Reaching Your Social Media Target Audience

It’s no secret that social media marketing is a powerful top of funnel tool to raise brand awareness and build a community with you target audience. But, sometimes social media marketers can be guilty of making assumptions about their social media target audience. You might speculatively overhear someone saying “Instagram is just for Gen-Z” or “Old people just aren’t on socials”.

Recently I was working on a social media strategy for a client and came across something interesting when investigating their social media target audience.

In our kick off call the client told me their target audience on Instagram was students and recent graduates seeking their first jobs. However, upon analysing their audience insights, we found a different story. The majority of their followers were actually in aged 25-44, in fact they had more followers aged 55-64 than those aged18-25!

How to reach the right social media target audience

This was quite a shock for the client, who had been doing their best to create content tailored to their social media target audience. Despite their growing profile and seemingly successful engagement, their content just wasn't reaching their target audience on Instagram. This didn’t mean they were failing; rather, it highlighted the need for a small tweak in their approach.

Here’s what I recommend you do if you find your social media marketing efforts just aren’t reaching your social media target audience.

1.      Revisit your audience personas

2.      Review your content themes

3.      Reconsider your post timings

Revisit your audience personas

If your existing audience personas seem misaligned with your existing social media audience, we recommend investing in industry research and consulting strategic marketing support.

A digital marketing strategist will review industry research and insights to build a clearer picture of your social media target audiences including their motivations, pain points and the tone of voice to use when speaking to them.

This clear picture of your audience will help your social media team create content that truly resonates with your social media target audience.

Review your content themes

Once you have an improved understanding of your social media target audience, your next step is to review your content themes. Social media content themes should define topics that address your audience’s want and needs. For instance, your social media content themes could include “education” or “opportunities”.

Each social media content theme should include examples of post content. For example, under the content theme of “opportunities” you might highlight upcoming internships, events, workshops, or continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities. This structured approach ensures you consistently address relevant topics, keeping your audience engaged and informed.

Reconsider your post timings

It’s also crucial to consider the timing of your posts. Global research insights from platforms like Sprout Social can guide you on the best times to post. For instance,  Sprout Social data suggests LinkedIn engagement peaks on Tuesdays to Thursdays between 10 AM and 2 PM.

However, nuances in your social media target audience may well influence the best time to post. For example, if you are targeting teachers, consider their workday schedule and post during lunch breaks or after school hours. Similarly, for sports fans, posting during halftime can capture their attention when they’re most likely checking their phones.

We recommend approaching these changes with a “test and trial” mindset for three to six months. During this period, monitor your progress and make minor adjustments as needed. Remember, like any scientific experiment, time is needed to see the impact of your changes.

The best way to reach your Social Media Target Audience

While social media marketing is an invaluable tool for building brand awareness and community, it's crucial to avoid making assumptions about your audience. The surprising discovery that my client's Instagram followers were mostly aged 25-44, rather than the expected students and recent graduates, underscores the importance of regularly revisiting audience personas, reviewing content themes, and reconsidering post timings.

By adopting a strategic, data-driven approach and remaining flexible to adjustments, you can ensure your content effectively reaches and engages your true target audience.

If you’re interested in working together on refining your social media strategy, please contact us.