You may think your marketing communications are reaching the right people, but are you sure? Have you taken a close look at who is actually following and engaging with your content on Facebook? On your website? On Instagram?
When auditing your communication channels, the first thing to focus on is your audience. Margo Hileman, our VP of Multi-Channel Strategy who has conducted countless communications audits, has a few considerations to keep in mind when it comes to analyzing these core groups:
Who is your target audience?
Without target audiences, marketing efforts are hard to measure effectively. In this current world of consumption habits, it’s common to have multiple target audiences. In fact, it’s encouraged if you have a product or service that has wide ranging appeal.
But who exactly are you trying to reach? Parents with young children? Business professionals with busy schedules? Quirky teenagers who love Tik Tok?
Whether your target audience is refined or broad, it’s an important benchmark to starting your audit. You can use the demographic insights provided by each platform to see how far (or spot-on!) your channels are from reaching those key stakeholders.
How do your target audiences consume content?
Not only is it important to determine if your message is reaching key audiences, but equally important is how it is reaching them.
Is this a younger demo scrolling on mobile? If so, are your images, videos and website optimized for mobile? Is your audience moms with young children? If so, are you leading with your main message to capture their attention as soon as possible? We know they don’t have any free time.
People have come to expect tailored content that fits their behaviors. Accept that and spend the time customizing — if not, you’ll fall behind.
Who is engaged? And how are they engaged?
If you’re spending hours of time producing content that isn’t getting any engagement, it’s not working. Look at what has and has not worked in the past.
Which blog on your website has received the most traffic? Once identified, consider repurposing that content or expanding upon it to keep the traffic coming. The data doesn’t lie — it’s clear that blog topic is of interest to your digital audience, so determine how to capitalize on it.
On social, each platform provides options with which your audiences can engage. Look at those engagements and if comments are what’s popular, encourage more calls to action. If shares are popular, consider more shareable content that will help expand your reach.
Once you learn more about your audience, a little research can help define your messaging. You can discover on what channels they prefer to interact, what subjects spark action and so much more.
Interested in the next step of this audit? Stay tuned for next week’s write-up on why your website is an essential part of a communications audit.
If interested in being notified when each part of the series is released, email us at [email protected] with subject line “Communications Audit” and we’ll drop in your inbox with an alert.