Who are your customers? Who are the people who would be your customers if only they knew you existed?
In social media marketing, you need to know your audience. Pam McBride recently published a post on Business2Community about the aspects of social media marketing that you'll miss out on if you don't know your audience well enough.
Here are the seven opportunities that McBride says you'll miss out on:
1. Generating more followers
A lot of the success of a social media manager is still based on number of followers. If you know your audience, you know what kind of content they want to engage with. Indeed, your content is almost like bait to catch more followers.
Knowing what your audience wants to see "will increase your reach and exposure, and in turn increase the number of followers and fans across your social profiles," writes McBride.
2. Personalized offers
You know that you respond better to messages that are personalized. If you know your audience, you can personalize deals and offers to specific audience segments.
"By understanding what your audience likes and dislikes, you can create offers that appeal to their lifestyle," writes McBride.
3. Word of mouth
"Your audience wants to share their experiences with your brand - and you want those experiences to be positive," writes McBride. When you really understand your customers you can create positive experiences for them that they will share with other like-minded people. Voila, more customers!
4. Better customer service
"When someone reaches out to your brand for help, they're looking for engagement and personalized customer care - something that you can only give them if you take the time to get to know them and their issues," writes McBride. I've found that when a company reaches out to me after I have a problem with their product or service, if I feel they really understand me and my grievance, I feel much better taken care of.
5. Real-time feedback
"Launching a new product? Adding new features? Why not ask your audience what they think?" writes McBride. Twitter is great place for real-time feedback (sometimes even when you don't want feedback). But it is only useful if the people giving you feedback are also the people who will potentially buy your product.
6. Networking with influencers
Know your audience not just as a group, but as individuals. Who are the big influencers among your audience? "Deep audience insights don't just give you knowledge in the aggregate - they can help you pinpoint the VIPs, potential brand advocates, and individual influencers that can help improve your reach and reputation," writes McBride.