Connect with us today to tell us about your business and your customers, and we’ll create engaging and targeted messages based on your goals.

FAQs – Get More Answers Here!

What is social media target audience?

Your social media target audience refers to the specific group of people you aim to reach and engage with through your social media marketing efforts.

How can I conduct a social media target audience analysis?

Conducting a social media target audience analysis involves gathering data about your audience demographics, interests, behaviors, and preferences to better understand who they are and how to effectively tailor your content.

Why is targeted social media marketing important?

Targeted social media marketing allows you to reach the most relevant audience for your business or brand, increasing the likelihood of engagement, conversions, and overall success.

What are some strategies for identifying my social media target audience?

Strategies for identifying your social media target audience include analyzing your existing customer base, conducting surveys or polls, monitoring social media analytics, and researching industry trends.

How can Facebook targeted marketing help reach my social media target audience?

Facebook targeted marketing enables you to create highly specific ad campaigns that target individuals based on factors such as demographics, interests, behaviors, and more, ensuring your message reaches the right audience.

What are the benefits of mastering your social media target audience analysis?

Mastering your social media target audience analysis allows you to create more personalized and relevant content, build stronger connections with your audience, increase engagement and conversions, and ultimately achieve your marketing goals more effectively.