How to find your audience on social media

If you are engaged in overseas business, have you ever felt that the essence of social media is not “advertising” but “finding people”. If you don’t know where your target audience is, who they are, and what they care about, then all the content and budget you put may be wasted.

Today, I want to talk to you about how to find your audience on social media step by step. Whether you are a small business just starting out or a brand looking to expand, these methods can help you avoid detours.

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What is the target audience?

Simply put, your target audience is the people you want to reach, communicate with, and ultimately convert through social media.

They may be grouped together by age, interests, income, geography, or lifestyle. for example:

Fitness brand: 16-35 years old, people who love fitness
Luxury watches: 30–50 years old, high-income professionals
Entertainment anchor: 25-40 years old, people who like to watch side stories

Understanding these differences allows us to better design content and marketing strategies.

6 practical ways to find your audience

1. Start with market research

Market research is like laying the foundation. If the foundation is unstable, the building above will soon collapse.

Through research, you can know:

Who are your potential customers?
what are they missing
What platforms do they search for products on?
why they buy

Case : A cross-border skin care product customer. Through market research, we found that the target groups are mostly concentrated on TikTok and Instagram, while the conversion rate of Facebook is obviously low. So we decisively reduced our Facebook advertising budget and concentrated on TikTok. As a result, our advertising ROI increased by 38% .

2. Create a Buyer Persona

A buyer persona is a “virtual portrait” of your ideal customer. It contains:

age, gender, income
geographical location
Interests and lifestyle habits
their pain points and needs

Case : For a client that sells cross-border pet products, we designed 2 buyer roles for them:

Young women aged 25–35, single or married without children, treat pets as “children”.
Household users aged 35–45 pay more attention to safety and cost-effectiveness when buying pet products.

Different roles correspond to different content forms. For example, the first type is more suitable for fun short videos, and the second type is more suitable for practical evaluation.

3. Discover the platforms where your audience is most active

Not everyone is on the same platform. for example:

Young people are more active on TikTok and Instagram
Professionals prefer LinkedIn
Middle-aged and elderly users are more accustomed to Facebook

👉 You have to learn to "find the right person in the right place".

Case : I have a client who sells health care products for middle-aged and elderly people. If he only does TikTok, the effect will be almost zero. But after they placed ads on Facebook, the click-through rate increased by 2.5 times .

4. Research your competitors

Competitors are actually free “sample libraries”. you can:

See who is interacting with them
What platforms do their audiences focus on?
What tags and topics were used?

This information can help you quickly narrow down your audience.

Case : I once conducted research for a new brand and found that the competitor’s fan engagement on Instagram was much higher than that on TikTok. After we followed up, similar audiences quickly settled down.

5. Listen to your customers

You can understand users’ true thoughts through questionnaires, comment areas, private messages, and even after-sales feedback.

👉 They will tell you:

What kind of content do they like?
Which platform do they usually browse on?
What issues do they care about?

This information is often more realistic than any "predictive model".

6. Use social listening tools

Social listening = “eavesdropping” on your audience’s conversations online.

It can tell you:

What is the audience talking about?
What topics are they interested in?
Which brands and content are generating buzz

Case : I helped an independent website use social listening tools to track topics related to "reusable bags". As a result, we found that users most often mentioned "environmental protection + fashion" rather than "cheap". So we changed our marketing focus to "environmentally friendly fashion" and our sales doubled.

Why is this important?

If you don’t know who and where your audience is, here’s what happens:

Spend money but can’t find the right person
Content is not interactive
Poor delivery effect and low ROI

And once you accurately target your audience, social media can become the most cost-effective growth channel. For example, in Fansoso , you can more efficiently find a growth plan suitable for your business, or directly contact Fansoso customer service ( tg@DBOT001 ) to consult practical methods.

in conclusion

Finding your audience is not a one-time task, but an ongoing optimization process. You need to constantly research, test, and adjust to truly master your audience.

Remember this: Marketing is not about selling something, it’s about finding people who need your stuff .

Frequently Asked QuestionsFAQ

Q1: How to do audience research if the budget is limited?

A1: Start with small-scale research and competitor analysis, and then gradually expand. Even with a low budget, you can collect useful information through free tools + questionnaires.

Q2: How many buyer roles are needed?

A2: Usually 2–3 is enough. Too much will scatter the content, too little and it won’t be segmented enough.

Q3: How can I tell if I am looking for the right audience?

A3: Look at the data. Interaction rate, conversion rate and customer feedback are the most intuitive answers.

Q4: Are social listening tools useful for small businesses?

A4: Very useful. There are many low-cost tools that can help you quickly capture trends and topics.