Every year, businesses spend billions of dollars advertising on Facebook and Instagram, and it’s no surprise that social media spending in the U.S. alone is expected increase to $17.34 billion in 2019.
A primary reason why social media is the perfect place to advertise for any business, is that it gives the advertiser complete control over audience targeting, making it easier than ever to ensure an ad is seen by people most likely to convert.
But with more control comes more thinking. Advertisers should be prepared to think harder about who the ideal audience is and what strategies will work best for reaching them.
In this guide we’ll teach you how to use advanced ad targeting tools on the major social networks to reach your target customers.
Bonus: Download a free guide that reveals how to increase social media engagement with better audience research, sharper customer targeting, and Hootsuite’s easy-to-use social media software.
Step 1: Create audience personas
Audience or customer personas are an important tool for gaining knowledge about the attributes of the people you’ll be advertising to. Some organizations will already have detailed persona documents built out, but if not, creating these resources yourself will be well worth the effort.
If your organization already has customer personas built out, pick the one that directly aligns with your campaign goals. Using existing personas not only saves time and energy, but helps ensure your campaign is in line with broader organizational strategies.
If your organization hasn’t built out these resources, and you need to create your own, begin by picturing your ideal customer and brainstorm what challenges they face, what positions they may hold, and the ways in which they’ll interact with your company’s product or service.
Expand your persona document by adding specific data that will inform ad targeting. For example, be sure to include demographic information such as age and gender, as well as personal interests, and communication preferences, such as the types of devices they use. Other items that may be relevant include education level, location, and income.
Now that you’ve got a firm understanding of the customer persona you’ll be targeting, take the time to think creatively about other, less obvious attributes this group might possess. In particular, consider what interests your target audience might have that intersect with the problem your product or service could solve.
Take your customer persona farther by brainstorming lists of their likes and preferences, such as any similar brands that your persona may be interested in, popular authors in your industry they may follow online, or other relevant books and media. Information like this goes a long way toward making your targeting efforts more precise once you begin identifying targeting options on the social networks.
Step 2: Know which network and targeting options are best for reaching your audience
While your ad campaign is built around one goal, it’s important to note that you will need a unique targeting strategy for each network you advertise on, to suit the different purpose of each network. For example, a LinkedIn user reading an article about productivity will likely be in a different mindset than someone scrolling through Instagram. Use these differences to your advantage when targeting.
When it comes to the differences of the targeting options available on social networks, there are two main categories to consider. Facebook and…
