Most people are pretty skeptical about the things brands advertise them. Random product offerings, discounts, and promotions don’t help increase revenue. But think about Netflix’s success: besides running different Twitter and Instagram accounts targeting specific audiences, like Netflix Is A Joke (Comedy) and Strong Black Lead (African American audiences), Netflix's marketing team also creates hundreds of different ad creatives targeting specific audiences and their interests. That being said, audience targeting can make brands perform better than they currently do. Let’s talk about a few things you must know about it.
So what is audience data? Well, in simple words, it is data about the people who would more probably respond to the ads by a particular brand and buy the products on offer. Or it may be data about existing or potential consumers interested in the particular topics, brands, or products that your business can offer.
When it comes to effective advertising, it is impossible to act without the right data. But data doesn’t mean anything unless it is collated and processed to extract valuable insights. However, if done correctly, data can give brands an outlook on audience behavior.
Marketers use audience targeting to reach certain groups of consumers based on their characteristics or behaviors. With audience targeting, marketers may create ads that are perfectly suited to their target audience daily lives.
Age, gender, average income, interests, geography, and smartphone operating system are just a few examples of consumer targeting criteria. Psychographics, or the values and reasons that influence consumer buying decisions, are another important factor.
Audience targeting allows you to focus your lead-generating efforts, maximizing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Also, another plus! You won’t need to throw money at audiences that won’t give you a good investment return.
When deciding which demographics to target for a specific campaign or product, it’s important to first determine the type of audience you hope to attract with your efforts.
Start by analyzing your current buyer persona(s). However, keep in mind, that the target demographic for a particular ad campaign or product may differ from the personalities you’ve already created.
For instance, picture a hypothetical buyer for one of your preferred brands or products. Let’s take edX, one of the MOOC (massive online open courses) platforms, as an illustration. They are probably targeting professionals between the ages of 22 and 40, eager to broaden their professional horizons and enhance their careers.
Knowing more about your intended demographic, we can move on to some other considerations.
Did you know that there is a specific area in most of the web traffic analytic tools where you can see what topics people are most interested in? Your users’ interests are organized here. It can identify the demographics of your target audience, such as if they are vacationers, foodies, or music fans.
Analyzing your data allows you to create content that speaks directly to your target audience. If you find that a sizable percentage of your website’s regular visitors have a passion for finance, but your product has nothing to do with it and instead offers musical instruments, consider incorporating that interest into your marketing efforts. Should we instead aim to place adverts on services like Spotify and music blogs?
Of course, you also need to remember why you’re doing the campaign. To broaden your brand reach, it’s better to avoid excessive hyper-targeting and focus instead on producing content that appeals to a wide variety of people.
If you’re having trouble figuring out how to appeal to your target demographic and conducting the necessary research, it’s time to start talking to them. The best way to learn how to sell to them is to ask them, of course.
By using social network polls and promotional emails, you may put the decision-making in the hands of your customers. Before releasing your marketing campaign to the public, you should conduct focus groups to ensure it is directed at the correct people.
To keep the target audience engaged, make sure your marketing material has practical value. Don’t forget to factor in the types of material that have shown to be popular with your target audience when developing your content schedule or advertisement campaign.
Pay attention to the interactive, or rich-media, advertising formats that engage your audience and encourage them to act. For examples, #SmileForMe smile detection ads, #ReadyPlayMe music playlist review ads, Quiz ads, Peel ads, 3D or 360-degree product presentations, and more.
If you haven’t already, you should consider adding A/B testing to your arsenal of marketing strategies. This is because it provides a safety net by allowing you to test your ad campaigns before releasing them to the public. By randomly assigning half of your audience to group A and the other half to group B, you may collect data for an A/B test that will help you fine-tune your marketing materials before they go live.
If, for your product launch, you’ve come up with multiple ad creatives but aren’t sure which will perform best, an A/B test can help you decide. This method not only helps you keep track of which marketing messages are most effective for your target audience, but it also guarantees that your targeting goals will be met.
One innovative approach to increasing variety in content is to use targeted advertising. Consider how you might tailor a generally applicable ad to the tastes of specific demographics. Changing up the tone might be a simple method to make your messages more relevant to specific groups.
Imagine you are advertising a new product launch on mobile devices. You are all set to launch your marketing campaign. But can your product have an effect on salespeople and customer service agents, and can you modify the wording to reflect this?
Effective advertising looks beyond the standardized marketing messages and advertisement creatives that audiences are overwhelmed with. With adtech providers moving away from the third-party cookie targeting, the future of effective ads lies in the development of AI-driven targeting algorithms.
Artificial intelligence, when used correctly, can help brands share the right message with the right audience at the right time. It is impossible to do it otherwise without the presence of machine learning and AI. Artificial Intelligence provides a way for brands to look into the minds of their audience and helps them predict behavior and customer trends better.
In today’s digital era, it’s more crucial than ever to tune in for a specific audience. Keep your buyer persona in mind as you identify your target audience. They need to be front and center in your ads and content if you want to see a solid return on investment from your marketing efforts.
And if you want to be prepared for the future, it is time to take machine learning and artificial intelligence for marketing advertisements more seriously. At Adello, get top-end industry knowledge and help about how to get better at effective advertising for your target audience. The top brands of the world use their patented machine learning technology to reach new heights every day.
