26 Nov Social Media Marketing Strategy: See Things from Your Target Audience’s Perspective
It’s nice that you have a point of view, and it’s nice that you want things. Really, it is. We all do.
But in the crazy, mixed-up world of social media marketing, where the public’s attention is the most scarce, fleeting, and valuable commodity, you need to forget all that. It may hurt to hear, but nobody cares.
Know how you’re really interested in what benefits you? Well, everyone else is equally interested in what benefits them. Not you. So if you want them to listen (maybe with the hope of getting them to fork over some money), they need to derive some benefit from doing so.
That means getting something they want. People are always looking for something online. It might be information, a laugh, escape from the daily grind, ideas, inspiration, or a tingly heartwarming. But they’re not perusing social media networks to see you talking about how great you are.
Most SMM mistakes and missteps revolve around the failure to look at things from the target audience’s perspective—the one that matters. It all comes down to one question:
What is your target market interested in?
The answer should be the foundation of any social media marketing strategy. But a scary number of organizations don’t bother to ask it, and others get the answer wrong.
Why would people willingly subject themselves to things they don’t care about or that annoy them? Why would they engage with it? Share it? Why would they pursue a relationship with the source of it?
Let’s illustrate with an example… say, a web design and development firm. Some such agencies fill their social media pages and blogs with information about web design. Sure, that’s good for working in some keywords and, to some extent, establishing credibility.
But these companies need to appeal to people in organizations looking for someone to build a website for them. They’re not looking to learn how to do it themselves.
This target connection is much more likely to be interested in content related to starting or running a business, which opens up endless topics. Maybe they’re even interested in insights about social media marketing strategies.
See what we did there?
If you provide landscaping and lawn care services, your potential customers are people willing to invest in making their yards to look great. They’ll appreciate occasional tips to that end, but you’re after people who want you to make their yards look great. They don’t have the time, ability, or desire to do it themselves.
They just might, however, be interested in ways to clean, decorate, and otherwise make the insides of their homes look great, too. They’re probably interested in preserving and increasing their home’s value. They’re probably interested in community issues. Many are likely interested in ways to better balance their work and home lives.
Dig in beyond the obvious. Give the people what they want, and they’ll want you.
