We wanna be where the people are. And the people are on the internet. We’re all well aware of our reliance on digital space and how our culture is consumed with it, so in order for our businesses to flourish, our mentality needs to shift. We have to understand and embrace what consumers want and be where they are.
Who are they and where do they like to hang out?
If you haven’t done this for your brand yet, you should. Create an avatar of who you’re selling to. Name them. Figure out what they like to do, what drives their passions and their purchases and where they’re congregating online. Is it Facebook? Instagram? LinkedIn? Google Plus? Reddit? A combination of these or somewhere else altogether?
Get your target audience nailed down and then engage with them there. Don’t waste time marketing in places that don’t appreciate (or want) what you’re selling. Be savvy with your resources.
What’s your goal?
If you don’t make goals, you’re never going to reach them. Set a series of goals for your company or one big one. Whatever makes the most sense for your product or service.
While you’re creating these goals, keep your avatar in mind. How will they help you hit your mark? How can you give them value so that they become customers and fans of your brand? Always market to your audience and engage with them regularly so that you know how to set and attain business objectives.
Be consistent, yet willing to change.
There will be digital marketing campaigns that are home runs. And there will be some that fall flat. Don’t let one or the other pull you away from your mission. Stick to your well-vetted plan and trust your audience. If you’ve done your homework, they’ll respond.
In the same breath, if you’re consistently seeing poor results, tweak some settings. Experiment with timing, audiences, and locations. If the place you thought your avatar was frequenting is a dry well, go look for water elsewhere. Be willing to keep learning as you master audience engagement and stay flexible.
Sometimes it pays to pay.
If this isn’t your thing and you don’t know how to begin engaging with your target audience, hand it over to the pros. There are plenty of skilled marketers who can and will make it worth your resources to hire them. Let them do the footwork keeping your audience engaged and wanting more.
Whatever you do, do something. Audience engagement is a vital piece of your digital marketing strategy. Get a plan in place and run with it: be where your people are, give them value and a reason to dig deeper, and create an organic support system that loves what your company offers.