What will consumers say about your brand, once they’ve discovered it?

As marketers, we hear buzz phrases like: “know your audience,” and “positive consumer experience” all the time. However, before you execute a concept that involves social media, you actually will need to understand your target audience in order to effect their behavior. And despite current perceptions, this has less to do with who they are. But rather what they do, instead.

So, if its really the what. Then, what, are they looking for exactly?

Well, to start with: searcher behavior acts as a cheat sheet of sorts:
– Google Analytics: gives you insights into what drives traffic to your website
– Adwords: looks into actual search terms (a bit deeper)
– Google Trends: gives you insights into trending keyword themes

The things we learn using these type of analytics can help us create keyword lists, optimize paid search campaigns and achieve greater value from search engine optimization initiatives.

Now that we know what they want, what will they say, once they get there?

In today’s social climate, consumers who have experienced your brand most likely have something to say about it. So you’ll want to manage, or monitor the conversation. And ideally, engage positively with your consumers.

Great tools that to help us be good listeners:
– Google Alerts: e-mail updates that are sent to you for whatever keyword or phrase you choose
– Twitter Search: track real time news and discover trends with hashtags
– Hootsuite: ultimate Twitter toolbox – save searches into tabs to monitor keywords and phrases

Understanding what people are saying and how they perceive us is crucial to developing an online marketing strategy. This may impact the overall goals and you may find out that you need to change perception (or choose new keywords.)

Finding out what your consumer’s fears and goals are is challenging. However, when you take the time to really understand your audience and therefore use that knowledge to create meaningful content, you will cut through the clutter, standing above the rest. And ultimately, you will inspire them to connect with your brand in a relevant way.

Tags | searcher behavior target audience social media engage with your customers