Want Your Content and Social Media Posts Found? Consider How Your Audience Searches
DIY Sprocket Solutions
A large portion of content marketing and social media marketing is actually developing that content and those social media posts. Once you have the original content and the relevant and interesting social media posts created, what’s next? If you build it, they will come. Right? In theory, this may be true, but in reality if you want your content and social media posts to be found you have to consider the way that your target audience is searching for comparable information online.
Let’s take blog articles for instance. If you’re writing a how to blog on home improvement to promote the building materials you have for sale, then you have a great potential for return on investment. The next challenge though is getting the right readers in front of your articles.
Here are a few steps to determine how your audience searches to be sure that your content is found and utilized:
1. Identify your target audience
Who are you actually trying to reach? Who is your target audience? You can’t determine how they’re searching if you don’t know who they are. You have to identify who you are trying to sell to or who you’d like to engage with.
2. Track down your target audience
Once you know who you should be targeting, it’s time to do a little research into discovering where they are spending their online time. Is the age demographic you’re trying to reach 18-24? Perhaps Snapchat is right for you then. Are you trying to reach business professionals? Twitter and LinkedIn may be more appropriate channels. Finding where your target audience is equates finding where your target audience searches.
3. Learn to use these platforms
There are many different online outlets and social media platforms at this time. Depending on the type of business you have, and the specific audience that you are targeting, you will need to tailor which platforms you are focusing on. Wherever your target audience is spending the most time is where you should be cultivating an online presence. These are the places that your content will be shared. Learn to be proficient with the necessary platforms.
4. Share your content in a public and searchable way
When you take the time to learn how the different social media platforms work, you begin to understand the easiest ways to find information on each platform. Use this. How are you searching on Twitter? How are you searching on Facebook? These will be the same ways that your audience searches. Discover the posts and content that are most prominent through each of those searches and model those practices. Was it a relevant hashtag that was included that determined the post you found first in a search? Were the headlines what made the difference? How did media (images and video) play a role in how you were able to find this information
Considering how your audience is searching for information comparable to the information you are attempting to share is the best way to work backwards and formulate your strategy. It isn’t enough to simply create good content –you have to put it in front of the right people, at the right time, and at the right place. Putting some thought into where and how your target audience searches allows you to draw up a road map to exactly where and how you need to be posting. What do you think is the best way to ensure that your content and social media posts are found? Comment below!
Breanne Bannon
Breanne is a Content Writer, Social Media Marketeer, and Sales Associate for Sprocket Websites.
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