By There’s nothing wrong with running a quick SparkToro audience search, scrolling around for 5 minutes, and coming away savvier and better-informed about a group’s behaviors and demographics. But, if that’s all you’re doing with the tool’s output, you’re missing out.
Instead of telling you, I’ll show you. Let’s use the example of Klaviyo.com; a company whose marketing automation, email segmentation, SMS personalization, and other customer communication features have made them a very popular tool for advanced email marketers. They’re also a SparkTogether sponsor, so I’ve got a special spot in my heart for them 😉
Klaviyo does marketing automation with a specific focus on unique workflows for different groups of recipients, enabling their customers to build highly personalized communications based on behaviors, timing, segmentation, and more. They do this with both email and SMS messages interchangeably, and they’ve got a whole host of testimonials and case studies of businesses using their product to get dramatically improved results: better open rates, higher response rates, more conversions, and more revenue.
I’m actually going to use their case studies for a different reason: audience research. Marketing automation is a world I’m only mildly familiar with, but from a brief look at their case studies, I can see the names, titles, and roles of many of their best customers. That’s where I’ll start in my deep-dive of how to make SparkToro data actionable for Klaviyo (and by extension, for anyone!):
In the video above, I walk through the process detailed below with specific action items you should try. You can also skim this below, but I’d recommend the video first and foremost 😉
First, Analyze the Website
I start my process for any brand by analyzing their website audience—I think this is one of the best, fastest ways to dive in, and I’d recommend it to any website owner, marketer, or consultant. Sometimes, SparkToro won’t have data on a website, especially if they get very niche or small quantities of traffic. In that case, use a close competitor—someone who gets a similar audience to their site.
Search Keywords Are a Goldmine
Keywords—SparkToro V2 shows the search terms an audience is likely to use (because people like them have searched for those terms & phrases before), and with these search keywords you can make smart decisions about content investments, not just for SEO, but for social media, email newsletters, videos/podcasts, and more.
If you’re specifically thinking about search-targeted content, one suggestion I’d have is to check if the site already ranks highly for the keyword(s) you believe to be good matches for your audience. SparkToro can tell you if the audience is interested (the affinity score) and how many people are searching (the volume numbers), but it’s up to you to figure out if the site you’re doing work for *already* targets and ranks for those terms.
Demographics Will Uncover the Right Audience
If you’re uncertain about whether you’ve targeted the right group, or if you want to dig into exactly who’s in the target audience, visit the demographics section and click on the “bio/profile” tab. That list will show words and phrases most-commonly-found in the LinkedIn bios of people in that audience.
Social Profiles and Websites are the Pathway to Amplification
Which social accounts are likely to be followed by this audience?
The social tab can tell you exactly that. Accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more are included, and often have associated websites, email newsletters, events, and more. When you add these to lists in SparkToro, email addresses are available too (if you’ve got a paid account that includes email contact info). It’s a straightforward path to relationship outreach, and it works for both personal and corporate/organizational accounts.
Hidden Gems Can Surface Even More Interesting, Niche Opportunities
You might have spotted the “Hidden Gems” tab in websites, and you’ll find it here in social accounts, too.
The concept’s straightforward—we identify sites with smaller followings, but high relative engagement to their size, and put them in their own tab. Often, these more niche accounts are better targets for outreach, because they’re rarely getting hit up by others in the space, and (if you’re doing classic kinds of influencer marketing) sponsorship pricing can be lower.
The Social Networks Tab Shows You Where to Prioritize for Impact
If you’re more focused on strategy > tactics, individual accounts aren’t as valuable as knowing the networks to prioritize. This was, for a long time, our most requested feature at SparkToro, and it’s been a killer addition to the new V2.
By default, this list is sorted by the social networks the audience uses/visits most. For 90%+ of audiences, that’s popular networks like YouTube and Facebook at the top (simply because of their overwhelming traffic numbers). But if you want to see a more unique view, sort by “Rank Change” instead.
In SparkToro “Rank Change” shows you the difference between what’s popular with your audience vs. the average web user. In the case of Klaviyo.com’s audience, we’re seeing tech-focused networks like Slack, Substack, Meetup, and LinkedIn considerably higher than normal.
That doesn’t mean Klaviyo should put all their eggs in the Slack (or Dribbble) basket, but if they’ve got spare cycles to invest, sponsor, or participate, dipping their toe into design communities or business-focused ones could produce outsized returns. It’s about balancing relevance vs. potential reach.
Subreddits Rock for Content Inspiration and Audience Insight
I think Reddit is an underrated gem for two things:
- Insights into how people think about, talk about, and engage on topics relevant to your field (so long as you find the right communities).
- Trending topics that can be turned into content marketing, not only on your own site, but in your newsletters and social feeds. In fact, I think it’s one of the best sources of inspiration for that purpose.
What SparkToro shows is the SubReddits most likely to have Klaviyo’s audience visiting, participating, and subscribing. Reddit’s famously anti-commercial and hostile to promotion, but there are advertising options and, more saliently, the content inspiration and community participation elements are gold.
YouTube Channels and Podcasts Are Outreach, Advertising, and Sponsorship Opportunities
Both the podcast and YouTube channels function the same way, identifying sources of subscribers and listeners/viewers that aren’t just relevant, but provably engaged-with by the audience you search for. In Klaviyo’s case, it’s a lot of channels run by other companies.
While these might seem like challenging outreach targets, the reality is businesses do co-marketing all the time! Heck, I’m doing it right now by writing about Klaviyo in this post. So long as they’re not a direct competitor, I’d treat everything on these lists as potential opportunities for reaching relevant, potential customers.
Ditto for podcasts. Though, here, I’d recommend two things: A) scroll down, because the best opportunities are often outside the most popular, most listened-to channels (and it’s WAY easier/cheaper to get booked as a guest or run a sponsorship) and B) Pay attention to last-published date, because podcasts go stale fast, and unlike YouTube channels, running ads against old episodes rarely works.
In this example, I’ve obviously used a B2B software maker, but clever readers will quickly notice that all these actionable tactics are equally applicable to consumer, e-commerce, services, and DTC businesses, too. Keywords and topics for content. Social networks and accounts for engagement, insight, inspiration, amplification, and influencer opportunities. Websites for cross-promotions, sponsorships, guest pieces, ad targeting, newsletter sponsorships, and more. Network data for behavioral insights and content/product marketing opportunities. YouTube, Podcast, and Reddit data for even more of those.
We love when folks tell us they get a “fast sense of who my target audience isand what they do online.” There’s nothing wrong with that use-case. But, SparkToro’s data can be taken to even more actionable, high-ROI places by using the intelligence gathered and applying it directly to the marketing channels and campaigns you’re running (or the ones you haven’t yet prioritized 😉).
Happy audience researching!