No matter how awesome your content is, if you’re sharing it on LinkedIn and your market spends all their time on Instagram, you won’t get any traction. But first things first: Do you know WHO your audience is? Have you created a client avatar with their unique demographics? This is a detailed representation of WHO your services, coaching packages, and signature products are geared towards.
Client avatars can change over time so even if you have done this exercise in the past, review your avatar and make any necessary changes. The more details you identify about your client avatar, the more receptive they will be to your marketing, so make note of their pain points, their income level, their daily struggles, etc.
Once you know WHO you’re marketing to, now you need to discover WHERE they hang out. Let’s start out using a little common sense first. If you’re a life coach marketing to mothers who are going back into the workforce, chances are high that you won’t find them on LinkedIn, which is for more professional, corporate networking with brick-and-mortar businesses. Instead, you’ll want to keep Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest in mind for that market.
However, if you’re a business coach for executives with 7-figure businesses, then LinkedIn would be the best place for you to share your content and make new contacts.
Even with the soundest logic and common sense, you should still ask questions of your customers, your list, and your social media followers. Ask which social platforms they use most frequently. Ask if they listen to podcasts and if so, which ones. Ask if they read blogs regularly and if so, which ones. If you belong to any Facebook Groups that cater to your niche and ideal clients, ask them these same questions.
The key is to find those platforms where your audience naturally gravitates toward so you can meet them there with answers to their questions or problems. Randomly promoting your content across all social platforms and hoping it resonates with someone is NOT a plan; that’s a waste of time which rarely yields any kind of results.
Using Facebook Business Manager for Research
One way to validate some audience demographics is by using the Facebook Business Manager. This tool is primarily for selecting who should see your Facebook ads but it also aids in your market research.
Do you have any idea how large your target market is? It’s one thing to know who your ideal client is but another to know if the market size itself is big enough to make any money. Use the Ads section within the Facebook Business Manager to input your demographics. For instance, if you indicate that your audience is women between the ages of 25-45 who live in the northeastern US, you’ll get an audience range upwards of 3 million people. While the idea of selling to 3 million women is tempting, niche your group to a smaller number who will see and appreciate your content.
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This is the first chapter of my Content Promotion Planner. You can download it now free when you sign up for my list below.
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