This document discusses identifying and engaging your target audience for social media. It emphasizes narrowing down your audience by considering demographic, psychographic, behavioral, and environmental factors. This will allow you to segment your audience and focus your content on their specific needs, goals, and interests. The document provides examples of questions to ask your current customers to better understand your audience and tips for finding your audience and creating engaging content topics tailored to what they want.

1. Identifying your audience
And the content to best engage them.

2. Why define your target audience?
Create content for the right people.

3. You can’t please everyone

4. Dart boards have one bullseye

5. Know Your Goals
What are you trying to accomplish through social?
Is that measureable?
Realistic?

6. Narrowing Down Your Audience
Population
General Market
Product Market
Target

7. A group of potential customers who have similar needs
and are willing to purchase goods or services to satisfy
those needs.
What is a market

8. General Market
• Generally similar needs
• Ex: Transportation in a specific city, need to get around

9. Product Market
• Similar needs with similar solution
• Ex. Drivers who purchase sedans

10. Target Market
• Similar needs, similar solution, similar motivators
• Ex. Ride Sharing
– Similar to other options: Needs to get around, disposable
income, located in major city
– Unique to product: likes convenience and personalized service,
uses portable electronics

11. Problems
Even within that bucket, there are variables
• Use cases: work, nightlife, errands, medical, tourist, etc.
• What gets engagement with some, may not with others
• No one wants to be sold your product, you need a story
• The audience varies between outlets
• And so on…

12. Solution
Break it down further.
Have multiple segments
per product or really
focus on one
core segment

13. Every outlet is different

14. Factors to consider
How do you segment?

15. First Step
• Think about everything related to your audience(s)
– Demographic
– Psychographic
– Behavioral
– Environmental
• Look beyond your product offering

16. Criteria for Segmentation: Demographic
B2B B2C
Annual revenue
# Employees
Industry
# Locations
Years in business
Markets served
Products/services
Job title
Level of experience/seniority
Age
Income
Marital status
Education
Family Size
Gender
Geographic location
Social status
Occupation

17. Criteria for Segmentation: Psychographic
B2B B2C
Resistance to Change
Diversification oriented
Open minded/rigid
Decision making process
Early adopter/follower
Growth oriented/static
Technology sophistication
Professionalism
Require referrals
Awareness of competitors
Risk aversion
Loyalty
Market/Product Focus
Brand preferences
Price sensitivity
Conservative/Liberal
Enviro-­friendly
Hobbies
Lifestyle
Information sources
Service preferences
Buy based on trends
Spontaneity
Influenced by peers
Relationship importance

18. Criteria for Segmentation: Behavioral
B2B B2C
Website visits
Responses to marketing
Purchasing methods
Association memberships
Internet usage
Social media groups
Collateral views/downloads
Purchase history
Where they shop
Type of store preference
Association memberships
Internet usage
Impulsiveness

19. Criteria for Segmentation: Environmental
B2B B2C
Technology landscape
Purchasing power
Management practices
Purchasing process
Business culture
Country of residence
Political climate
Currency
Payment methods
Shipping & receiving
Languages spoken

20. Dig deeper
• Pull out what is the same no matter what (constants)
• Evaluate the variables that make the biggest difference
in the business model:
– Sales process
– Messaging
– Revenue / profit

21. Get informed
Ways to learn more about your audience

22. Survey: Current Customers
• What social media sites do you use regularly?
• Where to go for information on _________?
• How frequently do you shop in-­store?
• Do you use your phone to compare prices?
• Which factors are you will to pay more for?*
• What other activities are you interested in?*
*Give a range of options

23. Market Research: Prospects
• Reports on:
– Use of social media sites
– Audience profiles of popular blogs
• Focus groups with refined targets

24. Test with Ads
• Get someone who knows digital advertising
• Explore look-­alike audience features
• Create experiments on:
– Which audiences respond best to a similar message
– Which content types best engage your target audience
– Timing and style of messages

25. Get Help
• Look for relevant blogs and ask to guest post
– Learn about their audience before you write
– Ask which topics got most engagement
Source: social media

26. Reach more people
Where to find your audience

27. Already covered…
• Paid advertising
• Guest blog posts

28. Know your brand’s sweet spot

29. Other tips
• Upload your database to the outlet to find contacts
• Create a topic-­specific group not connected with your
business
– Realtors: “Hot Baltimore Homes”
– Lawyers: “Dumb Business 101”

30. Great content topics
Knowing what to say

31. Answer their questions

32. Answer Questions

33. Behind the scenes

34. Behind the scenes

35. Know their style

36. Know their style

37. Inspire

38. Inspire

39. Bottom line.
It’s about what your audience wants.

40. Get in touch!
jennifer@adashmorecreative.com
410-­252-­7879