When beginning on social media, it may feel like there is an overwhelmingly large audience. There are nearly 1.5 BILLION users on Facebook, which represents approximately 20% of the entire population on our planet!
At a glance, these numbers are overwhelming. In a crowd it can be hard to be noticed, as you may feel your business is one of many trying to catch the attention of everyone. When I first began marketing, segmenting out my target market didn’t seem appealing. I wanted to reach EVERYONE! I quickly learned that this isn’t possible, and isn’t beneficial to anyone.
This is where defining your target market comes into play. By trying to reach all 1.5 billion users, you will find that you are catching the attention of none. It’s time to step back, define who you want to reach, and targeting exactly that market through messaging that SPEAKS to them.
There are many ways to segment out your target market, and one of the best ways is to define your ideal customer. Who benefits from your service? What do your loyal fans look like? How do they make their decisions?
Here is an example of some of the questions I ask small businesses as we work to define the target market:
- Where is your ideal customer located?
- Is there an age range you seem to resonate with?
- What interests do they pursue?
- Do they have certain job titles? Are they business owners or stay at home mothers?
- Are there certain income or net worth requirements of your customers?
These are just a few of the questions that help to define who you want to pursue with your social media marketing. By doing this, you can create your “ideal customer” and begin to relate to their mindset. For many of my clients we come up with 2-5 “customer profiles” that would benefit from their services. These customer profiles can even have names, as this will help you to identify with your target market in a more meaningful way.
From this point you will want to create campaigns that truly catch their attention. What problems do you solve for your customers? Create imagery and copy that expresses these problems and empathizes with them. Offer solutions and add value by giving away tips and tricks for free.
