Location. Location. Location. The only thing that matters. It was key for ad placement in the past, it’s key now, and there’s no reason to think it will ever change. But with the disruptive nature of social media, how can you be sure you’re in the right “location”? Are you receiving the feedback you were expecting from social media? If not, it might not be your message, but where you place it. When you place billboards around the city, different locations trigger different results. It’s no different with social media, but socal media is a waaay bigger city. It’s a group the size of the planet. If you want your ad seen by your target audience, you have to bring your ad to them, or bring them to your ad.
That’s A Lot of People
So, there’re billions of people online. You want to know where they are? Everywhere. But not everyone is everywhere. You won’t find the same client base on Linkedin as you do on Facebook. They are two different platforms with two entirely different reasons for existing. Linkedin is the world’s largest professional networking site, while Facebook is the largest social media site in general. Many of the same people go to both sites, but for very different reasons.
So what social media sites target what type of audiences?
- Linkedin: the go-to place for professional networking. With one of the most complete sets of targeting tools, its ads enable you to pinpoint your target audience with filters like education, type of employment, job titles,
language, location and more. And what type of prospects are on Linkedin? Well, 76% of its active users are Caucasian, and 59% are male. 43% of Linkedin’s active users are within the ages of 35-54, and a whopping 37% have 6 figure incomes. - Facebook has 71% of online adults in the U.S. as active users. This is a big benefit to this social media giant, making it the 2nd most visited site on the internet. (guess who’s first?) Facebook is about 60% female. It’s largest age group is 18-34 accounting for 47.7% of its users. Facebook allows you to target your ads in incredible ways, from relationship status to personal interests, along with all the basic filtering options, making it one of the most successful online sites in ad revenue.
- Twitter: It’s one of the most popular sites for the younger people, with 66% of its users under the age of 24. Pew found that 22% of men use Twitter, while only 15% of women do. Twitter’s ad filters are currently keywords, language, location, age, device used, and similarities in who they follow. Getting active is the key to helping you access more potential clients.
- Pinterest: In just four years Pinterest has attracted over 250 million active users, and is skewed heavily towards women, who make up 86% of its active users. It’s also one of the oldest user bases with 55% between 30-59. 49% make over 50k in annual income. For targeting, Pinterest offers “promoted pins” which are a way of advertising within the site. Promoting a pin allows you to target audiences with the filtering options of language, location, age, and device used.
So where do your potential clients gather and who are they? Are they first time buyers, or candidates for refi? In need of subprime? Are they a combination of many types?
Much like many other marketing tools, to be successful with social media you must be willing to invest time and effort. It’s not a billboard that goes up and you forget. Social media is everything, all the time. That takes a commitment, but the payoffs are actual, the returns are real.
Start by being noticeable on as many sites as you can. If you need a short list, you might focus on the 4 mentioned here. Learn the basics of the Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest marketing tools. Get active and join the discussion, because your message needs to be in front of your target audience.
Social is everything, Social is everyone, are they getting your message?
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