June 8, 2017

The importance of knowing your specific audience on social media

June 8, 2017

The importance of knowing your specific audience on social media

The importance of knowing your specific audience on social media

There’s no denying the tremendous staying power of social media in today’s growing digital landscape. Love it or hate it, we simply cannot stay away, as platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram continue to dominate our lives and now more than ever, our brands and businesses. With social media booming there are superb opportunities for companies to capitalise on, but it all starts with the right strategy.The Do’s and Dont’s of Social Media MarketingWith Australians spending up to 2 hours a day on social media, the buzz around social marketing has never been louder. So it’s crucial your business employs the appropriate strategies to target your specific audience and make the most of social media’s enormous reach.And Western Australian businesses plan to do just that. According to our WA Digital Marketing Report 2017, Digital and Social marketing still remains on top of the list of priorities for WA businesses, with 90% rating it as important and 55% rating it as a critical part of their marketing.So with more marketing spend going toward social networking this year than ever before, it’s important to make sure you’re targeting the right people. Because as some brands have learnt the hard way, when you don’t know your audience and employ the wrong social media marketing tools to reach them, it can end horribly wrong.Take Boost Juice for example. The Australian smoothie giant received backlash last month after an online campaign it launched to promote its new drink to young adults turned sour. Using a Facebook Messenger chatbot aimed at 18-24 year olds, the campaign aimed to engage potential customers in conversation to gain a free voucher and the chance to win a trip to Japan.One of the most innovative social media trends currently in the marketplace, chatbots are a fantastic inclusion in any business’ social media strategy. However, like all social media tools they need to be used correctly to have any lasting effect.Unfortunately for Boost Juice this was not the case as their chatbot began to engage in extremely inappropriate conversation with users. What initially started as a clever idea to market their new product in a unique way turned into a publicity nightmare for the bigtime brand, with a teen education expert calling the behaviour of the bot as “predatory” and “grooming”.This is a classic example of a large company getting their main target market extremely wrong and it could’ve been easily avoided if they had followed a few simple rules pre-launch.What Social Media Marketing can do for Your BusinessBusinesses need to use the popularity of social media to their advantage by targeting their specific audience. Now, thanks to social media marketing, we know exactly who these people are: from how old they are, to where they’re situated, to what brands they like, to even if they’re married or single.Having targeted access to the public is an incredibly powerful tool to possess and is a great starting point for any effective social media marketing strategy. With this information, you are now able to tailor your content towards your specific audience and deliver your marketing messages more effectively.Need help implementing an effective social media marketing strategy? Our team of social media experts are highly qualified in Digital and Social marketing and know exactly what tools are needed to target your specific audience. Get in contact with Bang today.