If you own a business, you will want to advertise your products or services to audiences that want to buy them. It may seem obvious but to reach your target audiences, you first need to know who they are.
All too often, companies waste time and money talking about what is important to them and not to their customers. Customers want to know what you can do for them and how you can make their lives better.
Identify your audience
Using a tool like Google Analytics helps you to pinpoint exactly who is visiting your website and how they are getting there. Demographic data can provide audience insights.
You can find out where your visitors live and which channels are bringing in the highest number of customers. You can also find out what devices they are using. If they’re coming mostly through mobile, for example, you must make sure your website is mobile-optimized.
Create engaging content
When creating content, you need to keep your target audiences in mind and what would make them stop and click. Look at your engagement statistics and see what content drove people to your website and resulted in conversions. You want to be able to replicate that process.
Diversify how you present content to keep your audience engaged - videos, guides, infographics and eBooks all perform well.
Storytelling helps customers to emotionally connect with your business and provides a strong foundation for creating the type of relationship where selling becomes much easier. Storytelling has been particularly helpful in reaching millennials. Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability in your storytelling as customers are looking for authenticity.
Listen to your customers
Getting feedback from your customers can play a large role in attracting new target audiences. For example, you might send a survey to customers or subscribers to your newsletter asking some strategic questions.
You need to keep an ear to the ground through social media and perhaps even consider targeting your ideal audience through a paid campaign or an organic campaign using smart hashtags.
Pop-up Shops
Pop-up shops have gained in popularity over the past few years. They create a new touchpoint with customers and engage them in a unique way. Research shows that pop-up shoppers are looking for unique products, optimal prices, localized assortments, convenience and a fun experience.
If your pop-up shop is in the right place at the right time, you can rake in significant profits without any of the risks of a traditional retail business. If you’re a small brand and your reach is limited, a pop-up shop can provide a way to link up with strategic partners and cross-market to other audiences.
Facebook groups
Some Facebook groups are extremely active and you can learn a great deal from them. Find relevant groups by going to groups and typing in your topic in the search bar. For example, if you type in dog food, a group that comes up is “Dog food nerds of Facebook” with 17k members.
Imagine all the insights you could get from that group alone if you’re selling dog food. It’s a good place to discover what possible clients are talking about.
Measure, optimize and repeat
If you want to keep current customers and attract more, you need to look at statistics so that they can inform your strategies. Know what statistics you’re tracking and comparing month to month.
Examining analytics provides data points that can reveal which target markets show the most potential. With the use of analytics, you can leverage data to segment customers and target your marketing efforts to particular niches.