Social media is one of the biggest trends in digital marketing right now with most businesses looking to expand and develop their customer base. Using different social media platforms can be a great way of not only gaining exposure but an online reputation amongst current clients.
In this post we discuss the best ways to target and cater specifically to your perfect customer, attracting them and keeping them on board.
Like all internet marketing, planning is essential. Before you start working out who you would like to target you need to decide what you would like to achieve by targeting them. Are you looking to build a community? Provide exposure for a new product or service? Drive sales? Or simply provide great customer service? Dependant on what you’re choosing to do you will need to decide which channels work best.
An easy way to start defining your ideal customer is to make a list of the more obvious characteristics they may share – are they homeowners? Do they work full-time? 
Do you have considerable disposable income? Focus on the product or service you’re providing. Will your target demographic need to fall into a certain income class to afford it?
Asking yourself questions about the product will give you powerful information on your typical customer will help you in the long run as you work on advertising and promotion. For example, is it specifically for men or woman, what are their marital statuses, do they have a family and who makes the purchasing decisions? In some cases, you will need to look at the physical location of your business. Once you have all this segmentation information at your fingertips you can customise the way that you present your business and your product with your social media marketing.
Did you know that LinkedIn will send four times more people to your corporate homepage than Twitter or Facebook? Or that 55% of Pinterest users will engage with brands and retailers? These statistics are readily available online and through simple homemade online surveys. If you’ve had success in the past with an emailing list, incorporate it into your studies.
All social media platforms operate differently and 
have their own ways of resonating with users. With a vast menu of social networks available truly understanding your target audience will help you select the best ones to reach and connect with them. I’m not saying to steer clear from platforms altogether, just customise your content to suit them.
Recent studies have shown that mobile device owners are increasingly multi-tasking whilst online; watching videos whilst checking their emails and visiting multiple social sites. People want to be engaged online so keeping a constant stream of relevant, interesting and often entertaining content available is a must.
A great way to start with this is to decide how your message is best conveyed. Will your brand promotion work better through the use of 
imagery, video, copy, short tips or do you want to drive them to a location where you will convert them there? Sites like Pinterest, Instagram and even Facebook are great for showcasing images of your products or services while still inviting discussion. For tips and news relevant to the industry, LinkedIn and Twitter can be very useful depending on the demographic you are targeting.
Try to keep your content relevant and concise. The general rule for social media marketing is: 80% news and engagement and 20% promotion. You don’t want to be pushy or overbearing with the promotion of your products or services as it will start to come across as spam to users. If you can keep your followers compelled with industry updates, jokes or fun and interesting facts they will keep returning to your profiles.
Like all marketing, it’s all about the research. Looking at your existing customers or the customers that you are likely to attract will help you decide which platforms will work best and the kinds of content that are likely to gain your business exposure and those all important ‘likes’. Don’t be shy to try some different options, you will know from the amount of engagement you receive over a period of time whether it is likely to work as a part of your social media marketing plan.
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