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The internet is a global community — a network that connects people across borders regardless of ethnicity or locality. The fact that almost everyone now has an active presence online is something that brands should definitely leverage for more effective audience targeting.
However, shifts in the digital landscape across the globe have slanted towards more intimate interactions. Facebook has even declared that "the future is private." To adapt, marketers should move away from the one-size-fits-all mentality of casting a wide net when reaching out their audience. Instead, your goal should be more specific: find your target audience and grow your relationship with them into a thriving and engaged community.
Looking for somewhere to start? Here are some tips you could follow for more effective audience targeting this 2020!
Before anything else, you should first have a clear idea of who you are as a brand. This self-awareness leads you to identify what specific audience you are targeting.
By working on your brand identity, you create a voice that will (hopefully!) stand out amidst the noise online. Find your answer to questions like: Who are you talking to? What words best describe your brand personality online? What kind of posts and content is off-strategy for your brand?
A re-evaluation of your brand identity will help you plan for and create more streamlined content that is relevant to your target audience. Content is king — we all know this. By aligning your content with who you are as a brand and what you stand for, you are already giving yourself a leg up on the competition to reaching the right people.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the most powerful techniques you can use to drive traffic to your website. Keep in mind how SEO will change in 2020 as you work on a SEO strategy that will support more effective audience targeting.
What topics are your audience searching for? Which conversations are they having? How can your brand genuinely and meaningfully take part in these conversations? Try to keep these questions in mind as you do keyword research for your content.
Google receives over 40,000 search queries every second but your content doesn't need to appear in every single one of them. Instead, create content based on the topics you believe will be most relevant to your audience.
You can try tools like Google Trends and Google Keywords to see what people are searching for and what words may be associated with the service you are providing, respectively.
For more effective audience targeting, you can also do a simple Google search of the query you’re hoping your brand will show up in and see what the related searches are. This can also help guide you in which kind of content you should be creating.
Lastly, don’t forget to optimize for mobile. Statista says 52 percent of website traffic online comes in through mobile. Your content should be mobile-friendly. Keep headlines short, use images in square or vertical format, and put the relevant keywords of your content up top.
Your site is a data repository and data management is the key to more effective audience targeting.
Start by using your site dashboard. Most website content management systems, such as WordPress and Wix, have built-in tools that show you which articles within your site are driving the most traffic and what people are searching for within your website. Familiarize yourself with these tools and use the information you gather to craft strategies on what kind of content you need to churn out more.
Down the line, you can subscribe to paid services and tools that will help you understand your users better. You can learn your audience’s demographics (age, ethnicity, gender), psychographics (motivation, values), and even their technographics (whether they are using mobile or desktop, time spent on site, etc.) using more tools.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Once you've clearly identified your audience, research on what sites appeal to them and which online personalities resonate with them.
Contributing or guest posting an article on your audience’s favored sites and blogs can give you a chance to link out to your own website, which can lead readers to appreciate your own content.
Using influencers too – from vloggers to writers to social media personalities – can gain you the trust of your target audience as a reliable source of information. When viewers see your brand through an influencer they respect, they will see you too in the same light.
If you are looking for influencers that would fit your brand, the GetCraft Marketplace is a great place to start. It has more than 5,000 individually vetted content producers across Southeast Asia, from strategic specialists to expert writers and to content creators.
Click the link below to find out more.
