Ever sit down to watch shows with your kids on Saturday morning? When advertisements for the new Lego set or the newest Barbie doll pop up on the screen, you likely change the channel or start poking around on your phone. Why? Because you’re not the target audience… but your kids, on the other hand, are completely in-tune.
Just like the toy manufacturers understand their target audience, understanding your business’ target audience can help maximize marketing and grow your customer base. Nowhere is this more prevalent than social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Understanding how to increase engagement on social media content and run successful ads on these platforms can help create a community. The followers you establish on these outlets tend to become loyal, paying customers.
Here are some helpful tips for success on social media.
Determine The Goal Of Your Social Media Posts
Before you can be effective on social media, you need to define who your ideal customer is. It’s not enough to say that everyone can use your product or service. That’s not even true! Can you imagine your 80-year-old grandma hopping on a Harley? Well, maybe you can, but that’s not Harley’s target demographic. They have a clear idea of who their ideal customer is and they promote content that speaks to them specifically.
If anything, it’s going to hurt your brand more if you don’t know who your audience is. Getting really clear on the person you are speaking to is the basis of every social media post you put out there.
Once you figure out the type of content your audience prefers, then you can funnel ad money to those posts. This can be on any social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, or Pinterest. When you know your audience and follow their trends, your marketing dollars will go a lot further when it’s time to boost a post or promote a pin.
How to Discover Your Audience
Unfortunately for you, your business isn’t Harley-Davidson (well, probably not). They know that the vast majority of 80-year-old grandmothers aren’t racing to their local dealership to pick up a motorcycle because they have DECADES of market research at their disposal. Newer and smaller businesses don’t have that luxury, but social media can help level the playing field.
Every social media platform provides you with back-end analytics, some going more in detail than others. The basic information you probably already knew such as age, location, gender, etc. is nice, but it’s the small details that can help you maximize your social media posts. For example, Facebook analytics provide insight into the pages your audience likes, other websites they’re using, and common interests. This information helps you better fine-tune your targeted advertisements.
You should never let this information go to waste! For businesses using social media, each and every post is like a trial by fire. Whether it’s a boosted post on Facebook or a promoted tweet on Twitter, even ‘unsuccessful’ posts can provide you with helpful information. Don’t toss a post into the proverbial trashcan because it didn’t work. Dive into the details to find out WHY it didn’t work and vice-versa. Find out what it is about your successful posts (we’ll go further into detail about this later) that made them successful.
- Did you target the right age demographic?
- Did you find a group with a vested interest?
- Was the video you posted the perfect length and engaging?
The more you engage with your following, the better you will understand your target audience, and more importantly, what they want, so don’t be shy about posting!
Create Engaging Content
You’ve gained a better understanding of your target audience. Now what? Well, now it’s time to put that knowledge to good use! Take a look around at some successful competitors within your industry. It’s not a coincidence they post engaging content on ALL of their social media pages.
What you will quickly notice is that these brands use everything at their disposal. Pictures, videos, polls, recycled content. Don’t be afraid to take inspiration from your competitors. If you notice that your target audience responds well to short videos, focus on that. If you notice your target audience skips videos in favor of straight-to-the-point posts, focus on those.
Promote Unicorn Content
“Unicorn content” is any type of social media post that did exceedingly well when compared to your other content. This content can either be an informative graphic, a video, or even a meme. These posts are the posts you will want to promote when you begin your social media advertising campaign.
You may think the best course of action is to promote a post that explains what your company does and why people should follow you. More often than not, these campaigns are met with a resounding dud. Promoting unicorn content typically results in better results, more engagements, more followers, and ultimately – more sales. This includes ads that catch the eye of your target demographic. Combining interesting visuals with CTA boxes (“call to action” boxes with contact information or email boxes) can help encourage engagement.
Get the Most Out of Your Posts
Do you want to maximize your target advertisements on social media? Stupid question; of course you do. Utilizing the tools at your disposal can help you get a better feel of your target audience which in turn, helps you maximize your content.
