How can you target different buyer personas on social media?

And gain insights into your buyer personas' social media communication patterns, including their: - choice of language, - content preferences, - peak engagement times, - responses to thought leaders' content, - and the kind of information that truly resonates with them. Understanding these aspects, alongside demographic and behavioral data, can empower you to not only craft more effective social media advertising campaign but also level up your status as an industry leader.

In reality, people place greater trust in their personal networks compared to the information they encounter on a random post. As a result, they are increasingly turning from Google, Bing, or Yahoo to alternative platforms such as LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, Podcasts, YouTube, Slack, and Discord communities to seek guidance on prioritizing initiatives, selecting products, choosing who to follow, and more. And that's why social media overtook paid search as an advertising channel, growing 25% YoY.

It's actually really difficult to target different buyer personas at the same time, because you either have to harmonise your content for each or mix up your content - this does dilute your message. The GOOD NEWS is social selling is more than just content, it's relationship building, so if you are targeting two or more audiences, you rely less on the content than say content creators would. I would try to cater to your audiences through content, but perhaps set specific days for the different audiences. I'd also recommend using YouTube to see what content relevant to your audiences is performing - it can be handy to study other platforms for what is working and factor that into your content strategy.

The reality is that Social Media Marketing is powered by your people, not just your content. It means your ability to build a strong community, not just a piece of content that relevant for a specific time. So, if you are on LinkedIn, make your people the ones who will advocate for your brand, recommend your products or services, and even defend your reputation in times of crisis. Or if you are on Reddit, success won't solely depend on crafting eye-catching posts or memes, but rather on fostering meaningful connections and engaging with the diverse community that inhabits this platform. People trust only their personal networks - connect your people with your target audiences on social media!

We all know volume is key, and this is where ChatGPT is great. You can get most of the material generated using some of these AI tools as rough drafts (again, more of a recommendation for an individual contributor using social selling rather than someone in marketing). Nice thing about this in my industry, there are many certifications that I can use as prompt specifications to drill down to a different user persona I’m targeting.

To be effective with social selling, you need to go beyond generic personas and shape your approach around individuals. Sure, personas are a great place to start for your overall thought leadership strategy and for personal brand, but to build meaningful connections on social media you need to go deeper than generic buyer traits and discover what really drives your prospects and customers.

Personalization is not just a nice-to-have but a necessity. However, personalization on social media a way harder than on email marketing or paid search ads. So on social media, your messaging should be crafted to inspire individuals to engage in meaningful discussions related to the topics you share. This engagement not only fosters a sense of community but also connects people looking for similar answers or support.

On LinkedIn, there are often specific groups with hundreds to thousands of professionals in your target buyer persona. First, connect with the top engaging posters in these groups and make sure to follow them to be notified of their posts in that group. In a sales capacity, my strategy is different than someone with marketing KPIs. From here, whenever they post in this group, I add an insight as a comment. I also post myself, as engagement on my comments or posts is a new chance to reach out, make a connection, and make my pitch if the engager is indeed a qualified opportunity for my business. ??

Someone creates posts on LinkedIn with 10000+ likes without real value, and another increases his company revenue by 10000% with a post having only 10 likes. When it comes to monitoring your social media performance, the only metric you should focus on is your MRR/ARR. And if social media analytics tools help you understand what type of content brings you more engagement, revenue analytics helps you understand what type of resources make better performance in your social selling efforts.

Know what your real KPIs are. What I mean by that: You should be building your LinkedIn content strategy around generating revenue rather than the marketing KPIs if you’re in a different department. I, for example, am in sales. It’s great to have high engagement on my posts (likes, comments, and impressions), but my focus, and the focus I teach to other members of my team who want to leverage social selling on LinkedIn, is bringing people to our calendars. My question is not “how many people can I get to see this post?”, it’s “how can I get someone who just needed a little nudge to speak with me or a colleague about (my product)? What material, content, or detail can I share that helps get them to the point of raising their hand?”