Know Your Audience: Where Do They Spend Time Online?

Do you sometimes wonder why your target market seems to be everywhere on the internet except your website? A wise entrepreneur today has to wonder where his/her potential customers are spending their time, then formulate a marketing strategy that incorporates the answer.

However, there is no single tool that you can download and run to find this information. Some online marketing companies have released easy-to-follow instructions to help non-tech-savvy entrepreneurs find their target market.

It will take some effort on your part as the entrepreneur to research and compile a report specific to your business or industry using the steps summarized herein.

1. Define and figure out your target market

The first and most important step in finding where your customers hang out online is to define who your target market is. Every marketing strategy should involve developing buyer personas to nurture a solid understanding of the target market. You can create different buyer personas of your current customers then analyze them to find patterns and trends.

2. Connect with your existing customers online and offline

 

There is a good reason many businesses often request customers to fill questionnaires or fill out exit polls on their website: they are trying to establish a lasting connection with the customer. You can also create a questionnaire asking present customers where they spend their time online. You can ask the customer the questions in person (offline) or distribute them online via email or on the site.

3. Social connections are very powerful. Use them

Take some time to study the market behavior, particularly on social media, to get a deeper understanding as to what your target audience is discussing and sharing.  The strategy developed by experts from https://boltmarketing.ca/ has proven that even local businesses can learn to target a very specific client base to boost their business especially through social connections. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among other social networks are greatly underutilized resources that entrepreneurs can leverage to understand their target customers better. Twitter’s advanced search tool, for instance, is a little-used yet highly invaluable tool you can use to study and analyze what your audience really cares about.

4. Research the competition

There is no use wasting time reinventing the wheel in business. One easy, yet perhaps morally questionable, approach to finding out as much as you can about your target audience is finding out what your competition has already dug up. Find a couple of market leaders in your industry and observe their marketing strategies to discover what they are doing right that no else is doing. Luckily, there are many tools online you can use to study your competitors’ behavior to improve yours.

5. Use influencers and interests

The importance of social influencers is undeniable. The key to effective influencer marketing is finding the right personalities or brands with enough sway over your target market to promote your products or brand. When you find the right social influencers to promote your business or products, your target market will get the message. Your marketing strategy must also factor in the common interests that the target audience has, using keywords.

In conclusion, you have to ask yourself a few questions to understand your potential clients. Where are they spending their time? With who? What are their conversations? What can keep them excited? How can I reach out to them?When you answer the above questions, it will be easier to structure your marketing strategy to focus on these channels. The above five ideas will help you get started in the right and efficient way.