In marketing, if you simply “throw something out there and see what sticks,” you can spend a lot of time and money on unsuccessful efforts. That’s why knowing your audience and your goals intimately before producing your marketing content is such an important step. Once you know who you’re speaking to, you can personalize your content to best reach that audience. Otherwise, the piece you hope will resonate with everyone might not resonate with anyone at all.
Here are 3 key considerations when personalizing your visual content.
Age of Your Target Audience
Generation Z isn’t waiting around to read blocks of text — they spend just 4.4 seconds browsing 100 words, which is roughly the length of this paragraph. They also practically live online, with 89% of teens ages 13–17 reporting they are online “several times a day” or “almost constantly.” This means your marketing for Gen Z must be dominated by visuals, using text only when necessary to explicate the meaning. In other words, visuals must drive every piece of content you create, with the text taking a backseat.
Of course, you can’t use just any visuals. Think of the preferred music of Gen Z compared to Baby Boomers. What about their preferred movies? Chances are, their preferences vary quite a bit, which goes to show that content marketing is far from one-size-fits-all. Customize your approach to creating visual content according to the audience you’re targeting. For example, your marketing for Gen Z might be video-based and trend-driven, while your marketing for Baby Boomers may incorporate banner ads and more classic approaches.
Preferred Platforms of Your Audience
Hand-in-hand with developing a tone and approach for your audience is an examination of what platforms they rely on for information and entertainment. Gen Z expresses some clear preferences here, as well.
So 82% of teens use Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram more frequently than any other apps. Those are visual-heavy apps with a strong focus on video. Use information like this to pick the right platform for your content; this, in turn, can help you choose the right medium and marketing strategy for your audience.
B2C vs. B2B Content Marketing
The above sections have primarily described considerations for business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, but many organizations depend on business-to-business (B2B) marketing instead. What then?
While it may be surprising, the process of catering to your business audience is similar. Businesses have personas just like people, and you’re also likely to be targeting specific people within a business, such as CFOs, CTOs, or owner/operators. Analyze what makes those people tick, and you’re that much closer to honing your messaging and medium.
Curious what visual communication can do for you?
CFOs and owners want to see the ROI; CTOs want to see the efficiency gains; HR wants to see improvements in engagement and job satisfaction. The way you visualize information that’s relevant to them may depend on how much time your audience has, and where they spend that time. A strong insights firm can help you determine your target audience and discover the best approach. This applies to you B2C companies, too!
Ultimately, you probably don’t speak to a child the same way you speak to your boss, and likewise, you can’t speak to every audience in the same way. By catering your messaging, mediums, and platforms to the audience you need, you’ll be on your way to getting the results you want.
