One of the big questions we work with when running our campaigns is choosing between broad and narrow targeting. Do we want to go for everyone or a specific type of audience? It’s no question that both strategies have their merits and it’s difficult to decide but there are some factors that can make the decision-making process easier.
Broad vs. narrow targeting for lead generation
It is clear that strategic targeting leads to better message reception, better engagement, and higher conversion rates. Your natural instinct, especially if you’re running a B2B campaign, probably tells you that targeting should be narrow. The more fine-tuned the targeting is, the higher the conversion rate will be.
While yes, but there are some things to bear in mind. Hyper-targeting can limit your reach significantly. Your rate of response might be higher, but you won’t actually get too many leads. If your goal is to generate the maximum amount of leads possible, then hyper-targeting will hamper that process. You’ll likely see more activity, but it won’t be on a large scale by any means.
It’s difficult to balance, so it’s really about your priorities. For example, Sofos campaigns are designed with specific areas of focus in mind. Our goal is to avoid hyper-targeting, we do want to be narrow enough that a large chunk of your leads in your specific industry are captured to ensure maximum communication and connections.
Broad vs. narrow targeting for fundraising
Taking all of this into account, it is also important to remember that every stage of fundraising is different. You may benefit from a broader approach when you’re at the beginning of your round. But a direct influx of connections comes from having a hyper-targeted list when you’re 75-80% done with your round.
Additionally, your industry, size, experience, and your specific goals will play a huge role in the audience selection and sizing process. If your goal is fundraising, you need to think about running both approaches and scaling as needed. Rather than go for one or the other, you need to be flexible enough to know when to go broad and when to narrow down.
That might sound challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. Your existing data and analytics can help you craft an initial strategy, and you can use the continued engagement figures throughout your lead generation process to understand when to go broad and when to narrow down.
