Looking to advertise? Know your audience and know your search engines
Posted On October 9, 2022
If you follow social media trends, you probably already know that Facebook is not the place to reach millennials and Generation Z.
But did you know that Google is not the primary search engine for many of them, as well?
Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” was Tim Dozier, CEO of Hummingbird Ideas, a full-service advertising agency in Mobile. Part of his job is getting his clients’ messages in front of the audiences they’re trying to reach.
If those audiences are in the younger generations, that’s increasingly in places like TikTok and YouTube.
Dozier says TikTok, a social media app preferred by many in Gen Z, is more than just the choreographed dances for which it’s become known. It’s also filled with how-to videos, leading the younger generation to turn to it when looking for information on how to perform various tasks.
And YouTube has really become just another TV channel, growing across practically all demographics. If you don’t know how to do something – from making a souffle to fixing a transmission – you can probably find a video on YouTube showing you how.
What does all this mean to a business owner looking to advertise? Plenty, Dozier says: “Search is just interest-based advertising.”
And where you place that advertising depends on who you’re trying to reach. If you’re marketing to an older audience, Google is still where they go to conduct searches – and therefore where they’re most likely to find your message. If it’s a younger audience you’re after, he said, it’s time to think outside the Google-shaped box.
While it’s important to select the right platform for your advertising, Dozier said the most important thing is still crafting the right message.
“That is still going to be the most important thing you do for your business and your brand — making sure you fine-tune your message to a point where it’s going to be memorable and something that the audience is educated and basically not annoyed by,” he said.
So craft the right message, focusing on what makes your business stand out. Then put that message where your audience goes to search for things. And if you need help, check out hummingbirdideas.com.