2 Surefire Ways to Reach Your Target Audience Online
Knowing your target audience is one thing. Knowing how to reach them online is another. If you want to reach your target audience online, you need to learn what makes them tick.
What do they love? What are they afraid of? What are their hobbies?
It’s not just about knowing their demographics; it’s about understanding their behaviors. If your goal is to figure out how to reach your target audience online, you need to know where they are and what kind of information they’re consuming.
When you know your audience, you’ll have an easier time finding and connecting with them online.
To get started, here are two ways you can reach your target audience.
1. Create content that your audience wants
While knowing your target audience is about knowing who you want to serve, knowing how to reach them is about knowing what information they need.
What are they struggling with right now? What do they want for their lives? What are they willing to pay someone who can solve a problem they’re facing?
If you’ve already created a buyer persona, great! Then you should ideally know the answers to most of these questions. Having this knowledge will help you create content that your target audience needs and wants to consume.
Because every piece of content that you create should have a goal or objective. Is it meeting an immediate need? Is it solving a problem?
Start by solving a problem that you’re audience is facing.
If you can identify what your target audience’s needs are, and what challenges they’re facing, then you can create content that meets their needs.
For example, if you’re a personal trainer and you work with clients who want to get in shape but struggle to find time to get to the gym, you can create a video training series with 5-10 min workouts that they can incorporate at any time during the day.
Content is about giving your audience the information they’re looking for when they need it and in a way that they want to consume it.
Find out what types of content your audience likes to consume and create that content for them.
Now that you know your content’s intended goal, what type of content will you create? Are you going to make videos, infographics, blog posts, newsletters? The types of content you can create are endless.
You essentially have the freedom to be creative while also considering what your audience wants. Before diving into the process of creating your content, think about where your target audience is right now and what they need most.
Are they just getting to know you?
If they’re still in the brand awareness phase and just getting to know who you are, then now’s the time to share valuable information with them. How can you help educate them on what you do and how you can help solve a problem for them?
At this stage, it’s all about attracting your target audience to your content and starting a conversation.
Consider creating short videos or infographics for social media or longer blog posts on specific topics that they’ll find helpful.
Are they skimming through your products and services?
If you know you have your audience’s attention, now’s the time to crank up the volume and really engage with them. It’s all about building a relationship with your audience to show them that you understand who they are, what they’re going through, and that you’re the brand to help them.
At this stage, it’s all about engaging your target audience and building trust with them. They may already be looking at your products or services but aren’t quite ready to buy just yet. This is your chance to connect and show them how you can help.
Consider creating resources on specific topics that directly relate to your products and services. For example, you can create an ebook for them to download, which gives you their email address. Then you can follow up with them, send them even more specific content, and continue to build the relationship with them until they are ready to buy. It also shows that you took the time to personalize your communication with them, which means plenty in a digital world.
Are they almost ready to click purchase?
If you think your target audience is at the point where they’re almost ready to click that “buy” button, then now’s the time to pull out all the stops. Making a purchase or choosing to work with a specific brand is a big deal and a decision many people don’t take lightly.
At this stage, it’s your job to answer any questions that they have and put their mind at ease. If you can show them that your product or service is precisely what they’re looking for, they’ll feel more confident moving forward with you.
Consider creating case studies here or if you have a product that you’re selling, consider creating a demo or free trial. It’s all about showing people a glimpse of what they’re getting before they commit, and social proof goes a long way.
2. Hang out where your audience is online
Don’t reinvent the wheel or make the process of reaching your target audience harder than it needs to be. Start where they are. Do a bit of stalking research, find out what social media channels they’re using, what online publications they’re reading, and get in front of them.
You can also consider optimizing your website and blog posts for SEO. That way, your website ranks higher in Google when your target audience is searching for someone, like you, to solve a problem for them or meet a need.
Start by looking at what channels your audience is using.
It’s as good a place as any to start. Review your buyer persona and see what social media channels your target audience prefers to use. Those are the same channels you want your brand to use too. There’s no point in creating a beautiful Instagram aesthetic if the demographic you’re trying to reach only uses LinkedIn.
It’s essential in all that you do that you meet your target audience where they are. If they don’t know who you are, they’re not going to go out of their way looking for you. If you want them to find out who you are, one way to do that is to get in front of them.
Is there a podcast they listen to on the regular or an online publication they read?
See if there’s an opportunity for you to show up as a guest expert on that podcast they love or see if you can write a guest post for that publication they can’t stop reading. If you show up where they are and share your expertise with them, you’ll automatically pique their interest.
Check to see what times of day your audience is online.
When you’re showing up online, something else that’s important to consider about your target audience is when they’re online. You don’t want to be posting regularly at 3 p.m. if they check their social media feeds first thing in the morning.
The point of you creating content is for it to be consumed. So be sure to know what times of the day your target audience is consuming content – that’s when you want to show up in front of them, so you stay top of mind. This is where knowing all of those details about your audience come in handy.
Consider this: your target audience is online trying to find answers. They’re Googling, reading articles, and scrolling through social media. So show up for them. Don’t be afraid to reach out to them. They might not know you’re the person they’re looking for until they meet you.
Create content your target audience wants to consume and hang out where they are online.
That’s how you can reach your target audience where they are with the information they want and need. And if you need some extra help, we’re always here to lend a helping hand! As we like to say around here, don’t just throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.
Get to know your target audience, find out who they are and how they operate, and then reach out to them. Who knows how long they’ve been waiting to hear from you!
