Are your ads reaching the right audience?

When I meet with business owners, I ask more questions about their customers and sales cycle than their marketing materials. Some people find it odd at first but, when you think about it, you need to know who you want to be your customer before you go out there and find them.

Who is your audience?

A business that wants to market to everyone, is unlikely to appeal to everyone. A person needs to feel drawn to the business that is marketing to them in order to follow-up, connect, and make a purchase.

A successful marketing campaign needs to connect with your ideal customer — and while much of this is about messaging — it’s vital to consider where your ad is going to be displayed.

Social media marketing

It’s no secret that Canadians are now spending more time online than ever before. Whether it’s part of your occupation, your social life, for shopping, or general information gathering, the internet is a one-stop solution.

If your target audience is spending so much time online, then it’s important to make sure your ad will reach them where they are — online.

Consider the number of users across social platforms:

Facebook ads

Let’s start with Facebook. Facebook reports year-after-year growth in the number of users active on their site. Now that you know where the users are going, you should examine who makes up the 2.2 billion users in order to better target your audience.

Consider these questions:

• Are there many Facebook users in your target geographical area?
• Are there many Facebook users in your target demographic?
• Does your target demographic share similar interests?

Facebook has a high volume of users in the 18-34, 35-44, and 45-54 age brackets. Depending on your business, this social platform might present a significant opportunity to get in front of your target age demographic, in a specific region, and with specific interests. There is a lot of useful information available to assist you in targeting your ads to the right audience.

Google ads

Google has over 40,000 search queries happening every second, or 3.5 billion searches per day. This astounding statistic makes it clear just how important it is for your business ads to be seen on this search engine.

Consider these questions:

• Are people looking for you in a specific ‘need to know’ moment and that’s when they should be seeing your ad?
• Do people need to see your ad multiple times before they realize that they need what you’re selling?
• What led your last happy customer to come to you, and are there others who might want the same thing?

Your audience can be targeted by age, gender, and interests — and they can even be targeted by situations, like a ‘need to know’ moment! When that situation strikes, you want to know that your ad is going to be displayed.

There is a lot to consider when creating an effective social media marketing campaign — and there’s a ton of potential to reach a significant audience. Connect with Intrigue and we’ll help you get your ads in front of your target audience.  

As a Marketing graduate from the University of Guelph, Zoey is an Intrigue team member who was thrilled to find an organization she aligned well with out of university. Zoey is a marketer who loves helping businesses get noticed and found by their ideal clients. In the community, she is on the Board of Directors for the Young Professionals Network of Guelph and is on the fundraising committee for the Big Brother’s Big Sister’s of Guelph Wellington and Lakeside HOPE House Annual JOY Home Tour. In her spare time, she enjoys getting fit, being around dogs, the occasional shopping spree, and spending quality time with her friends and family.