Where is your Target Market Hanging out in Social Media?

By Giselle Aguiar, AZ Social Media Wiz

When I take on a new client, my first question to them is, “Who is your target market?” If I’m speaking with a Realtor, it’s inevitable that I hear, “Anyone who wants to buy or sell a house.”

To that ask, “Can you narrow it down a bit?”

One then said, “Hispanics.”

“Still too broad.”

After thinking a bit, she said, “Young Hispanic professionals with families.”

Now we’re talking. Now we have something to work with. You can’t dive into social media marketing without defining your target market and determining which social networks they use the most and how each network works.

How to Determine Your Target Market’s Persona

Think of your perfect customer. One person: male or female; age; marital status; education; occupation and household income. What do they like? What are their dislikes? What are their hobbies? What do they do in their spare time? Do they have pets? What sports do they watch, if they watch them at all? Where do they live? Where are they from? What’s their nationality? What’s their culture?

Most importantly: What are their pain points?

You can have more than one target market. But you have to define each of them clearly.

Now you have to do a little research. Which social networks do they use the most? You have to have a presence in all the major networks, but you focus your time where your target market spends the most time. That doesn’t mean you can neglect the others.

The problem with searching for social media statistics and demographics online is that there is actually too much data out there. And a lot of it is outdated and it varies between sources. What do you do? Who do you trust?

Here are some sites the I use to get the most current data:

• Social Media Today
• eMarketer
• Visual.ly
• These LinkedIn groups also have a lot of current information on the social networks and there are many more:
  • Social Media Marketing Mavens
  • Social Media News
  • Small Business Social Media Group

This will give you an idea of the demographics of each of the major networks:

Facebook: Casual

• Close to 1 billion people use Facebook via a mobile device daily
• 67% of online adults are on Facebook
• More women than men
• The average Facebook user has over 100 friends

Twitter: News, real-time communication

• 55% Female
• 62% between age 18 and 34
• The average Twitter user has 27 followers

Google+: Google making search social

• More men than women
• Everything posted public gets indexed in the search engine, hence it's power for SEO.
• Very global

LinkedIn: Professional

• 50/50 Male/Female
• Over 75% are college educated
• Majority between age 35 and 54
• Avg. household income $110,000
• LinkedIn users have more buying power than all user in all the other networks
   

Tumblr: blogging, photo & video sharing

• Millennials still use this site
• They've been on it since they were in college
   

Pinterest: Virtual pinboard

• 60% women
• 50% of them have kids
• Great for reaching the consumer

Check out the local live small business workshops in the Greater Phoenix Area to help you learn about social media and digital marketing.