If you’re an agency that works regularly with clients outside your hometown, you might find it daunting to research the most popular spots in their area. Any native Philadelphian knows the best places to go, but if you aren’t from the area, it can be tricky to figure out. Every venue, business, and cheesesteak joint is going to say they are the best in town, but how can you tell for sure which one is truly the location your audience loves?
Sure, you can rely on Google My Business to inform your local content and find restaurants that have five stars and the best reviews. Or, you can count on the GRP’s (Gross Rating Point) that a radio station provides to determine where you want to run your spot. But, does that really give you insight on your client’s audience or the general public in that specific area?
This is where Facebook’s Audience Insights can help! Audience Insights allow you to look for general demographic information of any given city, but it also allows you to refine your audience based on the interests of Facebook users. Let’s take the example of a client in the sports industry and based in Philadelphia. Set Philadelphia as your location and then layer on people with “Sports” interests to get the full picture on the most qualified audience.
Here are some insider tips for using Audience Insights effectively:
General Demographics
Target audiences can be based off stereotypical preconceptions provided by a client that may end up being incorrect.
Example: If your client is targeting Philadelphia sports fans, they may want to heavily target men. However, by using Audience Insights, you can see that 51 percent of any sports audience that uses Facebook in Philadelphia are women. This extra bit of knowledge can save you from missing out on a large chunk of potential customers!
Best Places in Town
Facebook Insights also offers a section called “Top Categories,” which is a list of different venues and businesses that users within your targeting criteria have shown interest in on Facebook.
Example: A client may want to push pre-sale season tickets for their spring sport in the winter months, but not know which fall/winter sport is most popular to advertise with. According to Facebook, Philadelphia sports fans top “Sports Teams” page likes include the Flyers, who play primarily in the winter.
Something to keep in mind: This information is based solely on people who use Facebook, so this might not work for everyone. It can be used to help inform a new approach for a campaign that may be running stale or to help an advertiser who may not know the best place to start when developing a plan for an out-of-state client. There are an abundance of possibilities and ideas that can spark from using Audience Insights… So, dive in and play around! The only result that can come from doing so is having more insight into your client’s audience!
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