Finding customers in a digital world can feel daunting, especially if you are just starting your business. However, it isn’t as difficult as you might think, especially when you have already defined your unique place in the market. Here are a few tactics businesses use to find customers in this digital world.
Understand your target audience
The most important tactic you have in your digital marketing arsenal is having an in-depth understanding of your target audience.
Not only do you need to know key demographic information (like the income, gender, age, and education) but you also need to be aware of the psychological demographics as well.
When you have understood the basic information, you need to delve deeper and understand their mindsets. What do your potential customers like and dislike? What media channels do they pay attention to? What types of T.V. shows do they watch? What websites do they read?
But it’s also important to understand their values and these can differentiate a great deal between the different generations and genders. For example, if you are marketing to Gen X customers, you might realize that they value security while Millennials prefer valuable or fulfilling work.
Go Where Your Audience Is
Once you have understood the values and demographics of your target audience, you need to go where your audience is.
Choosing the right social network to reach your audience can be incredibly important in the digital marketing world. One of the biggest mistakes digital marketers can make is going through digital media platforms that their audience doesn’t use.
For example, if you are marketing primarily to a business centered audience, the platform to reach them would obviously be LinkedIn rather than Instagram. However, if you are in a travel niche, Instagram would be a greater access point to your audience than LinkedIn. This is because user expectations shift depending on which platform they are on.
In some cases, you might not hit social media as much. If your business doesn’t lend itself well to social media platforms, for whatever reason, you might instead target ads or get help investigating leads. For example, a law firm may be wary of interacting on social media, but they can purchase ads on social platforms and/or hire a company like The Rainmaker Institute that deals exclusively with legal service lead conversions. No matter your business niche, you must find your audience before you can be found.
Influencer Marketing
Every niche has certain people who are the superstars. They already have a huge audience and a huge amount of influence on your target market.
The best way to properly use influencer marketing is by offering something of value to them. Either mention them in your content and let them know, add meaningful comments to their content, and even ask them to link to your website if you have content that would be useful to their audience.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the best ways to build an audience because it encourages your visitors to keep coming back for more.
It not only allows your customers to feel like they are being informed on the niche news but if it is useful information, your potential leads will likely share it with others who will find it interesting. Though it may take time, content marketing is one of the best ways to build your audience, regardless of your niche.
Building an audience in the digital age doesn’t need to be challenging. If you understand your audience, promote your content in the right channels, and provide meaningful content, your audience will continue to grow. However, if you need a more in depth digital marketing strategy, there are many companies willing to help you generate leads and convert them into paying customers.
