How does my Target Market Interact on Social Media?

We all hope to understand this question, we need to know who our audience is before we can answer!

My definition of a target market is

The specific group of consumers a company/brand aims to sells their products or services and directs their marketing efforts.

To analyze your target market, you need to understand the demographics, psychographics and segmentations first.

Demographics

Look for the following information. I had written a white paper on the social media usage of small business owners in NH in 2013

Sex: Male

Race: White

Age: 50.3

Education Level: College

Income Level: $59,378

Occupation: Small Business Owner

Marital Status: Married

Average Family Size: 2 Adults & 2 Children

Urban, Suburban, Rural: Rural

Psychographics

You have who your target market is, now you need to look at why they buy. I typically use the PRIZMs provided by Nielsen data. You can input specific zip codes and they will give you demographic information along with segmentations on that target market. I suggest you play around with this site to provide further insight into your consumers.

Segmentation

This also helps answer why your target market purchases.

Geographic

Customer location, do they buy because of their location?

Demographic

Do they buy because of their age, gender, education etc.?

Behavioral

Rate of usage, benefits/loyalty status, readiness to buy.

Psychographics

Do they buy because of their lifestyle, personality, social class?

Groundswell Tool

I mentioned the Groundswell Tool in previous posts. This shows how social media users interact online.

Creators

Publish webpages, publish or maintain a blog, upload videos to social media sites, publish social media content.

Critics

Comment of blogs, post ratings and reviews, comment on social media posts.

Collectors

Use RSS and tag web pages. (think Pinterest, bookmarking webpages, and saving Facebook posts)

Joiners

Use social media sites.

Spectators

Read blogs, watch UG videos, podcasts, and content.

Inactives

None of these activities only signed up for an account.

COBRA Motivations

The consumer online brand related activities (COBRAs) tell us how social media users are motived to interact online.

COBRA Type	Examples of brand-related social media use
Consuming	• Viewing brand-related video • Listening to brand-related audio • Watching brand-related pictures • Following threads on online brand community forums • Reading comments on brand profiles on social network sites • Reading product reviews • Playing branded online videogames • Downloading branded widgets • Sending branded virtual gifts/cards
Contributing	• Rating products and/or brands • Joining a brand profile on a social network site • Engaging in branded conversations, e.g. on online brand community forums or social network sites • Commenting on brand-related weblogs, video, audio, pictures, etc.
Creating	• Publishing a brand-related weblog • Uploading brand-related video, audio, pictures or images • Writing brand-related articles • Writing product reviews

Within the three motivations: Consuming, Contributing, and Creating, you can understand what it motivating the Groundswell Tool user types.

Consuming: Collectors & Spectators

Contributing: Critics & Joiners

Creating: Creators & Critics