How to Effectively Reach Your Target Audience
Your target audience, no matter what industry you are in, is made up of humans.
That seems like a no brainer, right?
But for many organizations and industries, it isn’t. Too often, marketing and communications teams look at their audience as donors, business leaders, decision makers or consumers.
At the end of the day, these are real people, with lives just like you and me. So, when they see your ad or your social profile, they aren’t reading it as “Business Alec.”
They are scrolling it as humans—parents, friends, family members—and that means you, as a brand, need to produce content that engages these individuals.
That’s why this statement will always ring true: Content represents the very best way to showcase your brand to your target audience.
Whether you are a nonprofit, a consumer packaged goods company or in the B2B space, content marketing is the most effective way to tell your audience what problems you solve, how you solve them and what results you create.
Let’s take a look at the three types of content that exist and why it’s essential that you own your content strategy to reach your target audience.
Paid Media
Paid media refers to external marketing efforts that involve a paid placement, such as social media campaigns, Google Ads, digital advertising, billboards, TV or radio. This is your brand going out of the way to run a campaign to reach a new audience or to create brand awareness for your service offerings or solutions.
Earned Media 
Earned media represents publicity or exposure gained from methods other than paid advertising such as social media mentions, press releases, awards, online reviews, etc. Traditional earned media used to mean calling your local TV station or newspaper and having an article written about you. Now, earned media can include an advocacy campaign where you have all of your top donors and volunteers leave a review on your Facebook page.
Owned Media 
Owned media represents all of the content that you create as a brand, ranging from your website, to social media profiles, to your podcast, blog, newsletter, emails and more.
The key with this channel is in creating content that your target audience derives value from. And by focusing on this channel first, you can create substance for your audience in a plethora of ways. It could be you interviewing experts in your field for a podcast or YouTube show. It could be doing a Facebook Live once per week to answer your donors’ and volunteers’ questions.
While each of these is important for your overall marketing strategy, your own content gives you the opportunity to start a two-way conversation with your target audience.
When you start with creating content in your own backyard, you’re going to see more success with paid media, and you’re going to garner much more attention from an earned media point of view as well.
So, your challenge—if you’re reading this blog—is to take a look at your owned content strategy and make sure it plays an influential role in your overall marketing and fundraising efforts. And if you need help organizing all of this into a strategic marketing roadmap, sign up for a free and virtual strategy session with Firespring now.