Let’s not beat around the cookie jar: targeting specific audience segments was easier with cookies and third-party data. But cookies are so 2021, and now companies must find new techniques for audience analysis.
Statistic. 47% of marketers report that their companies are making a plan to approach cookie-free targeting.
A deep understanding of demographic details, qualitative research, and robust tracking of passive data will fill the holes in your strategy.
The Audience Profiling Process
I‘ll share the step-by-step guide for writing your profile in a minute, but first let’s zoom out and look at the big-picture.
Align with sales.
Remember how only 23% of sales professionals feel well-aligned with marketing? Being a part of that 23% is step one. The most common measurement of content marketing’s success is total sales. Set your marketing efforts up for success by aligning with sales at step one.
An example of this going wrong: I once consulted with a menstrual cup company to help them develop a plan for their blog. They described their ideal customer as someone who lived in a big city, was trendy, and traveled often. Some of their content ideas were:
- Best spas in NYC.
- Long-haul flight tips.
- Weekend trip packing must-haves.
The problem? Zero of these are aligned with sales. The only type of content that creates a direct line back to sales is content for people who menstruate. Content like “can you visit a spa at that time of the month” or “travel tips for period days” aligns marketing and sales efforts.
You can see a great example of this on the Diva (previously Diva Cup) blog. Their blog is named “The Conscious Cycle” and is completely focused on menstruation and reproductive health:
Select audience segment.
Which audience segment will you begin with? Some ideas are:
- The customer group with the highest potential lifetime value.
- Your most underserved customer group.
- A customer segment that’s gone cold.
- Your competitor’s customers.
Here‘s an example of this in the wild — I recently signed up for a trial of Semrush. Now I’m seeing ads from Search Atlas outright telling me to cancel my Semrush subscription:
After choosing an audience segment, it‘s time to decide the desired action you’d like them to take.
Choose the desired action.
What action do you want this segment of your audience to take? Your desired audience action can be at the top or bottom of your sales funnel. Some ideas include:
- Sign up for a freebie in exchange for joining your email list.
- Attend an upcoming event.
- Make a purchase.
With your desired outcome hong kong telegram data identified, you move on to campaign execution.
Execute the campaign.
What’s the best place to reach your audience? Which platform and which content type on that platform? It’s not as easy as it used to be! Simplifying pointing to Instagram and rolling out a static-content campaign is a risk.
You can choose from:
- Long-form product explainer videos.
- Short-form customer reviews.
- Educational carousel content.
- To-the-point written text.
- Brand photo shoots.
And, that‘s all on Instagram alone! Between what is it? reels, stories, and grid posts, the world is your oyster (I’ll pass you the tissues). I kid because I love marketing and all it‘s capable of, even when it feels like it might crush me beneath its weight. We’ll dive deeper into this in the best practices below.
Review analytics.
After your campaign has been text services executed, it’s time to see how it performed. Some analytics to consider are:
- Web analytics like website visitors and time spent on page.
- Social analytics like shares and follower growth.
- Sales impact (#1).
Need help making your marketing tasks more manageable? Use the HubSpot Marketing Hub®. We’ll help demystify this whole process!
