In our last post, we talked about the importance of defining and understanding your target audience. Next, you need to figure out how to reach that audience.
Communicating directly to your target audience is a smart and efficient business practice. You will avoid wasting time and money on marketing efforts that are aimed at the wrong people. “[T]arget marketing allows you to focus your marketing dollars and brand message on a specific market that is more likely to buy from you than other markets.”
Below are a few tips to keep in mind when figuring out how to reach your target audience.
Review media kits and data
Many publishers provide media kits on their websites. Those media kits provide data about the reach of their publications and attributes of their audiences. For instance, Elle has a total readership of 4,488,000 people and its audience has a median age of 41 and median household income of $194,000. A review of Inc.’s media kit reveals that 78 percent of its readers are business decision makers, 62 percent are C-level employees, 43 percent are within top management, and 80 percent are thought leaders. And Yoga Journal’s media kit indicates that it has a total audience of 10 million readers, 87 percent of whom are female, and the average age of their readers is 46.
There are other sources of data as well, and with the increased demand for data transparency it is highly likely more will continue to sprout up. Edison Research publishes data on podcast audiences, among other things. Nielson provides data on television viewers and viewing behavior. Companies like Cision, Muckrack, and Meltwater are used by PR pros for media monitoring.
Engage on social media
You can find your target audience on social media platforms, create content, and then share it with them. Using relevant hashtags is important, as is liking and commenting on your audience members’ posts. You can also work with influencers to reach your target audience. Platforms like Julius help you to find the influencers who are actually influencing your audience and have real followers (as opposed to fake, purchased followers). Julius also provides data about influencers’ reach, their level of engagement, and the demographics and interests of their followers.
Be mindful of timing
You want to time the release of information to ensure your audience views it. For instance, “Fridays are a common day for people to take off, so sending an email out on a different day may increase your open rates (unless the data says otherwise).” Likewise, there are certain days and times that are best to post on social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn. You should consider all of this, and any other information you can get your hands on regarding best timing, when communicating with your audience.
Think about partnerships
You should know where your audience can be found, including the type of media they consume, the activities they enjoy, the destinations and businesses they visit, the events they attend, and the groups to which they belong. In thinking about these places, you should try to identify strategic partnerships.
These strategic partners are not competitors but are other players who are already interacting with your target audience. For instance, a company that provides acupuncture services may want to partner with a business that creates high-end eye masks or have a representative provide educational information on a podcast that discusses ways to improve wellbeing. There is likely significant overlap in the audiences of all three businesses.
Conclusion
Understanding your audience is only the first step. After you learn about your audience, you need to come up with a strategic plan for how to reach that audience and then put that plan into action.