It’s all too easy to spend money on a giant billboard or an ad that will be only be responded to by 0.01 percent of the population. Compared to a pizza commercial, for example, this is typically a more attractive offer and more likely to be responded by most people. The same goes for digital marketing on the web. You need to focus and know who to target. This is especially true for digital marketing, as it can be a costly part of your budget. Therefore, you need to know who to target in your digital marketing.
If you’re a general or convenience store like 7-11, it’s okay to just go out and market to a broad audience. But if your product or service is specialized, restricted or niche, then your marketing efforts need to be more targeted and focused.
Example of Motorcycle Brand
Let’s say your brand is centered on custom spare parts for motorcycles. That’s something not many people understand. But knowing your customer base will help. You just need to reach that percentage of people by understanding the demographics, phychographics, sociograhics and lifestyle. By understanding your customer “persona”, your odds are much better at getting them to engage and respond to your message.
The ballpark targets for customers who ride motorcycles, might be ages 14 to 45. You can target males and females who own motorcycles, and would probably purchase new models of motorcycles and customize them. Two-thirds of them are likely to already own one or two. And half of that are more likely to spend customizing their rides. Narrow it down further, and a hundredth of that percentage are likely to live in your state or province But that won’t matter much if you’re selling online. So, now that you know who to target, let’s work on how to reach that audience.
Know who to target and understand your business
Understanding your business objectives, business strategy, customer strategy and marketing strategy is key to knowing who to target online, and how to market your products and services accordingly. For example, you can’t just hand out flyers for Harley motorcycles to old ladies on the street. If you’ve been in business for a while, you already know your customers. But, it is always a good idea to revisit this concept to better understand their journey. If your business is indeed a custom spare parts business for motorcycles and cars, your marketing strategy is really about defining the above concepts related to their lifestyle.
Know your audience
You need to get to know more detailed information about your targets such as socio-economic status, technical aptitude, age and even vernacular. In keeping with our example of custom spare parts, you can decide on who to target depending on gender or age. You can sell 80s rock star branded motorcycle handles and seat covers. So your likely target would be the GenX crowd. Speak their language, know their lifestyle and know the brands you’re selling. Or if you’re selling noisy mufflers, aerodynamic plates and LED lighting, your audience is likely to be younger.
Monitor your audience
Analytics is a great way to know who your current audience is and who to target later. You can scan the referrers, sites and social media that visit your website. Be sure to view Google Analytics to better understand devices used. You can also understand the content that is viewed or clicked most often. If most of your traffic is from Facebook or Twitter, you can focus more on those platforms. But it doesn’t mean that you can neglect your search engine marketing.
It simply means you may need to improve on that front and set up a budget to ensure that you have a solid targeted marketing strategy in place. As for devices, if your traffic is low on phones and tablets, you may need to up your game. In today’s economic climate, most people browse directly from their iPhone and iPads.
In terms of content, the analytics can help you understand popular pages, videos, etc. based on views, impressions and conversions. Remember to consider the audience, the manner of SEM related to keywords around your target audience, keep SEO a priority, and pay attention to the reports.
Know the current trends of your target audience. You may want to consider using social listening tools such as Mention, Twitter and Facebook hashtags, or HootSuite.