Its Week 3 of our course and a fundamental piece of work that is required in digital marketing is to identify who your customers are and where they are online.  At first glance it seems a daunting task.  The traditional method of segmenting a target audience into primary and secondary target audiences still applies.   In addition it is essential that you get data that informs you where they are online, how they use social media platforms, view media and use mobile devices

You can begin your search online with sites such as Comscore, IAB. Amarach and Comreg.  These sites publish research on Irish consumers and their internet usage.   Setting up online surveys and polls is another way to get this information.  Of course nothing beats picking up the phone or having a discussion with your existing customers to ask them:   how they watch their favourite TV programmes, how they share with their friends and what they are doing differently with new technology.  With this information you can produce a profile of your different target audience segments.  This is best done by creating a ‘personna’  for each segment.  Create a storyboard that sets out in pictures who your customer is.

This will clearly show what age they are, what type of clothes they wear, what music they listen to, what books they read, who are their favourite celebrities and influencers.  What sports they play and follow, what car they drive and holidays they go on. Include what technology they use, how they use mobile phones and tablets, what websites they visit, what they search for online and how they use mobile when shopping. In addition to a storyboard, Hubspot, an American online marketing company have developed a great template for doing this work. Buyer Persona Template .  Use this template to see how you would describe your customer.  It will help you to answer how they interact online and how your product or service can help them.

Matching your customers’ needs with your company’s products and services requires curiosity, determination and a willingness to go the extra mile.  Spend time seeking this information out.

On week 4 we will be looking at Social Media and how large and small companies are using these platforms.