The importance of knowing your audience when you are marketing online
In the last issue we talked about whether or not Internet marketing will
work for you? In this issue we are going to talk about the importance of
knowing your audience when you are marketing online.
Did you know that the Internet reaches a worldwide audience and is
available 24 hours a day?
For this reason more and more potential customers are turning to the
Internet for a variety of reasons including researching products and
services and making purchases. As more and more consumers turn to
the Internet for these reasons, it is important for businesses to establish
an online presence.
This is so important because failure to do so may result in their
competitors gaining an edge over them in competing for sales. While it
is important for business to begin Internet marketing campaigns it is
also important for these same businesses to realize basic advertising
principles still exist and they can’t neglect these principles. Most
importantly those who advertise online have to be aware of who their
target audience is and how to reach this audience.
As with any marketing campaign, business owners should do some
market research before they launch their Internet marketing campaign.
Ideally this will involve hiring a research consultant with a great deal of
experience in conducting and evaluating this type of market research.
The results of this research should determine the basic demographical
information for the target audience. The results should also include
information on how to reach this target audience. A business that
can’t afford to hire a consultant to conduct this market research
should still make an effort to obtain this information on their own.
This can be done through informal polls of current clients. This
information may not be as comprehensive as the information obtained
in a more formal study but it can still provide a great deal of insight into
the best way to reach the target audience.
Once this information is obtained, it is important to tailor the Internet
marketing campaign to appeal to the target audience. There are a
number of different variables which can be modified to ensure the right
message is reaching the right people in a manner they can understand
and in which they can relate.
Some of the ways in which an Internet marketing campaign can be
tailored in this way include the aesthetics of your website or
advertisements, the wording of your copy and the use of more
advanced design features such as audio and visual or interactive tools.
The aesthetic appeal of a website can greatly contribute to how the
website is viewed by the members of the target audience. A website
which is designed to attract the attention of an older generation with
more conservative tastes should include muted colors, clean design
and conservative graphics.
This will help to ensure the target audience enjoys the website. On the
other hand if you are looking to appeal to a younger audience with
more liberal viewpoints you might chose to design the website with
bold colors, eye catching graphics and creative design features.
The copy you include on your website should also take your target
audience into consideration. Consider the examples of a conservative
and a liberal audience listed above to create a better understanding of
how the copy on your website can appeal to the target audience. When
marketing to a more conservative audience, the copy should be
tailored to use formal language and use facts to back up viewpoints.
However, when you are marketing to a more liberal audience or a
younger audience you can consider using less formal language which
is likely to appeal to the target audience. You can also focus more on
emotion to express viewpoints.
Finally, when a website is created for the purposes of Internet
marketing it is important for the design of the website to appeal to the
target audience. You may wish to include audio and video clips on your
website but these clips should appeal to the target audience.
For example if your website sells skateboards you might consider
incorporating audio clips from punk rock bands as opposed to country
music bands. There may be some skateboarders who enjoy country
music but in general punk rock music more closely represents the
skating culture. Keeping these details in mind is very important for
Internet marketing.
Make sure you look for your next issue soon. We will be talking about
evaluating the response of your Internet marketing efforts.