Reaching the right audience on social media is essential for building community and clarifying what type of content you create on social media.
No matter your niche (travel, food, fashion, etc.), as a content creator, one of your main goals is to reach your target audience. If your passion is food and sharing easy meals for two, your goal may be to attract other couples, small families, or roommates who want to cook with one another. If you love to care for your houseplants, your target audience may be first-time house plant owners or people interested in adding plants to their new space.
Setting up your profile and optimizing your content can help you reach your target audience on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc.
Here are a few tips on setting up your social media profile to help you reach your target audience:
Include Your Name On Your Social Media Profile
As a content creator, you want to ensure people know your name and username. Your target audience may have started following you because of a specific interest or your niche. Sharing your name on your social media page helps your community understand and connect with you.
Include Your Mission Statement And/Or Your Content Pillars
Whether you include a shortened version of your mission statement or include your content pillars (or niches), adding this vital information to your social media profile is critical. You are signaling to your current and potential audience what type of content they can expect from you.
People and potential brand partners evaluate your page in less than 10 seconds. Make it easy for your target audience to determine whether or not they’ll find your content and page informative, entertaining, helpful, or aspirational they’re looking for in your account.
Your Location (City/State)
If you want to build a community with an audience in your region, adding where you live helps. You can add your city, state, or general area.
If you’re a Southern California foodie content creator, you know Southern California is a large region. You may include “OC/LA” on your Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube profile if you showcase restaurants around Orange County or Los Angeles. If you’re from San Diego, you may include San Diego. If you highlight restaurants in the beach cities, you may list out the beach cities like Manhattan Beach or San Clemente in your profile.
Your Email Address
For your information, when people look at Instagram on a desktop, there is no email button. By including your email in your bio, people browsing Instagram, TikTok, or any other social media platform on their desktop will know how to reach you directly.
Now that you’ve updated your profile to ensure you reach your target audience on social media, here are a few tips on
optimizing your content:
Use Relevant Hashtags In Your Social Media Posts
Whether posting videos on TikTok or carousel posts on Instagram, it’s helpful to use relevant hashtags in your posts. Hashtags on social media platforms today help categorize your content. They’re essentially labels that allow you to tell your social media platform what the video, photo, posts, etc., is all about.
For Instagram, you want to use a smaller number of hashtags related to the content. For example, if you are a travel content creator showcasing USA travel destinations, the hashtags you might use in your reels or carousel posts might include:
- #usatravels
- #usatravel
- #ustravel
- #travelbucketlist
- #usaroadtrip
Geotagging Your Location In Posts
By tagging the city or state you reside in, you allow your target audience to discover your content. If you aren’t comfortable tagging your exact town, you can tag the nearby large city or state.
Call Out Your Target Audience In Your Content
One practical tip you can incorporate into your content today is mentioning your target audience in your photos, captions, short-form videos, and more.
If you are a makeup influencer, the first three seconds of your Instagram reel might read, “A makeup beginner’s guide to angled brushes.” In the copy and title of the video, someone new to makeup knows that this video is for them.
If you are an outdoorsy content creator, the hook for your TikTok video might read, “Every hiker needs these!” A potential hiker or someone interested in hiking may stop to watch the rest of the video if they know it aligns with their interests.