We all know that finding your target audience is critical to marketing, but we also know that sometimes it's easier said than done. It's important to know who your target audience is so you can generate content your audience will clearly understand and then put that content on the right social media platforms to communicate your message to your audience. We found three great ways to find your target audience from Social Media Today.

1. Use Social Crawlytics. This free tool analyzes the social shares of content from any site. You can put in the web address you want to use and Social Crawlytics will analyze its content and give you stats. Stats range from top authors for the site, the most shared posts/pages, and on which social networks the site's content has been shared. Where your posts are being shared indicates where your target audience is most active-- which is where you'll want to concentrate your energy and focus your strategy. Another interesting use for Social Crawlytics is to analyze your competitors' sites- what works for them? Which of their posts are getting the most shares and to what platforms? This information is all great to know as you plan and implement your social media strategy.

2. Check Audience Stats in Platform Advertising Options. This is another way to track down the platforms on which your target audience is most present. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all have their own advertising options, and as you go through the set up process each platform provides a potential audience size based on whichever targeting options you add in (the more specific you get, the smaller the audience). This shows you the size of your potential target audience on each platform.The numbers are forecasts, but the data can help guide you in where to look when assessing which platforms you should be focusing on.

3. Analyze the Most Shared Industry Content in BuzzSumo. BuzzSumo is similar to Social Crawlytics in that it gives you stats on social shares for any site. However, BuzzSumo lets you search by topic, such as "technology Philadelphia" and the site will return you a list of the most shared articles about technology in Philadelphia, PA. You can then export the data into Excel and total the shares from each social network to see the networks on which content on that specific topic has been the most shared. As they say, where there's smoke there's fire-- and here, where there are shares there is your target audience!

Good luck with finding your target audience- and remember, here at Station Break we have a team of professionals ready to take the social media burden off your shoulders! Contact us at info@stationbreak.com and read more on this topic at SocialMediaToday.com.

Finding Your Target Audience on Social Media