Just like we said in the last lesson, your target market isn’t everyone, and naturally that also means that they aren’t everywhere.
You need to narrow down not only who they are, but where you’ll find them, so you aren’t throwing content out into space with little chance of your ideal audience seeing it.
And if you know where to find your target market, you’ll know where to spend your time.
Social Media Platforms
There are many different social platforms that you can become involved with. However, you don’t need to be everywhere and you shouldn’t be everywhere. That’s a really quick path to burnout!
Instead, you should be where your audience hangs out. Which social platforms do they use? For example, any kind of visual business, such as artists, chefs, photographers, designers, etc, are just about guaranteed to be on Pinterest and Instagram.
Publications
What books, magazines, and publications does your target market like to read?
If you know this information you can place ads in those publications or even write articles for them. Getting your name known via one of these publications will do wonders for your authority factor, especially if you choose the writing route, rather than placing ads.
Groups and Forums
Today, online is all about groups and forums, and right now, Facebook Groups. If you know where your audience is hanging out on Facebook you should be there.
Don’t spam groups but join groups where your target market is and become an open resource. They will contact you.
Podcasters They Like
Who do they love to listen to? Can you become a guest on that show? If you can become a guest you’ll end up on their radar.
This will work especially well if you can also offer a gift via a special landing page for that audience and get them onto your newsletter.
YouTubers They Like
Today, you can advertise on YouTube, including on specific YouTube accounts. This is a great way to tap into an existing audience that is like your target market in a fast way.
Make sure you have something to offer that they’ll respond to.
Experts They Follow
Find out who your audience respects and follows, then try to find a way to get those experts to mention you, even if you need to pay them to influence their audience. If they allow guest posts on their site, then that’s an excellent way to get in front of their audience and show you know what you’re talking about.
This is another shortcut to getting in touch with your target market.
Events They Enjoy
There are many offline and online events that your target market probably attends and enjoys, so why not go along?
The biggest mistake people make is going to events that only colleagues attend. Instead, go to events that your audience attends and make sure you have something to offer them so they get on your email list.
It’s vital that you figure out where your audience is. It’s another important piece of your content marketing plan.
It might take a little trial and error if you’re not a member of your own target audience, and you may need to research further to find out where they hang out.
One great tool to use to find your specific keywords being mentioned is to set up a Google Alert regarding the topic. You’ll then get information sent to your inbox that can help you find ongoing discussions by your target market that you can join.
Not sure how to set up a Google Alert? See this excellent article from Matthew Woodward on just that subject, along with a whole lot of different ways to use your alerts, from monitoring your brand and your competitors to finding great content ideas! https://www.matthewwoodward.co.uk/tutorials/the-ninjas-guide-to-google-alerts/.
Action Point!
Go through and figure out where your target market hangs out. Don’t forget, you can use the Optin Monster template if you want to: https://optinmonster.com/how-to-create-a-concrete-buyer-persona-with-templates-examples/.
And why not set up a few useful Google Alerts to find your target market and get some content ideas?
How’s it going? Got any questions? Leave me a comment below!
All done for Day 5 and your target market. Tomorrow, we’re looking at giving your content a purpose.
Don’t want to wait? Prefer to get all of the 30-Day Content Marketing Challenge posts in one place, so you can work through at your own pace? Here’s a link to all of the challenge lessons: https://creativeblueberry.com/30-day-content-marketing-challenge-catch-up/
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