Let’s talk about marketing. If you were a vegetarian and saw ads on your Facebook feed announcing an upcoming Bacon Festival, would you go? Or let’s say you support one political party, and a representative of the opposing party handed you a flyer about an upcoming fundraiser, would you attend? If the answer to these questions is a big, resounding NO, why are you advertising to people who don’t want your services?
Figure out exactly who’s your target
Make a specific list of desired criteria. What’s your market’s location, age, income bracket, and anything else that might be relevant to your product. Do your homework by studying statistics and survey results. Visit discussion forums such as Reddit. You can use their search box to type in any topic related to your business and see what online users are discussing. It’s a nifty way to get insights into their thoughts. By learning what’s important to your audience, you’ll be able to better tailor your services or product to their needs.
Keep your ads within your arena
Social media makes it so easy to create targeted ads. With Facebook for Business, you click through icons, stating what your specific goals are. If you want to generate leads, the website will guide you through the process of customizing your target audience. Twitter offers a similar tool, in which you can specify what your perfect customer would have as their interests. Consequently, you’ll get much better results than blindly releasing advertising material.
Be mindful about your advertising. You must have a well-researched strategy. Casting a wide net when you send ads will have the same result as sending junk mail to your mailbox: it will go directly into a recycling or trash bin, unread. All those trees, torn down for nothing. Don’t let the same thing happen to your marketing budget.