You probably already know that positively connecting with your core target audience in multiple ways ensures their loyalty to your brand. Maybe your print and online marketing efforts are working well for you, but adding social media will give you a winning edge over your competition. But how do you find out which social media platforms your top customers are using?

Here are the smartest ways to target your top customers with social media:

First, survey your best customers to find out everything you possibly can about their social media habits. You can survey them online via email (surveymonkey.com) or your website (pop up forms). You can ask questions when they make a purchase or request their contact information so you can give them a call later. If you incentivize them, you’ll probably receive more interaction and feedback. Be creative. If there’s another tactic that will be well received and get you the data you need, try it.

Next, sort your top customers into groups. Then list all the demographics of each group. Fill in information such as age, gender, income level, location, what motivates them to buy, which social media platforms do they use the most, etc. This will give you hints on how to best market to each group and on which social media platforms they spend the majority of their time.

Then study the top 2 or 3 social media platforms that the majority of your top customers use. Search the analytics and demographics of those 2 or 3 social media platforms. Also research best practices for using each. Review comments and content of other businesses similar to yours to see how they are using the platform and how they are interacting with customers.

Next, focus on the top 1 or 2 social media platforms and spend consistent marketing time on each one weekly. Once you’ve consistently posted and interacted for 3-6 months through the platform, take a look at your return on investment. Keep track of your time and measure your interactions, conversions, and contacts. If it’s working well, keep it up. If it’s not providing more business, tweak it or spend less time on the platform.

Obviously different industries will find different success with different platforms. Apparel, shoes and consumables might find more success on Facebook and Pinterest, while professional services and marketing businesses find success on LinkedIn and Google. Restaurants and entertainment companies might utilize twitter and yelp to further their brand. Whether you have one of these companies or not, once you know the habits of your core target market and where they spend the majority of their online social time, connecting with them will be much easier.

After you survey, sort, and search, solicit smartly

by asking your current customers to share their stories about your store, company or brand on your website and through their favorite social media platform. When they do, be sure to thank them, interact with them and make them feel special. You’ll learn invaluable information about how your core target market interacts and thinks about your brand. You’ll then be able to use this information in positive ways to build your brand and your sales.

Any questions? Or are you already finding success with facebook, twitter, pinterest, LinkedIn or something else? We would love to read about it. Please connect with us here.