Reaching your target market with a digital strategy

There is nothing worse than being bombarded with information about products or material you haven’t requested and you have no interest in. That’s a sure way to lose potential clients. Use a digital strategy to help you keep engaged with your target market and give your customers what they want.

Use a digital strategy to stay in tune with your target market.

Identify your target market

Be sure who your customers are and what they want so you can be specific about what you offer them. It is a waste of energy and resources to expect that all products appeal to all clients. If you have a three storey property with a roof garden to let, it will hardly appeal to the elderly or the infirm. If your speciality is non alcoholic beverages, it’s unlikely you will do well on the party circuit of nightclubs and late bars. Keep your target market firmly in mind when planning campaigns.

Demographics

Select your target market carefully and appeal to them directly. Consider age, gender, geography, beliefs, opinions, attitudes and intentions. Put yourself in their shoes and imagine what it is they need to know. Give them all the information they need to help them make the decision to buy. There is nothing worse than being bombarded with material you haven’t requested and you have no interest in. That’s a sure way to lose potential clients.

How to reach your target market

Once you have identified your target market a variety of digital resources can be applied to reach them.

Your website is your shop window. Make sure it is mobile responsive. More and more people are using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to access information. In 2017, 46% of folk searching online were multi platform users and that number is growing fast.

Use SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Post articles and blogs using the keywords and keyphrases that your potential customers are going to use to search for your product.

Content planning for social media and email campaigns

Use social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and others to share your information, launch advertising campaigns, run relevant competitions and keep your audience engaged. Email campaigns are useful too. Organise and schedule all social media using a content plan. The optimum time to post on social media is when your clients are likely to be on the networks. A quick search online will reveal good times. Here is an example from a recent search (July 2018):

The best time to post on Facebook is 1–4 p.m. late into the week and on weekends.

1. Saturday and Sunday at 12–1 p.m.

2. Thursday and Friday at 1–4 p.m.

3. Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Instagram audiences are engaged throughout the week. Mondays should maybe get a little more attention.

Monday and Thursday at any time other than 3–4 p.m.

Videos any day at 9 p.m.–8 a.m.

Experiment with 2 a.m., 5 p.m., and Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Here are the general best times to post on Instagram:

8–9 a.m.

2 a.m.

5 p.m.

The optimal times to tweet are 12–3 p.m., with a peak best time at 5 p.m. During the working week is the best, though some niches might have more active audiences on the weekend.

Wednesday at noon and 5–6 p.m.

Monday–Friday at 12–3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Experiment with 2–3 a.m., 6–7 a.m., and 9–10 p.m.

When to tweet in general to increase retweets and clickthroughs:

5–6 p.m.

Noon specifically

3 p.m.

Monitoring, analysis and response

Use KPI’s (key performance indicators) to monitor results and respond accordingly. Stay in tune with your target market. Web Adept can help with Google Analytics and offer more corporate/strategic paid campaigns.

Get Web Adept on the case https://webadeptuk.com/online-marketing/