The Importance of Target Marketing

When I started working on the Storyteller's Cottage's marketing plan, one of the first things I noticed was that our email engagement was really low, probably because we were spamming everyone with weekly emails about things they probably didn’t care about. So, I took on the project of dividing our entire email list into target market groups, based on which events and classes they had participated in. When new people signed up for our mailing list, either online or in-person, they specified which kinds of emails they'd like to receive. I created an e-blast content calendar categorized by group. This way, each group would receive emails and newsletters with information relevant to them, so they were more likely to open the emails and click through them. This also meant that each group received fewer emails every month, so they're less likely to feel spammed.

I divided up our social media pages in a similar way, based on who was following us on which platforms, and also based on some basic research of social media best practices. Instagram became our platform just for behind-the-scenes photos and videos of the house and the history of it, and we would throw in some teaser photos for new rooms we were building. Twitter was used for interacting with the authors we worked with and for promoting them and most of our writing classes.

Facebook was kind of an all-purpose platform for promotions, but I really tried to limit how much I was marketing to our audience and tried to focus instead on creating more interactive and engaging posts. I’d also post photos and videos of our events so people who attended could share the photos we posted and people who didn’t attend could see what they were missing. When it came to promotions on Facebook, I stuck with posting on different Facebook groups that would be interested in different events and classes, because we had such a variety.

The project I was really excited about was starting a YouTube channel for the Storyteller’s Cottage. We worked with Nutmeg TV to create a special on how to host a Harry Potter party, and I realized we could do the same thing on our own. Our channel had a lot of how-to videos and stories. We would dress up as different characters, and it was a lot of fun. During quarantine, we had to cancel our author talks, so we posted virtual interviews with these authors to our YouTube channel instead.

When it comes to online marketing, it's important to tailor your message to your specific audiences. Just like each of your friends has his or her own unique personality, tastes, and interests, each of your target audiences has a unique need, preference, and way of communicating. Categorizing your audience into specific groups and creating buyer personas for each group will help you empathize with them and identify their needs. You'll also learn how to best communicate with them and meet those needs.