8 Criteria for Determining Your Target Audience

To find success with social, you need to cater your content to a target audience.

Finding your target audience on social can sometimes be a challenge. We know whom we are targeting when it comes to selling our product, but what are our goals when it comes to social, and what audience do we need to target in order to achieve those goals? This is where the challenge comes into play.

The targeting capabilities that exist with social are so advanced that they allow you to create a target market right down to the specific interest. Therefore, we need to evaluate a few key criteria when choosing our target audience so as not to send out our message to an inattentive audience.

These 8 criteria are some of the more important ones to consider when it comes to selecting a target audience for your content on social platforms. Some might seem obvious, but remember that with the exactitude with which we can target our message on these media, they are important to answer with as much specificity as possible.

Age

Though it seems like an obvious criteria to consider, knowing the specific age range of the audience that you are looking to target will help you build your social presence on networks where you know your audience is most active.

Gender

Men and women are not necessarily engaging in the same activities in the same places on social media. Building a successful content strategy will be heavily influenced by the gender with which you are trying to engage.

Education

You will not be drafting the same content for PhDs as you will for college freshmen. They are simply interested in different things.

Industry

This can be broad or highly specified, but it should certainly be a consideration, particularly if you are creating a content strategy as a B2B.

Job Function

If you want to engage the C-suite, you’ll need to appeal to the issues they care about most. To craft a successful content strategy, figure out exactly who you are targeting in the organization and craft a strategy designed to target their needs.

Interests

Take a step back and look at the content you are trying to share. What category of interests does it fall into? Figure that out to properly position that content in front of the eyes of the right audience.

Influence

Are you looking to target industry and thought leaders or would you prefer to establish yourself as the industry leader? Both have their benefits.

Marital Status

Priorities change when family comes into the picture, and you should decide if your product or service is better marketed to single or married consumers.

Building a target profile is also a very helpful exercise. Determine your ideal customer based around these criteria and build a content strategy geared towards peaking his or her interests.

For Example

Jane Smith is a 41-year-old married woman with 2 children and 18 years of experience in the field of product marketing. She has held a job at the Manager level for over a decade following the successful completion of her MBA. She is interested in running and hiking and likes pages and accounts on social media with a focus on branding. She does not have a blog herself, but she often comments on influential blogs in the field of marketing and advertising.

Try it for yourself. What does your target audience member look like? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!