This is a question I get often from marketers who are
struggling to find and prove the value of social media to their business.
Generally, it's followed by an explanation of the various social media tactics
they have tried to address this concern.
The one thing most of them aren't doing? Segmenting their
audience on social media.
Segmentation is not a new concept for marketers. We use
segmentation to send emails, create pricing models, and understand the
behaviors of our most loyal buyers -- so why aren’t we applying this practice
to social media?
To get some ideas for ways you can use segmentation in your
social media strategy, keep on reading.
1) Use social media targeting.
When most people think of social media segmentation, they
think of paid targeting options. Facebook allows businesses to target their
messages to users based on data such as user demographics, interests, and
geographical location. Other platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn, and
Instagram have followed suit. Paid targeting is effective because it enables
companies to get a specific message in front of a specific audience.
Lucky for budget-minded marketers, there are also some
organic targeting options. Below are ways you could make use of both organic
and paid targeting tactics.
Organic
Organic targeting allows users to tailor their content to
specific audiences without paying to promote a post. Facebook, LinkedIn, and
Google+ make it easy for companies to do organic targeting.
Facebook
Facebook allows you to filter by gender, relationship
status, age, location, interests and more. Simply create your post and select
the target audience of your choice.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn allows you to target by industry, company size,
function and more. This is a a great feature for B2B companies that are seeking
to attract more visitors.
Google+
You can also select a specific audience on Google+ by
publishing your content to a select circle of friends (you will need manually
add members to the circle).
Paid
Paid targeting enables companies to be seen by social media
users who are already active users and more likely to engage your offer and
campaign. As a result, companies can increase their reach, expand their
audience size, and achieve more quality conversions.
Almost all the social networks allow you to create targeted
paid campaigns.
2) Create a group.
Social media is all about community. Building communities of
people who share common interests is an easy way to segment your audience and
gain valuable insights. You may decide to keep the group open (anyone can join)
or closed (new members must be approved by a moderator) -- there are advantages
to each.
Open Groups
Open groups enable you to gather information about how a
more general audience feels about your brand. You can use this forum to have
discussions and ask open-ended questions such as, “What are your biggest
challenges?” or “What makes excellent customer service?” You can also test out
new ideas with your audience members or discover new content ideas that they
would find interesting and relevant. The advantage here is that you will have a
large group to bounce ideas off of. The disadvantage? They may not be as
knowledgeable about your industry as you need.
That's where closed groups can come in handy. Because you
are approving each member's admission to the group, you can cherry-pick the
most qualified candidates. Maybe they're a group of customers whose opinions
you value, or list of people who have attended an even you've hosted.
Regardless of what the requirements of admission, this can be a great way to
get specific, helpful feedback from a group you trust -- but you may not get as
many responses as an open group discussion.
3) Make a list.
Most marketers are familiar with creating lists -- we do
that every time we send a new email campaign.
But did you know you can use lists to have more productive
social media conversations? Social networks like Facebook and Twitter allow
users to create lists of friends, followers, people who have attended an event,
and more.
4) Post at different times of the day.
We’ve all heard how important timing is to marketing,
especially on social media. If you have a global following, you should be
publishing posts throughout the day at the times most appropriate for different
geographic regions. Differentiating your publishing times allows you to get
engagement from a larger portion of your audience. Additionally, publishing a
message more than once or at different times of the day can help your reach a
specific audience that you haven't reached before.
5) Maintain multiple social media accounts on each network.
As you become a better marketer and master ways to segment
your audience, more and more people from all over the world are going to be
interested in connecting with you through social media. At that point, you may
find that the best way to consistently serve your audience relevant content is
by setting up several social media accounts, each with a specific bent.
Keep in mind that each social media account should still
serve a larger audience, so be sure to work on building your overall audience
from one account before you try building out more. Also, if you decide to start
building out more accounts, be sure that people can easily differentiate their
purpose (ex: customer support, marketing materials, your yearly event, etc.) --
otherwise, you'll be creating more work for yourself.
So there you have it, five ways to segment your social media
audience for more relevant conversations -- and eventually, more conversions.
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