Use Facebook, Instagram videos to build an audience

Lack of visibility and ever-changing algorithms on social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram make it incredibly difficult to tap into new audiences. Videos on Facebook and Instagram can be a great way to build an audience, as well as to kick off your customer journey…but how do you get started?

Personas take priority

Personas are your end consumer. They represent your target audience. Basically, you want to personify your target audience. Beyond just the title and some short demographics of your ideal consumer(s), you should dive into the who, what and why of your personas.

This persona-building is critical to success with videos on Facebook and Instagram. Your ideal consumer isn’t going to buy from you on the first touchpoint, so it’s all about crafting a social media video funnel that builds trust.

Make sure you’re set up for success

Social media video impressions and interactions can advise future content and targeting, but only if you have your tracking systems set up. Whether you’re using a UTM code, a Facebook pixel to retarget individuals or a tracking system for some other metric, you need to spend some time on the front-end making sure everything is ready to track.

Focus on short, high-quality videos

Brainstorm videos that allow you to hit your target personas with valuable content (i.e. recipes, tutorials, introductions, etc.). This is the first part of their customer journey and it’s critical to build trust on social media—not to make a sale. Make your videos useful and focus on building awareness for your brand name and overall service, product or offer.

Related:3 tips to crush it on Instagram in 2019

Retarget your audience

Once you’ve created a few videos and gotten some engagements (clicks, “likes,” follows, etc.), you’ll want to make more of what people liked, and see content will move people closer to conversion. With the right systems (like Google Analytics and Facebook pixels), it is possible to track who engaged with your videos, who visited your website and then re-market to them.

This is where conversion content comes in, and you can start sharing content that poses your brand’s service or products as a solution to your persona’s needs. And, because they know the value you’ve provided before, they trust you and are ready to click “Buy”!

Tell a story that speaks to your ideal audience

By starting with personas and creating video content that is designed to introduce you to your ideal audience, you can finally build new audiences on Facebook and Instagram. When you connect with these wider audiences, you can test what people respond to and better target them with content that is designed to convert. It all starts with building those personas and creating video content that connects with your ideal audience on platforms they enjoy, and with the content they love consuming.

To learn more about building new audiences with social media, V9 Digital walks you through their social media strategy for a client, ToTable. Learn how they crafted Facebook and Instagram videos to build brand awareness and an engaged audience for ToTable, which led to later conversions.