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tiffany@tiffanycoxdesign.comHow to Find YOUR Audience on the RIGHT Platform
6 . 24 . 2020
We all know there are SO many social media and marketing avenues out there. It gets so overwhelming to decide which ones to use to market on. So which platform is right for you and your business? Let’s explore all the platforms and help you identify where your audience is hanging out!
Age plays a huge role in finding the right platform to market. If your target market is a young person vs. an older person you will be using totally different platforms to reach those people. Let’s break down the generations and which platforms they are on.
The Baby Boomer Generation | Born between 1944-1964
Baby boomers are now starting to focus on retirement and leisure. Depending on where they fall as far as “older boomer” vs “younger boomer” they might be technology savvy or they might not be. This generation still is a huge consumer of traditional media. They still love their TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers. Despite being so traditional 90% of boomers have a Facebook account. They love to be on Facebook to keep tabs on the family and to torture their grandkids ;). So this is the perfect platform to reach this older generation. This generation doesn’t deviate much from the basics of digital media. They usually won’t have an Instagram unless it’s a business page and they definitely won’t have a Twitter account.
Keep in mind though, this generation LOVES to receive mail. (Not the postcard kind, no one likes junk mail). If your client base is in this generation it’s important to send them cards for special occasions and to say thank you. This is an easy way to retain the clients you have while prospecting for new clients on Facebook or with other traditional forms of media.
Generation X | Born between 1965-1979
Ah the MTV generation, these guys grew up in the 80s and we love them for it. Not only did they experience a real childhood so they appreciate tradition they also witnessed the rise in personal computing technology and the other devices we use today so they are very technology savvy.
This generation is quite versatile, they are great on the computer but also consume traditional media like magazines and newspapers. Pretty much every Gen X person has a Facebook account, but it’s very rare for them to have much of anything else. Some of them may have an Instagram or Twitter account but it’s not super common. A lot of them do also have Pinterest accounts but mainly use them to pin cute and fun crafts or home décor ideas. So it’s fairly easy to market to this generation online but definitely focusing on Facebook and Pinterest.
Millennials | Born between 1980-1994
So many people talk about this generation. (Why are we so controversial? It’s just Avocado Toast jeez!) This generation is truly changing the landscape for how business and communication is run. This generation pretty much grew up with always having the internet and technology right at their fingertips and of course, it shows. This generation is technology savvy and consumes more digital media than any other generation. This generation opens the doors to even more avenues to market to them. They have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. They also consume much more online video streaming think, YouTube, and Hulu (and a little TikTok much to the dismay of Gen Z). All of these platforms have marketing opportunities so you can easily market to this generation. But keep in mind they aren’t an easy sell, because they are so used to seeing ads in media they take a little more convincing. They will typically need to see your ad around 12 times before they make a move so don’t give up!
Generation Z | Born between 1995-2015
It’s hard to believe that someone in this generation is in fact an adult but we are in 2020 and some of these “kiddos” were born in 1995 which means they can both drink and vote. *shutters*
This generation has never known a world without technology and the internet. They are all extremely tech-savvy and pretty much know everything there is to know about social media. The biggest thing to note here is 1 they DON’T like Facebook. They think Facebook is for “old people” so they tend to spend most f their time on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. If you’ve noticed anything about these 3 platforms it is that they all only provide what I call “short form” information. Instagram is all about pretty pictures, Twitter is just snippets of text and maybe some images or short videos. TikTok is 100% short videos. See the trend here? The attention span is not there so I am 100% sure no Gen Zers are reading this blog post. And if they are please email me, I’d love to meet you, you wonderful unicorn. Keep your marketing to this Generation short, sweet, and to the point and also keep in mind some of them aren’t even old enough to have any social media accounts so you’ll only be appealing to the ones over 18.
Ok so we’ve gone over the toughest part which is your age group, now I want you to think about gender. No matter what someone identifies as there tends to be some generalized trends to keep in mind. If your client is Female, you’re in luck! They tend to be on EVERYTHING. There isn’t any platform that female-identifying people won’t use. If your market is more Moms or feminine you will tend to look more into the Facebook/Instagram space.
If your market is more masculine they tend to stay away from Instagram and Pinterest but are heavily found on Facebook and Twitter.
The great part about all digital marketing platforms is you can target male, female, or both when setting up your ad so really it’s up to you to identify who your ideal client is and gear your marketing imagery and content to that person.
This is super important in deciding your platform. You really need to look at what you sell and what platforms make the most sense for that. You need to identify, do I sell a product vs service? Do I sell B2B(Business to Business) or B2C(Business to Consumer)? Having those answers can help you nail down a good platform. I’ll give you some examples of what I mean.
If you have a B2B company you will want to focus your marketing on Facebook and LinkedIn. Since you are selling your product or service to businesses you will want to be on a platform that lets you target specifically business owners. Instagram is another option for marketing but depending on your age bracket (see the insanely long information above) it might not make sense to use Instagram.
If you have a consumer-based business you’ll want to steer away from marketing on LinkedIn but you can pretty much market on any other platform and do well. Just keep in mind your age and gender demographics when making that decision.
Last, let’s think about your marketing goals. For the most part, we have discussed all kinds of social media and streaming platforms but let’s be honest. ALL of these platforms are designed to build BRAND AWARENESS. Even if you put in the settings of an ad that you’d like website traffic, these types of ads are considered brand awareness.
Think about traditional media like postcards or billboards. These types of marketing are designed to just get people aware that you exist. The people who see them may or may not be ready to buy what you sell. So having that in mind, don’t expect to become a millionaire off Facebook ads (at least not right away). It takes time to bill brand awareness, as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
If you are looking for a more direct way to get clients NOW I would highly suggest looking into Google Search Ads. These ads aren’t demographics based for the most part. They are based on search terms so the people you get from these ads are looking for you RIGHT NOW. For example, if I created an ad for Website Design. I would include key phrases that people might be searching for to find that. “Affordable Web Design”, “Website Design Company” etc. Then if someone sees my ad it’s because that’s exactly what they are looking for. It’s a more direct sale than them seeing an ad for website design on Facebook just because they happen to be a business owner in my target demographic.
I hope this article was helpful to you in figuring out which platform is the right one for your business. If you are still having trouble I encourage you to schedule a free 30 min consultation with us at the link below. We’d love to help you find the right platform for you!
