Understanding Different Demographics on Various Social Media Platforms

When it comes to integrated marketing communications, it is important to clearly define the target audience. Before doing this, you need to know the difference between the target market and the target audience. The target market is a specific sector of consumers a company focuses their products and services and direct their marketing interests. The target audience refers to the consumers targeted directly by the advertisements (Kappel, 2017). As a result, marketers will not waste time and resources with the unintended audience.

When it comes to market research and defining the target audience, you must be aware of behavioral habits, motivations and interests. In addition, you can focus in on characteristics shared by a group of individuals. With that being said, companies can look to social media to help acquire the target audiences. Social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn all share a common goal; to share personal interests. It is nearly impossible for a company to market to everyone; therefore creating an effective marketing strategy by means of social media is often effective.

Let’s take a look at the various social media platforms:

Facebook: Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms and the  users come from various demographics.

YouTube: YouTube is popular among the younger generations and provides insight on media content, such as music, videos and tutorials. YouTube is a platform that relays messages to a much broader audience.

Instagram: This platform allows you to learn about your audience by means of pictures and videos. By utilizing hashtags you are adding visibility within the search feature.

Twitter: With the use of hashtags and newsfeeds, Twitter increases visibility especially when posts are retweeted.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn allows you to target by industry, company size, and on an individual basis.

Monica Miller

CMGT 541-C

References:

Bergemann, D., & Bonatti, A. (n.d.). Targeting in advertising markets: implications for offline versus online media. The Rand Journal of Economics (Blackwell), 42(3), 417–443. doi:10.1111/j.1756-2171.2011.00143.x

Kappel, M (2017, January 9). Find Your Customers With A Target Market Analysis. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekappel/2017/01/09/find-your-customers-with-a-target-market-analysis/#749743c96bab

Richter, F. (2014, May 23). How Marketers Use Social Media. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/chart/2289/how-marketers-use-social-media/