Do We Really Need a New Social Media Platform?

The question of whether we need a new social media platform is a controversial one. After all, don’t we have ten million social media platforms already? Yes, we do, but then again no. A lot of them have already failed. Some had their day, but have fallen by the wayside. And with the way things are looking at Twitter, it’ll never be the same again. By the way, I’ve written about Twitter recently: Big Shakeup at Twitter: How Will Changes Affect You?

We do need something new

Do you remember that Huey Lewis and the News song I Want a New Drug? (Especially the part about the new drug not making him nervous.) That’s what I want, too. And a lot of others do as well. And not just because newness is so popular. We want a hybrid of what’s gone before, plus some other benefits as well. Here are a few reasons we need a new social media platform.

Indexed by Google

Yes, we don’t want a platform that’s walled off so we can’t see what’s inside at all. We want indexing by Google (and we want it now!). Seriously. How about something that lures or coaxes us inside? And isn’t so secretive that we can’t tell what’s happening at all! In other words, a focus on the positive–more a carrot over a stick approach.

Do We Really Need a New Social Media Platform? | Image by ThePixelman from Pixabay

Curated for hate speech

We need less hate speech, including a list of words that can be filtered out by users (just like in Twitter–imagine that!). So we’d need real people to catch some of the hate speech and spam that we’ve been getting all along. For that, we might need to be able to reach customer service if we need help. So yes, we need customer service–and not just for those who have paid ads!

Some could be permanently banned

That’s right. This has been a subject of controversy for some time. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to return. If they adamantly refuse to change, let them go. That is, ban them. Kick them off. Hate speech shouldn’t masquerade as freedom of speech.

Flexibility in design

The new social media platform would need flexibility. That means hiring good engineers and treating them well. No ultimatums saying things like they have to sign up to be “hardcore employees.” You know who I’m talking about, right?

If not now, when?

Have you noticed a big change in Twitter users’ profiles, with many of them listing other social media platforms where they’ll be in case of the apocalypse? Because I have. Mastodon, Hive Social, and Post are just three of those covered in this article from NPR: Looking to Leaving Twitter? Here are the social networks seeing new users right now.

What will you do?

Will you stay or will you go? Or will you stay and hedge your bets? If you do start a new account, will you change your bio to reflect what you’ll do?

How Gratitude Marketing Helps Your Business Be Powerful

How Gratitude Marketing Helps Your Business Be Powerful

Although it’s easy to be negative right now given all the strangeness on social media, this time in November is all about gratitude because Thanksgiving. So for the purposes of this blog post, I’m going to try to stay positive. We’ll see how long that lasts! After all, Twitter is having issues, and Meta has also had a massive layoff. In fact, all over Silicon Valley, there are layoffs and rumors of layoffs, too.

Counter the negativity with gratitude marketing

What’s good about your business? Here’s some help thinking of a few things. First of all, you’re still in business, am I right? So that’s a big thank you to the universe–for keeping your business afloat after Covid (and many say it’s still here, but it’s not the same as it was a couple of years ago). So congratulate yourself just for staying in the game all this time!

Thank friends every day

Your business has a lot of people who help, even if you may not know who they are. For instance, the store where you buy your supplies. Who ships your products to you? Try to find out, and thank them. Or the guy who helps you when you get stuck with technical issues? An article in Entrepreneur states that gratitude is the best marketing plan ever. And probably you have collaborators, too. Those are also good people to thank. I’ve written about supporting your friends while supporting yourself before. You might like to read it.

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/bogitw-851103/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=877121">Gerhard Bögner</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=877121">Pixabay</a>

How Gratitude Marketing Helps Your Business Be Powerful | Image by Gerhard Bögner from Pixabay

Give good reviews

For the most part, I’d rather give someone a good review than a bad review any day. If a business has bad service, I’d rather vote with my feet, as they say, and not go back. But for the ones with good customer service? They really appreciate good reviews on Google or Yelp. After all, people read those reviews! That kind of review isn’t something that’s easy to come by. Sites like Amazon or even your local grocery store are always wanting you to tell them how you feel. Did you like the product? How was the service? They want to know! Good reviews are priceless.

Read what others do to improve their gratitude marketing

There are lots of examples out there of people who use gratitude marketing. For instance, here’s an article about the Power of Gratitude in Marketing, from Duct Tape Marketing. What I like about the article is it goes beyond saying thank you, and also focuses on the benefits to your business. Another great idea from the article? Thanking your social media fans when you reach certain milestones. I’ve seen people do this on YouTube and Twitter.

What are the other benefits of gratitude (in marketing or in your life)?

When I think about expressing my own gratitude, it always gives me warm fuzzy feelings. If feelings could be warm and fuzzy, that is. And studies show that gratitude, as a practice, helps you be healthier. What benefits has gratitude marketing made in your business?

Social Media Holidays, Post-Covid Edition

What are you doing for the holidays on your social media? If you’re sitting back, now is not the time for that. People are out and about, ready to spend money on your goods and services. If you’d like to have success going forward, it’s time to put some thought into what you’ll say over the holidays.

Which holidays will you celebrate?

Which ones does your audience share? What about your friends? Which do they celebrate? Sometimes even the federally sanctioned holidays are not celebrated by some people. Think about your followers and what they’d like to see. For instance, Columbus Day has fallen into disfavor recently, to be replaced, unofficially, by Indigenous People’s Day.

Do your goods and services make good gifts?

If so, make it easy for your followers. How do they buy from you? Don’t make them jump through a bunch of hoops to do business with you. Don’t make them write a check, find an envelope, and mail it to you. Are you even kidding? Here are some friends’ gifts that I like, and where you can find them:

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/bluartpapelaria-6017404/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2547356">bluartpapelaria</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2547356">Pixabay</a>

Social Media Holidays, Post-Covid Edition | Image by bluartpapelaria from Pixabay

Some people prefer the gift of time

If your friend would rather go to the movies, visit a park, or spend time playing Scrabble with you, you could give them a gift card for the movies, and so on. Just because they’re on social media with you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t honor their non-social media wish. And for distant friends, they might like to connect over Facetime or Marco Polo (a video messaging app).

Use the hashtags for social media holidays

You might not want to use all the hashtags, but one or two never hurt anyone, right? The exception is Instagram, of course! On Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags. Christmas, Black Friday, and Thanksgiving all have good hashtags and help people find you. By the way, I’ve written about hashtags before. You might like How to Discover a Wealth of Friends with Social Media Hashtags.

Chats are a good way to connect during the holidays

Here’s a blatant piece of self-promotion: join #Digiblogchat during the holidays, especially if you’re spending them alone. It’s only an hour at 1 pm, Pacific Time, every Tuesday. There are plenty of friendly people. Yes, there are lots of people leaving Twitter, but we’re still there! Here’s how to connect with us on #Digiblogchat.

Check in with friends

If you have the slightest doubt that someone might be feeling down or lonely, please reach out to them. The holidays, as you probably know, is a time when many feel sad. Pick up the phone or connect with your loved ones (or even those you don’t like very much) and make sure they’re ok.

Big Shakeup at Twitter: How Will Changes Affect You?

Big Shakeup at Twitter: How Will Changes Affect You?

Big changes at Twitter? Of course  there are. By now, everyone’s heard that the rumors about Elon Musk taking over Twitter are more than rumors. We’ve been hearing for months that Musk would take over Twitter. But how will those changes affect you? Here are a few guesses. By the way, I’ve written about Twitter and chaos before: How to Survive the Chaos of Twitter.

Your numbers will drop

Actually, this is already happening! As a social media manager, I see what’s happening on the ground every day. All but one of my clients (including me) have seen drops in their follower count. People are apparently leaving in droves. Or at least a few hundreds are splitting.

But then again…no

As people join or rejoin Twitter, your engagement and follower account will probably increase later. I’m guessing that will take a few weeks or months, though. For the time being, though, there’s a Tweetexodus!

Hate speech will increase

This is one I hope to be wrong about. But big names are leaving, especially liberals. LeBron James tweeted that “So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech.” Along with the hate speech, there will be some misinformation. And if 45 is allowed to rejoin, that will be amplified. Again, I hope I’m wrong.

Advertisers have a wait and see attitude

Big name advertisers are waiting to see which direction Twitter takes. Companies like GM are temporarily halting their ads.

The Blue Checkmark is one of the most recent Twitter changes

First, Musk mentioned a price of $20 for continuing to have the blue checkmark for verified accounts. After a lot of pushback, though, he seems to have settled on $8. People are still complaining, though. And is it really legit to have big name celebrities pay for a checkmark that they used to get for free?

Job Cuts

There are already a lot of job cuts at Twitter, including Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal. And a 50% cut is rumored to be in the works, according to Bloomberg’s article Five Things Elon Musk Wants to Change About Twitter Right Away.

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/pexels-2286921/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1854225">Pexels</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1854225">Pixabay</a>

Big Shakeup at Twitter: How Will Changes Affect You? | Image by Pexels from Pixabay

 

Will Vine be revived?

This is another rumor, but having Vine could help Twitter compete with TikTok and Instagram reels. I’m guessing that if it isn’t Vine, there will be something similar to Vine. Vine is reportedly built on old 2016 code, so maybe starting something from scratch would be better.

Content moderation

This one is something I’m very distrustful of. Who is moderating the content? And who determines what constitutes hate speech? Musk wants the policy about topics like election outcomes and Covid-19 to be more specific, according to people familiar with the matter. But with the massive layoffs, how exactly will that happen? I’m not confident.

Can we separate Twitter the business from Musk?

According to the New York Times opinion, Elon Musk’s Biggest Problem on Twitter May Be Its Advertisers:

Should Mr. Musk choose to remain a participant and provocateur on Twitter, it’s likely the platform is headed deeper into the world of toxicity and partisanship. If that happens, Twitter is doomed, from the perspective of advertising revenue.

What do you think will be the biggest change at Twitter?

Are you waiting to see how everything shakes out? Or are you ready to bail? Let me know!

Who Shares More? Millennials versus Baby Boomers

Here’s something that bothers me about Boomers, even though I am one. I’m always hearing that Gen-Xers and Millennials are on their phones all the time. It’s rude, say the Boomers. They don’t care for it. But here’s the thing: you can be engaged, share your ideas, and be on your phone, sharing. By the way, if you’re a Millennial and you need to know how to terrify your friends, there’s this: Yes, Why Not Call Your Friends on the Telephone? After all, it’s fun to scare your friends, especially around Halloween.

Why this particular bee in this particular bonnet?

Recently, on vacation, another Boomer was complaining about the use of smart phones. “Are you working?” she’d ask me while I checked my Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. “No” I answered. “Do I need to be working to check my phone?” She went on to say that she thought it was rude. By the way, this is the same person with the outmoded ideas such as eggs being bad for your cholesterol. If you get in the Wayback Machine, that was back in 1968, when the American Heart Association singled out eggs (here’s the scientific study behind that factoid, by the way). Since about 1999, the general consensus is that consuming eggs has no noticeable effect on one’s cholesterol or chances of developing heart disease. If this person had been reading newer books and articles, and not simply relying on ancient textbooks, she might have known that. But I digress.

It’s a different kind of sharing

When I’m with younger friends, they share all kinds of things: pictures, stories, news articles. My nieces and nephews share funny memes that they just discovered on Pinterest. A picture of their cat acting goofy. Articles that they discovered that I might like. Photos of babies, memes, and Facebook pages fly back and forth between phones. They share Amazon wish lists. They’re signing up for classes using QR codes. On their phones. And they’re taking embarrassing photos, which they then use for sharing or blackmailing purposes.

 

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/funkyfocus-3900817/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1875813">David</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1875813">Pixabay</a>

Who Shares More? Millennials versus Baby Boomers | Image by David from Pixabay

They’re laughing and excited

While the Boomers are sneering and saying that kind of sharing “doesn’t count,” the Millennials continue to share. Yes, it’s social media, and it’s online. Yes, sometimes there are “in jokes.” But it’s still sharing. Oh, and did I mention all the selfies? There are about a million of those. By the way, I’ve written about Boomers before. You might like: The Best Reasons Baby Boomers Must Start Using Social Media. And it’s not that Boomers don’t share. We/they share plenty of things, but they’re not online so much.

Boomers need to get over themselves

This kind of sharing is here to stay. Nobody is putting down their phones. People will continue using their devices. It’s fun and nobody’s being hurt. Well, it’s true that too much blue light at night can disturb your sleep. But seriously. Come on!

In the Millennials versus Boomers world, where do you fit?

What kind of sharing do you like? Are you with the Boomers here, or are you more like the Millennials? Let me know!

Ten Best Ways to Find Outstanding Content

Ten Best Ways to Find the Best and Most Outstanding Content | Image by PIRO from Pixabay

We’ve all been there–it’s just minutes before a deadline and you’ve got no content, let alone best content, to show for your efforts. Maybe you’re tired, or maybe your brain just isn’t functioning. Whatever the case, you’ve got to come up with something–anything–so what’s a content creator to do? Here are a few ideas.

Look back to move forward

That is, look at your own blog posts or content that you’ve posted online and see what’s performed well. Then try to duplicate that success. If you need to know how to do that, here’s some help: Social Media Value: Why It’s Important and What to Measure.

Check Facebook or your favorite social media platform

For me, that would be Twitter. You don’t have to use what’s trending, but that’s one way to go. What are your friends or favorite accounts talking about? Could you tweak their content to fit your platform? Or could you repost and give them a nod at the same time? You could also join a Twitter chat to get good content ideas.

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/piro4d-2707530/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2398832">PIRO</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2398832">Pixabay</a>

Scan blog comments

Sometimes a person who comments on your blog will give you an idea you hadn’t thought of. Maybe you disagree with what they’ve said. Write about why you agree or disagree.

Use your audience’s pain points

Do you know what your audience’s pain points are? If not, here’s an article that might help: how to find your audience’s pain points and why you’d want to.

Create a compelling headline

Neil Patel suggests that most people will read the headline, but few will read anything else. So the headline is the most important thing. So spend most of your time working on the headline. Sometimes, as you’re creating a good headline, more ideas will pop into your mind.

Search for posts on each social media platform

When you’re looking for content for a particular place, search that platform first. Looking for an Instagram headline? Search on Instagram. Looking for good Pinterest posts? Search there first.

Keep an idea file

This works particularly well for blog post ideas. Of course, you can take pieces of that blog post and spread them around the interwebs, too. You never know when an idea might show up. So make sure you have a way to record those ideas before they fly away.

Use Pinterest as a search engine

And that’s because Pinterest is a search engine. I haven’t written about Pinterest in a while, but it’s very good for discovery. And it deserves to be used more. For instance, I just found this: 70 killer content ideas to post on social media. That took all of 30 seconds to find.

Identify trending topics

Trending topics can occur anywhere. If you’re on YouTube a lot, use those trending topics. Often, YouTube trending topics will appear based on what you watch. I’ve found many interesting videos based on YouTube recommendations.

Use lists

I might love lists more than anyone. These days, people say they don’t want to be listed, but those people don’t know what they’re talking about. One of my favorite posts is about lists: Twitter lists for the power user. Do you use lists?

How to Succeed in the Last Quarter

Your last quarter’s success is possible!

Did you, like me, suddenly look up and realize there are only three months left in the year, and wonder about your last quarter’s success? Time seems to be accelerating, and the Pandemic hasn’t helped us keep track of time. If that sounds like you, here are some ideas for you, as you navigate through the fall and into the winter and holidays. If time management is an issue for you, here’s an article that could help: Best Social Media Time Management Apps and Tools. Hint: Dashlane and NokoTime apps save loads of time.

Be realistic

By that, I mean you might write down some lofty goals, but there may be things that get in your way. And it’s important to give yourself a little slack. Could you write down your most ambitious goals, but back off them just a little? For instance, instead of building an entire team between now and New Year’s Day, how about hiring the main executives instead?

Create obtainable goals to reach a successful last quarter

You might be able to stretch a little on those goals, right? By the way, I’ve written about stretch goals before. You might like How to Make Stretch Goals That Will Make You Stretch. For instance, reframing goals can help you reach your goals. And making goals both fun and productive is also a good idea. Well, at least it’s an idea that has helped me.

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How to Succeed in the Last Quarter | Image by 0fjd125gk87 from Pixabay

 

How to become productive again?

If your productivity has fallen off this year, it’s time to examine why. Was it because of laziness? Was there an illness in the family? Were there other tasks you had to do before work? Will these same reasons block your productivity during the last quarter? If your productivity is down and you don’t know why, maybe consider hiring a coach for a session or two to help you figure out why.

Holidays can be good times for networking

Holidays can sometimes look like obstacles to someone who’s ambitious and loves to work. But holidays are also great times to get out and meet people! So don’t believe that your productivity will necessarily fall because of the holidays coming up. Your last quarter’s success might depend upon that holiday party! Here’s a good article about reaching out during the holidays: Holidays Are the Perfect Time to Reach out to Your Network.

Don’t give up!

Just because it’s the end of the year, don’t give up! There’s still a lot you can do, and the holidays could even help you reach your own personal successes. Forbes has a good article that could motivate you: 11 Smart Ways for Leader to Assess Accomplishments Each Quarter. I like this: “Our team works backward by setting quarterly goals and then assessing all monthly and weekly goals to be whatever will help us hit the quarterly metrics.” which is part of their fourth smart way.

 

Small Business Ideas for Social Media Newbies

Last week, I had the opportunity to chat with some social media newbies–a small nonprofit in the local community. They were using social media, but not very much. They have a website, but not much experience on social media. Maybe you’re in the same boat? Here are a few ideas you might use.

Check your followers

Do you know who your followers are on Facebook? On Twitter? Anywhere on social media? This nonprofit was surprised that many of their followers lived in a different area than their services cover. More of the locals were covering the cost for people that were farther away. It’s pretty easy to get demographic info about your followers. Here is a description, from the horse’s mouth (Facebook): How do I see demographic data about the people who like my Facebook page? You might also give people a reason (or two) to follow your page. For instance, maybe people want to learn about your free events.

Use good images in posts

It’s ok to occasionally use a poster or graphic with lots of text on it, but how about something that draws people in instead? An image with people in it will draw others in, especially if it’s someone they personally know! One silver lining about the pandemic–it’s often easier to get photos of people, since they’re sometimes masked. Otherwise, you probably want to ask permission to use photos of people. If you don’t know what makes a good image, this might help: 10 Best Practices for Eye-Catching Social Media Images. One tip I like is to vary your social media images. People don’t want to see exactly the same images all the time. So experiment with images and see which ones get the most reach.

Small Business Ideas for Social Media Newbies | Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Ask what people want to see

It’s easy to ask what people want, especially if you’re connected to your followers in real life. You can ask people when you see them, or ask on your social media platforms. You will probably be surprised at what people want! I’ve written about How to Find Audience Pain Points and Why You’d Want to before. You don’t have to simply post about yourself, either! People may want information about other topics and solutions to their problems or issues. One of the easiest ways to figure out your audience pain points is to use a search engine like Google.

Get more people to follow you

This is something that doesn’t occur to a lot of people. Ask them to follow you. They often will. Also–pro tip–if someone has “liked” one of your Facebook posts and isn’t a follower, you can invite them to follow you. You can also ask super fans of your page to invite their friends. If you’re a nonprofit, you may have lots of employees connected to your page, and this is another good, simple way to get more followers.

 

Best Ways to Reinvent Yourself

If you’re considering reinventing yourself, the good news is that things change. People move, friends act differently, and even climate change changes us. Your circumstances have probably changed, and you may be thinking about a new career. Or you may want to try on a new hobby.

Quarterly reviews

One of the best ways I’ve discovered to look at yourself is to do a quarterly review. What worked and what didn’t? What would you like to do going forward? Is there something that fell off your calendar or your radar? And make no mistake, doing a self-review will make you a better writer and blogger. I’ve written about improving your blogging here: How to become a better blogger: quick and easy ways.

Self-awareness is the key to reinvent yourself

If you’re not already journaling, or keeping track of your reactions to the world, a journal is a very good way to gain self awareness. Some of my best Aha! moments have been discovered through journaling. And a journal doesn’t need to be about your personal life. You may also want to journal about your career or work life. In Wikhow’s article, How to Start a Journal, Nicolette Tura describes how to get started: “Write about what you felt today. Pour your joys, your frustrations, and your goals into the journal. Use the act of writing as a way to explore your feelings.”

Unplanned changes

Recently, there have been a lot of unplanned power outages where I live. So of course everyone has had to adjust to these outages. Unplanned changes change our views of ourselves, too. Do we continue to live the same way? Or do we suddenly have to plan for possibly having no power? In my case, I opted for a back-up power supply. You may want to use time management to get that to-do list under control. Perhaps this will help: Best Social Media Time Management Apps and Tools.

How long does it take to reinvent yourself?

That depends upon how thorough a job you want to do. If you’re simply reinventing the way you look, maybe redoing your wardrobe and hair, that could be done much more quickly than, say, changing your career and getting a new credential. In his 15 Steps I Took to Successfully Reinvent Myself After Losing Everything, John Rampton describes attaching yourself to the right people, learning, and finding a mentor. He also mentions that “Reinvention is a process that could take years.”

How to reinvent yourself professionally

Of course, reinventing yourself professionally is much different than reinventing yourself physically. You’ve all seen those images on the interwebs of people who want to actually look like a Barbie doll. A professional reinvention is much easier, and the pain is, well, different. You’ll want to explore your interests, create a bucket list, and recognize all the resistance you’ll receive–from yourself as well as others. Then again, changing yourself could be a lot of fun if you’re interested in the journey! Have you ever gone through a professional change? How did you start?

 

 

 

Find Your Target Audience: Best Ways

Get fresh eyes on your target audience

If you’re a small business owner, you might be too close to your own business to find your audience alone. I recommend getting some help with this. Ask someone outside your business who will be honest for advice. Ask your friends and friends of friends for their recommendations (for someone to help). If that fails, you could also go to Fiverr and read the reviews. When I needed help with formatting, a thankless job, I went to Fiverr. You could do the same to find someone to help you find your target audience.

Review your target market

When you started your business, you probably had a general idea of who your target audience was. Or at least you knew who you wanted that audience to be.

But how many years ago was that?

Your audience has probably changed! Even if it was only 2-3 years ago, the person in the middle of your target is probably not the same person right now. If you’re still using the old target, maybe your audience needs to be refreshed. And even if it’s the same audience, it’s good to be reminded of who that audience is. I’ve written about target markets before. You might like How to Speak Your Client’s Language.

Questions/ideas to help define your target audience

I can talk about this from my own viewpoint. When I started my business, my audience was older and mostly women who weren’t very tech-savvy. My audience became younger and more tech savvy after a few years. Now many in my target market are Asian, and I really love that! It’s very interesting to recalibrate your audience and see what your results are. Here are some actionable ideas to help. Another interesting idea, noted in Hubspot’s article How to Find Your Target Audience, is to have a different account for each target audience.

What does your target audience looks like? Beyond the typical age and gender demographic, what else do you know specifically about your audience? It’s good to know these things even if you are different, or maybe especially if you’re different from them.

What is your target market’s political stance? Democrat? Republican? Apolitical? This is good to know, even if you don’t plan to talk about politics.

Draw the specific person you’re targeting

I recommend drawing the specific person you’re targeting–literally. As in get a big sheet of paper and draw the person you’re targeting. Later, when you’re coming up with content, this is the person you’re targeting. You always have to ask why you’re sharing what you’re sharing. Will that person you drew be interested?

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/jplenio-7645255/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4257280">jplenio</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4257280">Pixabay</a>

Find Your Target Audience: Best Ways | Image by jplenio from Pixabay

Will what you have to say be helpful to your target audience?

If your target audience is a democratic man in his 40s, draw that person. What is he wearing? How does he wear his hair? What race is he? Is he American? European? Asian? Does he look like you, or not?

After you have the physical attributes down, what about the invisible ones? These might be the most important of all. This could have to do with pain points. Does he have a good grasp of technology? How does he spend his free time? How does your product or service fit into his life?

What health issues does your target audience have?

Do they have kidney stones? Muscle cramps? Diabetes? Or are their health issues more general–like needing more exercise? You could ask a few people and see what they say. Or try a google search!

What does he/she worry about? What keeps them up at night?

These pain points are important to address.

You can talk about your own issues, but what if they don’t overlap with your audience? Should you still talk about yourself?

Of course, talking about your own interests could bring in a completely different audience, too! You never know what could happen.

Decide what not to say to your target audience

It’s probably good to think about what you shouldn’t say on social media. Personally, I try to avoid politics, anything too sexual, and violent news. What’s on your personal list? And what would be on your target audience’s list?

How will you build trust with your audience?

Having empathy for your target audience is very important. If you can be a resource for people, it’s a real gift. It builds trust.

Seth Godin says psychographics is the most important piece of the target audience puzzle (not his exact words). Knowing what they believe, what they dream of, what their fears are, and what their desires are. That is everything.

 

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