The LMH Guide to Knowing Your Social Media Audience

How well do you really know your audience? If your answer to the first sentence of this paragraph is “not well” then you’ve come to the right place! When it comes to targeting customers or creating the perfect post, knowing your social following is a crucial step in engaging the right people. Understanding your niche and targeting those people will allow you to dominate your social media platforms. 

In today’s scenario, we’re going to talk about marketing cake. That’s because we just had lunch and now we want some dessert. But you can apply these philosophies to your business, so long as you follow the steps.

1. Find your niche social media audience.

What makes your business unique? List all of the things that interest you and find links between them. Do you own a bakery? Do you primarily sell wedding or birthday cakes? Targeting a specific category in your industry will allow you to be the “expert” in your field. A bakery that is known for really awesome birthday cakes will gain more internet traffic than just a regular bakery. Superman sprinkle birthday cakes? Now we’re talking!

2. Locate your optimal customers.

Using platforms such as Google Analytics will allow you to find which customers would personally connect with your business. Then you can target them. Factors such as location, age, and income level should determine who you go after. For a superhero cake business, it would be beneficial to find mothers with young children, or even better, mothers with young boys who like superheroes! Searching through hashtags is also a great way to connect with customers and find inspiration. 

3. Keep in constant contact with your social audience.

Engaging your followers will allow you to understand how they think, what they like, and what they want to see. Post pics of your finished cakes! Make frosting taste test videos! Stories with polls or questions will allow your audience to speak directly to you (check out The LMH Guide to Engaging with Customers on Social Media for more on that). Posting videos or graphics will ensure that you don’t fall through the cracks of a cluttered Instagram feed. Your followers will tell you what they like if you give them the chance. As you post more content, learning about your followers will be a *cakewalk*! 

4. Stay unique!

Stay true to your brand and good things will happen. The followers that benefit your business will stay with you, so don’t get crazy and follow the status quo! Create a feed with the best cakes in your town and the people will love you for it. Your prospective followers want to gain value from accounts that they follow. When you offer them extravagant birthday cakes, they become invested in your brand and will turn to you for their next purchase. 

Don’t blow out the candles just yet! 

Just because your product or service can be consumed by anyone does not mean you don’t have to shape your audience. The most important thing to remember about knowing your social media audience is that you create it. Once you find your audience, focus on catering towards them. Having a strong group of followers who stay engaged in the life of your account is a million times better than having hundreds of followers who don’t know who you are or what you stand for. 

Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to baking up plenty of social media masterpieces. Happy baking!