In all likelihood Facebook and Twitter make up a big part of your brand’s marketing mix and social media advertising focus, but are you maximizing the advantage both platforms can offer in terms of audience targeting?
The targeting options offered by Facebook and Twitter are extremely similar. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can precisely target your brand’s desired audience on both social media platforms.
Before we dive in, check one MAJOR thing first… is your offering mobile friendly? The majority of Facebook and Twitter users are on mobile devices so make sure that what you’re linking to via your ad (website, contest app, shopping cart) is geared up for mobile.
Geography
Local: Did you know that you can target potential consumers by zip code with Facebook and Twitter? Even better, within Facebook you can choose to target an ad to people residing within a specific radius of a town (10 miles, 25 miles, 50 miles, etc.)? You can also exclude specific locations if needed. This is perfect for stores and services that are only available in certain spots.
Global: Want to reach a global audience but you only communicate in English? Twitter and Facebook allow you to advertise to users across the world, with a few exceptions like North Korea for example. Language filters will help you target only those users who speak English or whichever languages you need to focus on.
Personal Interests
Precise Interests: Facebook lets you dig deep into consumer interests and create lists of very specific terms (baby wearing, attachment parenting, etc.). Don’t ignore pockets of interests with a small reach, those are often ignored and can be very valuable.
Hashtags: Twitter allows you to target people who participate in conversations around hashtags. You can place a hashtag into your messaging without the cost of sponsorship, just make sure the hashtag you choose is appropriate and clearly links to your brand, service, or product. Do some research and ensure that the hashtag you select would correctly target the right group of people who would have interest in your offering. Sometimes you need to get specific, #NashvilleHonkyTonks instead of #music.
Followers on Twitter: Go after the followers of your competition, related brands, relevant publications, and influential people in your industry.
Existing Connections
Email List: Facebook and Twitter allow you to upload a list of emails in order to target people you’ve already built a connection with at some point. This will only help you if their emails match their social media profiles, but it’s worthwhile to pursue since you’ve already engaged with these individuals.
No matter your budget or time constraints, the tricks listed above will improve the outcome of your advertising campaigns and help attract the right audience. Give it a try.
What is Social Rank?
SocialRank is a proprietary algorithm built on top of the our content platform that gives a holistic view of all social engagement (such as likes, comments, and shares) for published content across the web.