Using hyper-targeting to drive event attendance and applications
Filling a room with prospects at your next recruiting event is your objective. But beyond the numbers, it’s important to make sure that the people in the room are qualified and likely to apply. So how do you ensure that prospects you identify through digital marketing are a good fit for your program? You can start with hyper-targeting.
What is hyper-targeting?
Hyper-targeting is a way to deliver highly personalized messages to a specific audience segment. Whereas an awareness campaign may be referred to as “casting a wide net,” a hyper-targeted campaign will instead focus indirectly on one type of student and deliver a message aimed specifically at their motivations. The thinking is that the more relevant the message and placement of that message is, the more likely they will be to interact or take the intended action.
How can you use hyper-targeting to optimize your digital marketing?
Hyper-targeting can help you further define the path that your digital marketing will take. For example, if your program aims to attract more women, you may begin with creating an audience segment based on age, career or title, and gender. However, hyper-targeting can take it several steps further. What is your ideal female prospect’s stage of life? What are her motivations, challenges, and career goals? Asking these questions early on in the strategy process will help you meet your prospects where they are on their journey. By developing messaging that is meaningful to your target’s goals and selecting focused media, your marketing will have more impact because it is connecting with the target in the right place at the right time.
What are some ways to begin crafting your hyper-targets?
All solid marketing strategies rely on some form of audience segmentation to define ways to attract the right leads. What hyper-targeting allows you to do is articulate the exact points of a prospect’s consideration set and create messaging that is tailored to their behaviors. There are a few ways to begin this process.
- Develop personas. This process involves breaking your audience into segments based on personality traits, characteristics, motivations, and activities.
- Create specific messaging. Focus on the needs and wants of your target. This may involve developing ads and content with an extremely narrow focus.
- Research your delivery method. Finding the right channels and mix can be challenging, but it’s important to start with the end goal in mind.
If your team needs help developing personas or creating an audience segmentation strategy, contact GPRS today. We can help you develop a plan to optimize your communications based on your school’s strategy.
