Let's be honest, not all marketing channels are going to be right for you and your target audience that you're trying to reach. I'm seeing an awful lot of people just trying to be everywhere and definitely using the wrong channel when they're doing their marketing.
Okay. What do I mean about wrong marketing channels? Well, one of the big deals about marketing is to know who you are selling to. And if you understand who you are selling to, you should be able to work out where they hang out and what marketing channels to use to reach them.
However, I still see an awful lot of people going about things the wrong way because they haven't fully thought through where their audience hangs out.
This short video will help:
TRANSCRIPT
Now, social media is a classic here. I see people trying to sell consumer services on LinkedIn. I hate to break it to you, but I don't want to buy soaps, bath bombs, or shampoo when I'm doing my business to business networking.
The point is, people are trying to sell consumer services and products on LinkedIn. It makes no sense. It's a business to business channel. Yes, you might get some traction in there, but ultimately your audience won't be going to LinkedIn.
Nearly nobody goes on to LinkedIn to buy consumer products. They go there to network and develop their business.
Likewise, selling business to business on Facebook. Now, I'm not going to discount Facebook as a B to B channel, but it does take quite a bit of thought beyond just chucking stuff out content. If you sell B to B, you need to be spending some money on advertising on Facebook for it to work for you.
Now, I've seen people still see people who sell B to B who just put loads of stuff out onto Facebook, hoping that it's going to work. I promise you, it will have a nominal impact for the amount of effort that's involved.
The reason for saying this is that it's important to choose your marketing channels simply because your customers will respond when the messages are in the right place at the right time, saying the right things for them on a channel that they use.
Now, when I ran my website design business up until late 2020, we advertised on Facebook But we had a very definite methodology to sell to people who self employed. And it was all about spending money on ads. But those ads were aimed at our target market.
We used email marketing as well. Email marketing can work incredibly well, it's easy to do and has a big ROI (no matter what your business).
How to work out the right marketing channels for your audience
But the point is; you start by taking a look at your audience. Who are you trying to sell to? Once you understand that, work out where they are in big numbers and you can then spend more time and effort on those specific channels.
Pinterest is a good example; it's difficult to sell business to business services on Pinterest. However, if you're selling shoes and handbags, it's amazing because over 80% of the audience on Pinterest are women, and they're the ones who typically buy a lot of shoes and handbags.
However, if you want to sell golf clubs you're much better off going on Facebook. I saw an ad for golf clubs on LinkedIn a couple of years ago, I know a lot of people in business play golf but they don't go to LinkedIn to buy golf clubs. Neither do people go onto Facebook to buy a website or find an accountant.
So have a think about what you're doing. Are you spending time and effort on marketing channels which, quite frankly, are wrong for your audience? Market targeting is the key here. Target your audience in the channels where they hang out, where they spend the most time and where you're likely to have the most impact.
Don't get sucked in by the hype
And don't just jump into the latest "next big thing" channel (TikTok, for example). I'm unlikely to sell many memberships of my business community on TikTok. Why? Because nearly none of my target audience are on there. Despite the fact that it seems to be a hot topic, it's not a channel that my target audience uses in big numbers.
A lot of people get hyped up on something without fully understanding whether it's a usable tool. And I'm urging you now spend time looking at your audience. Where are they in large numbers?
But more importantly, don't waste time on marketing channels which your audience doesn't spend a great deal of time on.
It's a Biggie because I see people wasting a lot of time on channels which are never going to work for them.
Don't let this be you!
Get rid or adjust. Save yourself the frustration and the stress. You don't need to be everywhere.
Got any questions? Put them in the comments below, it'll be great to hear from you.
Want more on reaching your audience more effectively? Check out:
An important lesson in Market Segmentation (article and podcast)
Make sure you're connecting with the right people on social media (YouTube video)