Marketing is all about communication. It's about finding ways to reach people in a deep and impactful way.
If you want to make that kind of connection with someone, you need to understand them.
Who are they? What are their goals and aspirations?
What drives and motivates them? What are they passionate about?
Knowing your audience is essential if you want to succeed at marketing.
You need to tailor your messaging perfectly for your potential customers, building trust and rapport while offering them the solutions they need to their problems.
But how do you start to get the information you need to figure out how your audience ticks?
It all starts with asking the right questions.
If you feel like your content marketing's been falling a little flat recently, it might be because you haven't asked these questions yet.
Once you find their answers, you'll begin to acquire a substantial portrait of your ideal customer persona. It takes a bit of intensive research, but it's well worth the effort.
A recent post from Marketo lists the questions you should ask about your audience, along with some tips for finding the best places to reach out to them.
Get to Know Your Audience
I’m always surprised at how little time people take to really get to know their target audience.
As you’re jumping into the tactical details of your social media plan, it’s critical that you take the time to understand who your ideal audience is and what they care about.
Here are some great questions to think about:
- Who is your ideal audience following on social media?
- What topics are they discussing/posting about?
- How old are they?
- What is their geographical location?
- What type of content are they regularly interacting with?
Taking the time to thoroughly research your audience helps ensure your social media marketing efforts are as effective as possible.
Understanding what channels will most likely reach your audience, the best time to gain their attention, the tone that will most likely resonate, and the types of content they prefer will help put you one step ahead of your competition.
Go Where They Are
One mistake I see marketers make all too often is trying to incorporate too many channels into their strategies.
This can be a very time consuming and expensive endeavor that yields less than ideal results.
Focus your efforts on the channels that your target audience prefers.
For B2B, it can be challenging to determine whether the latest and greatest platforms are worth the investment. A great way to get started is by looking at usage and demographics for each of the platforms.
Whatever channels you choose to develop and nurture, be sure you are focused where your target audience is.
Businesses that strive to engage with their audience in meaningful ways, on the channels they prefer, will ultimately win.
You can read more about finding your audience on social media, as well as check out some useful statistics, over at Marketo.
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