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Practical Tips: Stay Current With Your Web Audience

No matter how smart you fancy yourself to be, no matter how much you think
you know your demographic, humble yourself each month and do some homework.
Trends change, and depending on your industry, trends can literally
flip-flop overnight. Many marketers use their intuition, or trusted hunches,
to make key planning decisions. If you don't have data to back up what your
gut tells you, any efforts you launch could be a complete waste of time and
money.

To that end, here are some easy and helpful ways to get inside the minds of
your customers:

Within every customer base are a handful of vocal, socially prominent users.
Follow your top fans, engage with them socially, and study what common
threads you see among these users.

Read top industry blogs and news sites for you niche, and draft content
marketing strategies around current key issues and ideas.

Every time you're ready to draft new content, Google the topics, and study
not just the popularity of your chosen focus, but the exact phrases that
appear most frequently. For example, people rarely write articles about "SEO
that follows the rules," but "White Hat SEO" is white hot. Choose your words
carefully.

Don't just assume you know what your audience wants, ask them. When your
company is ready to launch a new product or service, take the time to poll
your loyal users and note their advice, as well as the words they use.

Overall, remember you're studying the baseline psychology of the demographic
you are serving, and sometimes the keys to reaching them are found in
unexpected places. That's why it's important to study the elements of your
core users' profiles. For example, if you sell chocolate through an online
store, and you see a lot of your customers also support eco-friendly causes
on their profiles, you now have a fabulous idea for a new chocolate bar. Let
your users tell you what you should market to them, and then use your
expertise to create the best of the best.

my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything for tomorrow that can
be done today."

Regards Gerald Crawford

Stellenbosch South Africa
Cell: +27-0720390184 (mobile)
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws

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