The PRSA International Conference, ICON 2020, was a virtual gathering of some of the best PR, marketing, digital and corporate communications professionals from around the world. Held in October 2020, the event’s theme, “navigating a world disrupted,” gave attendees a chance to learn about how all types of market changes—from corporate crisis to pandemics to competitive pressures—can be opportunities for learning and advancement.
Dan Grech, the founder of BizHack Academy, lead a session that focused on the types of digital tools companies can use to target the right buyers online, as part of the ICON’s Technology Section Symposium.
During his presentation, Grech defined how the traditional marketing concepts of audience segmentation and targeting can translate into the digital realm. He discussed the free tools available to more easily identify your ideal customers online, meaning the kind of customer that buys, tells friends and comes back wanting more. He also touched on how to validate your product-market fit and attract new customers.
The Five Pillars of Digital Campaigns
Grech’s “The Five Pillars of Digital Campaigns,” is a methodology for digital marketing. The five pillars include: set a campaign objective, define your ideal target audience, drive action with an irresistible offer, capture targets with a thumb-stopping video and generate clicks with a compelling message.
Much of the session focused on finding the ideal target audience and the importance of segmentation. Grech stressed that an organization’s target audiences should be definable, findable, actionable, profitable, and have growth potential. To further segment audiences at a more granular level, start by asking key questions that identify where the audiences exist, who they really are and what they like.
For example, Netflix segments users by viewing habits, which has become a reliable predictor for future video requests. Instead of using traditional TV demographics, Netflix uses taste “clusters” which analyze which Netflix programs people with a similar taste tend to watch. Grech explained that Netflix has “not only created a very personalized viewing experience through the use of taste clusters but they have also become a powerhouse in content creation.”
Another example was Cambridge Analytica’s “Constellation of Interests,” where Facebook insights were used to find people sympathetic to the alt-right through correlated interests.
The segmentation approach these brands use can be replicated within an agency or organization. “You're going to look for the constellation of interests that are more likely to drive your ideal customer to click on that ad to make that purchase. That's really the core of finding your ideal target audience,” he said.
However, he cautioned that if you define a segment but have no way to find them (online), it’s worthless: “It does not help if your ideal customer is not findable through online data.”
A good way to think about effective segmentation and audience targeting is to use the Goldilocks principle. Meaning your audience segments should be “not too specific, not too broad, but right in the middle.”
One of tools for finding your audience online is Facebook ads. Grech recommends Facebook as one of the best places to start. He gave an example of a pet store using the Audience Insights function, in order to explain the importance of targeted messaging.
“If you're running an ad targeting ‘dog owners’, you risk your messaging not being specific enough to motivate both Chihuahua owners and Rottweiler owners. You might ultimately sell them the sam
e product, but by targeting them differently with unique messaging,” Grech explained.
In order to more easily uncover audience search behavior, Grech recommended utilizing free tools such as Google Trends. There are a number of ways to use Google Trends insights such as measuring br
and popularity, communicating more profitably, identifying new markets, tracking technology trends or preparing a client proposal. Google Keyword Planner is another way to determine related search terms and Google Autocomplete (predictive search).
Grech encouraged attendees to look for opportunities, even in the midst of disruption. He quoted John F. Kennedy regarding the word "crisis" in Chinese: “When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”
To close, Grech highlighted that “the danger to our businesses into our livelihoods has never been more manifest, but the part that we sometimes forget to focus on or to recognize is the opportunity that comes in crisis.”
Author note: Special thank you to Facundo Luque for reporting on behalf of the PRSA Technology session.