We like to be Likeable – after all, we are the Likeables!
So when our new signs went up, we were excited to get our first walk-in within five minutes, followed by a steady flow of visitors throughout the day.
The signs were doing their job! Or were they?
By close of play we had entertained someone who was looking for a job, another who wanted to share his views on civic development and several who were just having a nosey.
None were in our target market and there was very little chance that any of them would ever employ our services.
We joked that maybe we should take the signs down, so we could get our work done uninterrupted.
Of course, the signs will stay up because they look fabulous, show off our swish new branding and clearly let people know where we are and what we do. With our new signs, there’s no mistaking that we are a social media marketing agency.
But physical signs are limited in both their reach and content.
If you want to target those who are most likely to buy your products or engage your services, social media marketing is where it’s at.
An effective social media strategy can weed out the time wasters and bring genuine customers right to your door.
The first step is to identify who your target market is. Paint a picture of your ideal customer. What gender are they? How old are they? How much do they earn? Where do they live? What content do they engage with online?
Then go get ‘em!
Social media platforms have inbuilt tools for narrowing down your target audience.
Twitter’s Advanced Search allows you to search dates, people, hashtags and specific phrases, to drill down into your target audience. While on LinkedIn you are able to search by names, email addresses, key words and more.
Through Facebook’s Business Manager you can estimate the size of your preferred audience, by narrowing down how old they are, whether they are male or female, where they live and what their main interests are.
For instance, if you wanted to target women in their 60s who like cats, knit and live in Gore you could.
Alternatively, you could fly down there, with a cat under your arm, and join a local knitting group. (I know which is easier.)
Or put a sign up outside and wait for them to come.
But chances are you will end up with a bunch of quilt-making dog lovers wasting your time.
