Evolve your marketing

Time to evolve your communications approach?

29/09/2020 12:54:01
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In the week that Sir David Attenborough says “Hello Instagram” for the first time, we take a look at how identifying the right communications platforms is key to the success of any campaign, especially in today’s digital world.
 
On Thursday, Sir David posted his first Instagram video and became the fastest Instagram user to gain a million followers in just four hours 44 minutes. He currently has a colossal 4.5m global followers as we type this post. New to him, and admitting that social media is not his natural habitat, why would the 94-year-old take to a platform which is predominantly used by the under 35s? It is precisely because of the demographic of Instagram users that makes it a useful platform to help get his messages across.
 
In an interview with the BBC, Sir David explained: “Saving our plant is now a communications challenge”.

Understanding that communication is key, he has ventured beyond his comfort zone and assessed, or likely been advised on, the best ways to reach those who he believes can help turn the tide on climate change.  
 
Your objectives may not be to save the planet, or at least not yet, but when was the last time you assessed whether the communications platforms you are using are reaching your target audiences and making a difference to your business?

If not, perhaps it’s time to take a leaf out of Sir David’s book and take stock.
 

Know your audiences
 

The more you know about your audiences, the better you can plan and tailor communications.
You can find out more about your audiences in a number of places. Your own detailed CRM records, audience research or surveys into their relationships with your products or services, and profiling tools such as YouGov are only the start of what is possible to learn about your target audience.
 
The key things to learn about your customers are to find out who makes the purchasing decisions, what are their key demographics – geography, age, job role, interests and what communications channels they subscribe to. Having this information, rather than making assumptions, will help you determine which platforms are best for your business.
 
By identifying and segmenting your target audiences, you can not only determine what content is going to engage them, but also which platforms will help deliver the best results. This in turn allows you to deliver targeted marketing campaigns and focus your resources on activities that will produce the best results and return on investment.

Choosing the right platform


Once you know more about your audiences and their behaviour, you can assess which platforms will best reach them. Whether it is traditional or online news outlets; social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook – or Instagram; experiential where you’d meet your audience in shops or at exhibitions; via email campaigns; Google ads etc.
 
The list is endless…but your budget is not. So, it’s important that you do your research upfront, find out as much as you can about the audience reach of each platform – there is plenty of information out there on circulation figures, demographics of readership, user information. You want to find the platforms which provide the best fit for your brand and will leave little room for wastage rather than taking a scattergun approach where your efforts will be missed or be irrelevant.
 
And once you find the right fit for your business, use the tools available to you to monitor and reassess whether they continue to be useful and relevant.
 

Be brave


We could all learn a thing or two from Sir David, not least that we should be brave and go into uncharted territories to achieve a desired outcome if that is where your audience is. Don’t just stick with what you know because it has delivered results in the past. Find out what will work best for you and your business right now. There is no better time than the present.
 

If you need a hand with exploring communications channels that will support your business objectives, please get in touch with one of our experienced communications consultants.

 

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