10 Smart Ways to Find Your Target Audience on Social Media

Last Updated on May 5, 2023 by Freddy G. C.

Whether you’re a business owner or a digital marketer, it’s crucial that you’re talking to the right people online (and offline, of course!). If you’re talking to everyone, then you’re just hurting your chances of reaching folks who are more than likely to convert. You gotta focus on connecting with your ideal market.

And, what better place to look for your prospective customers than social media?

With an estimated 4.66 billion social media users across the globe, it’s easy to see why more and more businesses today are grabbing the opportunity to find their target audience there. If you’re not among these businesses yet, what are you waiting for? It’s time to jump on the bandwagon and leverage the power of social media!

Why does it matter though? Why should you take time to get acquainted with your target market and reach out to them?

Simple: the better you understand them, the more you can create effective campaigns that resonate with them, which in turn, increases their chances of converting into actual customers.

Before we can explore the top 10 smart ways to find your target audience on social media, let’s first define what a target audience really is.

What’s a Target Audience?

In a nutshell, a target audience is a specific group of people you aim to reach with your marketing message. They’re the ones who are most likely to be interested to buy your products and/or services. They usually share several common traits, including demographics and behaviors.

Having a clearer understanding of your target audience makes it easier for you to win them. That’s because you’ll be able to craft ads that are relevant to their wants and needs. They’ll perceive you as a brand that truly gets them, eventually getting them to trust you enough to buy your offerings.

You should choose your target audience based on research, not your gut feeling. The key is to set your sights on consumers who are really invested in brands like you, as well as the products and/or services you offer. Don’t hesitate to get highly particular, especially if your goal is to achieve the best possible conversion rates.

Keep in mind, though, that people who aren’t in your targeted marketing group can still purchase from you. They’re just not your main priority when planning your strategy. The thing is, you can sell to everybody, but you can’t target everybody.

10 Proven Ways to Find Your Target Audience on Social Media

So, how exactly can you locate your ideal customers on social platforms so you can reel them in and ultimately get them to make a purchase? These 10 tips should be able to help you make it happen:

1. Create Buyer Personas

If your brand already has buyer personas, feel free to use that information for your social media target audience.

If you have yet to come up with one, take time to study your existing customers. What are their demographics? Income levels? Interests and aspirations? Pain points or problems that your products can solve?

You might also want to consider other factors like their spending habits, spending power, and their stage of life, as they play into how consumers interact on social media and spend their money.

2. Learn Which Platform/s Your Audience Is Most Active

Once you’ve established your buyer personas, try to find out where they spend most of their time online. This will help you decide on which channels to prioritize.

For instance, if you’re targeting younger audiences, Instagram and Twitter should be your go-to. Nearly half (48.63%) of all Instagram users and 38.5% of Twitter users fall within the 25-34 age range. As for older generations, Facebook would be the ideal option.

You can always adjust your prioritized platforms as you go. If a post works well on one platform but not on another, it’s totally fine to adapt.

3. Survey Current Customers

Your current customers can be vital sources of information if you’re looking to grow your business further. This is where surveys come in.

Use surveys to discover which social networks your existing shoppers prefer the most. You can also include follow-up questions such as what type of content they normally consume and what brands they follow.

Oh, and every time you have new email subscribers, you can send them the same survey, too.

4. Take Advantage of Social Listening Tools

Do yourself a favor by simply sitting back and listening to what your prospects and customers are saying online. You’ll find yourself identifying patterns in your target market that you can address – be it a common problem, question, or overall theme.

Then again, how do you zone in through all the noise? Social media listening tools.

These tools are designed to help businesses find conversations about them, their offerings, and the industry they’re in. Plus, they can tell you who your competing brands are, how they’re performing, and what their customers like and dislike about them. Among these tools are BuzzSumo, Sprout Social, Mention, and Hootsuite.

5. Use Relevant Hashtags

Almost everyone knows that hashtags are powerful social media tools. They’re there to help users find content and profiles relevant to them. On your part, hashtags allow you to reach new audiences and boost visibility.

That’s why you should always incorporate the right hashtags into your social posts.

Research popular hashtags related to your niche, as well as those that are most commonly used by your existing customers. Be sure that you avoid adding too many to your posts, though, as it can make you appear spammy. And, since algorithms aren’t in favor of this tactic, you’ll end up downgrading your visibility in the feed.

6. Spy on Your Competitors

When using social media to flesh out your target audience, turning to your competitors is another good idea. Who are they appealing to? What kind of tone and voice are they using?

Aside from checking those who are constantly engaging with their posts, we recommend you take note of the social networks they’re active on, the hashtags they’re using, and their engagement rate. You can also search for the keywords you’re targeting on social media platforms and see what competing brands appear.

7. Analyze Insights

Use the analytics tools available on each social platform to get insights into who’s engaging with your content and which topics resonate best with them. This data can help you refine your targeting capabilities.

8. Run Ads

Running paid social media ads is a great strategy to reach your target audience quickly and efficiently. Utilize ad targeting features to narrow down your audience, then test different messages and visuals until you find the most effective ones.

9. Craft Targeted Content

Creating valuable content that speaks directly to your target audience plays a major role in establishing relationships with them. Research their interests and tailor content accordingly, focusing on topics they care about or issues they face so it resonates with them better.

10. Collaborate with Influencers

There are a number of social media influencers your target market follows, so why not team up with some of these influencers? Before reaching out to them, however, keep an eye on their engagement levels to ensure they’re not interacting with virtual air.

If you see that their followers are commenting on and sharing their content, and the influencers are responding, then you can be certain that they share genuine relationships, and more importantly, that they’re pleasant to work with.

Partnering with the biggest names in the social media universe will no doubt improve your online visibility and get you noticed by their followers who may be interested in what you have to offer.

Final Thoughts

By following these steps and optimizing your social media presence accordingly, you can better connect with potential customers and find success on social media. Good luck!