Today, every business owner wants to take their business online. They recognize the power of social media as a game-changer for their business. But, not everyone succeeds in leveraging social media in the best possible way. And, of the key reasons behind that is, they lack a clear picture of their target audience.

A well-crafted audience profile not only forms the basis of an effective social media strategy, but is a vital component of any marketing activity. Defining your ideal audience is that essential first step, which if missed, can lead to poor and ‘budget-wasting’ outcomes.

So, if you’re looking to reap better results from your social media and marketing efforts, the first thing you need to focus on is building your ideal audience profile. I’ll explain how you can do that with this simple step-by-step audience creation process.

1. Identify your prospects

Who is your ideal audience? The first step is where you’ll figure out the answer to this question.

If you have an existing customer base/following, start from there. Pick 10-20 customers and collect as much demographic data as you can about them. If you don’t have customers yet, no worries. Think about the people who are likely to derive the maximum benefit from your product/service.

2. Create a rough persona

Now it’s time to create an axiom profile or a rough persona. Document everything you know about your existing customers or ideal prospects.

How old are they? How much money do they make? What are their interests, preferences, and buying behaviors? Which social media platforms do they use? Collect as much demographic data as you can and remember, the more specific you get, the better you’ll be able to craft your persona. For example, let’s say you’re targeting entry and mid-level marketing professionals, you could list down their most common traits and possible behaviors, such as:

• Aged 25-35 years
• Reads Forbes and digital marketing blogs
• Follows marketing influencers like Neil Patel, Gary V etc. 
• Attends marketing events and webinars 
• Active on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook
• Goals and challenges include lead generation, conversion, ROI creation, etc.

Alternatively, you could a simple tool as MakeMyPersona (by HubSpot) that allows you to create a rough customer persona in few minutes.

Also, Read Facebook Ads Strategies that drive 5X Percent Results

3. Understand the targeting options on social media platforms

Every social media platform has its own features and targeting options. And that’s one of the most important things to consider before you begin to craft your audience persona.

To do this, create ad accounts on the social media platforms that your audience prefers — these are the platforms you should be spending your money on. Get a thorough understanding of the ecosystem of those platforms. For example, as shown in the image below, you can narrow down your target audience on Facebook using a host of detailed targeting options such as a user’s educational and financial background, their work, interests, behaviors, and so on.

Similarly, on LinkedIn, you can sort out your ideal audience by their company, demographics, education, job experience, interests and traits (image below). 

Additionally, LinkedIn offers you the option to select audience templates, which are specific pre-made audiences that you can target for advertising.

I have just talked about two examples here. But the point is, all social media platforms have their own ecosystems that you need to explore before diving into creating ads and campaigns on these platforms.

Also, Read 6 Simple social media hacks to convert contacts to contracts

4. Segment audience based on common aspirations

This step is all about splitting your target audience into different groups based on their goals and aspirations. Because aspirations are what drive consumption and motivate people to choose a brand or business, this is a vital part of the process.

Start by listing down the possible aims and ambitions that will convince your audience to buy from you. For example, at Digitechniks, we offer digital marketing education to people who want to be educated in this field. Now, if I list down the common aspirations for people to learn digital marketing, I can come up with the following categories:

Category 1: People who want to build a career in digital marketing

Category 2: Business owners who want to learn digital marketing to utilize it for their business growth

Category 3: Marketing professionals who want to upskill or improve their craft to create better results for their clients
Then, I can go ahead and segment my target audience under these categories.

5. Define target audience using customer avatar variables

The final step is to put your segmented audiences under customer avatar variables like age, gender, education, professional designation, marital status, parental status, social media platforms, etc. (see image below)

Also, Read 5 Growth Hacks To Build Relevant Social Media Followers

Summing up

The beauty of this 5 step process lies in its simplicity. It starts with mere assumptions and rough estimations and with every step, it brings you closer and closer to your ideal audience persona.

Today, businesses of all sizes are flocking to Facebook with the hopes of boosting their brand’s reach and growth. However, many of those who invest in Facebook ads, fail to see a meaningful return. Why?

Because it’s easy to start pushing out Facebook ads. But getting the desired results from those ads? Not so easy!

Diving Right in With Facebook Ads is Not a Smart Strategy

Small business owners who are looking to get started with FB ads are often clueless about what are the things to be taken care of before getting started.

In my experience of working with SMB clients as well as even some bigger brands, I have seen them stumbling into the same pitfall. They jump on the Facebook ads bandwagon without doing the much-needed prep up.

There are two big issues with this approach.

Firstly, if you don’t take care of the essentials before putting your business out there on Facebook, you risk coming across as an amateur. So even if you’re a legacy brand which is in business for years, you might be perceived as a rookie brand in comparison to someone who is new but has taken care of certain important factors before launching on Facebook. If your audience does not take you seriously, they won’t buy from you.

The second problem is that a careless approach to Facebook ads is a wastage of your hard-earned money, time, and resources. You will keep pushing ads without getting the returns you desire and deserve.

Related Article– Facebook Ads Strategies that drive 5X Percent Results

So how do you prepare before diving into the world of Facebook ads? Here are some key steps you need to take.

1. Set up your Facebook business page

Before you can create your Facebook business page, you need to be logged into your personal Facebook account. But don’t worry, any information or activity on your personal account will not be publicly visible on your business page.

Once you’re logged in, go to facebook.com/pages/create.

2. Set your profile image

Next, upload the profile image for your Facebook page. It is critical to create a good visual first impression, so make sure that the photo you choose is of high quality and depicts your brand in a way that it is easily recognized by your prospects and target audience.

This is why I recommend you use your logo as your profile image, preferably in 180×180 px size.

3. Put up your cover image

A cover image also contributes towards making your brand more identifiable. The ideal size for a cover image is 640×360 px. As you can see from the image below, you can not only upload photo, but also video as your cover.

4. Fill out the ‘About’ section

A complete ‘About’ section of a business page speaks volumes about the company. Try to not leave out any information because Facebook is often the first place a customer goes to know more about your business, so having it all there is important.

Make sure to provide all the contact details a customer might want to know, including your phone number, website, and email. Also update your story, which could be a snippet of the ‘About us’ section on your website.

If you have a physical store or office, make your location correctly on the map. It’s also key to add the business hours. Make sure it matches the hours you have on your Google My Business (GMB) page as it appears in search results when someone is looking you up (here’s how to set up your GMB page).

Pro tip: Don’t forget to claim your username and vanity URL, as it is an important branding step and tells people where to find you on Facebook.

5. Configure the CTA button

Adding a call-to-action to your page gives you a lead capture opportunity that you shouldn’t miss. To add a call-to-action button to your page:

1. Go to your Page.
2. Click + Add a Button below your page’s cover photo.
3. Select a button from the dropdown menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
4. Click ‘save’.

You can choose from a bunch of options. Select what works best for your business.

Once the button has been created, you can test your button:

1. Click your button.
2. Select test button.

6. Get at least 500 fans on your Facebook page

This is for the simple reason that without enough social proof, your ads will fail to instil trust and generate interest in your audience. Without enough followers on your Facebook page, your prospective customers will hesitate to buy from you.

So how do you achieve this? Read our blog which offers 5 useful growth hacks to build your tribe on social media.

7. Have 5-10 posts on your business page

If your Facebook page’s timeline is a blank canvas, it reflects poorly on your brand as it gives an impression that either you’re a new business or an inactive one. Hence, it’s important to have at least 5-10 content pieces before you jump into advertising on the platform.

Pro tip: Make sure to have 30-40% of the content as live images or videos, instead of just having stock images and/or graphics. This gives your business an authentic feel, adds a human touch to your brand, and makes it more relatable and credible for your audience

8. Get reviews on your business page

Facebook lets customers review businesses and rate them 1-5 stars. These appear on the business page and play a vital role in shaping a prospective customer’s perception about your brand. According to a study, 80% of consumers prefer to buy from local businesses with positive reviews on their Facebook Page.

9. Show off a minimum of 15 Google reviews

It is likely that people who have seen your Facebook ads and are interested in your product/service might want to research you on Google because it is often the first place a customer goes to when they want to look up a business online. This is when you can turn them in your favour with the help of customer reviews. The more positive reviews you have, the better.

Also, Read 6 Simple social media hacks to convert contacts to contracts
Wrapping up

Arming yourself with these prerequisites significantly improves your chances of success with Facebook ads. Follow these tips before you begin to advertise on Facebook.