Let’s face it, if your company’s marketing strategy doesn’t ate least have digital media in its marketing mix, you’re fighting an uphill battle. More and more customers are making their buying decisions online and developing brand loyalty through social media. The modern marketer shouldn’t ask if they can reach their target audience online, but how best to do it. Here are some answers that can help.
Identify and Personify Your Audience
To start with a very basic concept, you can’t speak to your target audience until you’ve identified who they are. Key executives and decision-makers must use the data at their disposal to make that call, but once they do, they must clearly articulate this information to marketers. The marketers should then take the audience’s demographic attributes like age, gender, income, and geographic location, and personify them. That means that they “create” an imaginary person with these attributes, give them a name, and take their likely interests and concerns into consideration when writing copy and choosing messaging for them.
Adopt a Mobile-First Strategy
Advertisers must also realize that nearly two-thirds of their target audience will be receiving their online ads through a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet. With that in mind, they must customize their content for each app and social media platform where users are likely to see it. This means “building out” from small, square videos that work for Facebook and Instagram feeds to full quality versions for laptops and smart TVs.
Use Geo-Targeting Tools
Several amazing tools are available to reach a target audience if they are in a specific location. Geo-targeting and geo-fencing both serve ads to people who are within set proximity to the advertiser’s location. These tools are a critical digital advertising tactic for businesses that rely on foot traffic. They can also be used to re-target ads to customers after they leave that location using cookies.
Set Goals for Your ROI and Measure Progress
Like any other marketing or advertising campaign, the results must be tracked, measured, and studied to determine the efficacy of their creative content and strategic deployment. Thankfully, one of digital marketing’s greatest attributes is its ability to provide near-instant analytics about engagement, through-plays, click through, and conversions. Resist the urge to act on knee jerk reactions but use this data to tailor your marketing strategy.
Your audience is constantly plugged into the web and their social media platforms. Make sure they see your messaging, and not your competitors’.
