Digital Marketing: How To Target Customers Rather Than Fans

How to Target Customers, Not Just Go Viral

Knowing how to go viral is a media skill. Knowing how to turn attention into sales is a business skill.

They are not the same.

A viral post answers, “What will make people stop scrolling?”

A sales strategy answers more difficult questions: “Who has this problem? When does it become urgent?

Why would they choose this product—and what might stop them from buying?”

Confusing visibility with demand creates painful situations:

• A post reaches one million views but produces fewer than ten orders.
• Thousands of people follow the account, but most cannot afford or do not need the product.
• The business pays creators and advertising costs while sales remain unchanged.
• Customers click the product link but leave because they do not understand the value.
• The marketing team celebrates engagement while the owner worries about payroll.
• The brand becomes internet-famous for a moment but gains no repeat customers.

U.S. retail e-commerce sales reached an estimated $329.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Yet Baymard Institute’s analysis of 50 studies found an average documented cart-abandonment rate of approximately 70.22%.

Attention can bring someone to a product, but it cannot make the decision for them.

Rhode’s Lip Case demonstrates the difference. Its visible design was highly shareable, but its commercial strength came from solving a recognizable everyday inconvenience: people already carried a phone and a lip product, frequently searched for both, and sometimes left the lip product behind.

Rhode combined the two into one accessory.

The product therefore worked on two levels. It gave people something unusual to photograph and discuss, while also giving the right customer a practical reason to purchase.

A strong digital marketing strategy should not ask only, “How can we make this viral?” It should also ask, “Which customer will see this and immediately think, ‘I need that in my life’?”

Focus on the Audience Most Likely to Buy

A large audience can make a brand look successful while quietly draining its marketing budget.

The painful moment comes when a campaign receives thousands of likes, but the people engaging are outside the target location, cannot afford the product, or were never interested in buying it.

You may be attracting the wrong audience when:

• Posts receive strong engagement but produce few product-page visits.
• Website traffic increases without a similar rise in qualified leads or sales.
• Followers regularly ask for discounts because the product exceeds their budget.
• Most engagement comes from countries or regions where the business does not sell.
• People enjoy the entertainment but ignore every product-related call to action.
• Paid campaigns generate inexpensive clicks but costly or nonexistent conversions.
• Customers purchase once but never return because the offer was not a strong fit.

Finding your niche means identifying more than a general demographic.

A useful target audience shares a relevant problem, buying situation, motivation, budget, and reason to choose your product.

Consider Rhode’s Lip Case. Millions of people own phones, and millions use lip products, but not all of them are realistic customers.

The most relevant audience is narrower: people who own a compatible iPhone, use Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment or Tint, frequently carry it with them, value convenience, and see the phone case as part of their personal style.

That definition helps the brand create content showing the product in situations that feel familiar: leaving home with only a phone, searching through a handbag for lip treatment, or wanting to reapply quickly without carrying a makeup bag.

Support from wider audiences can still increase visibility.

However, content and paid advertising should prioritize the people most likely to recognize the situation, value the solution, and complete a purchase.

Understand the Path to Conversion

The “seven touchpoints” rule is a useful reminder that customers rarely buy after one interaction, but the actual number varies by product, price, risk, and customer familiarity.

A typical conversion path may include:

• Discovering the brand through search, social media, or an advertisement;
• Recognizing a problem the product could solve;
• Reading reviews and checking the company’s reputation;
• Comparing prices, features, and alternatives;
• Joining an email list or returning to the website;
• Looking for proof, guarantees, and clear policies;
• Purchasing when the value and timing feel right;

Automated email sequences can support this journey by addressing real customer questions, explaining benefits, sharing credible proof, and responding to common objections.

Online reputation management may also help companies monitor what potential customers find, but it should never involve hiding legitimate criticism or creating misleading positive content.

Use FOMO only when scarcity or deadlines are genuine.

False countdowns and invented shortages may create short-term pressure, but they can damage the trust needed for repeat sales.

Promote Products Clearly – Not Apologetically

Some brands create beautiful content but make the product surprisingly difficult to buy.

A customer sees a necklace in a Reel, wants it immediately, then cannot find its name, price, materials, or purchase link.

By the time she reaches the website, the excitement has disappeared.

The most useful genius ways to promote your business are often simple:

• Show the product being used or worn in a real situation.
• State its name, price, materials, size, and primary benefit.
• Add a direct product or checkout link.
• Explain what makes it different from cheaper alternatives.
• Include close-up photos, demonstrations, reviews, and care instructions.
• Mention genuine availability, delivery dates, or sale deadlines.
• Give customers a clear next step rather than making them search.

For example, to promote your jewelry business online, do not post only an attractive model wearing a necklace.

Show how it looks in natural light, where it falls on the neckline, whether the chain length adjusts, which material it uses, and how it pairs with different outfits.

Then link directly to the product.

Eligible businesses can use Instagram Shopping features to connect content with products.

SMS can also support launches, restocks, and abandoned-cart reminders, but promotional messages require explicit customer consent and an easy opt-out process.

This updated SMS marketing guide explains current campaign and compliance practices.

Visibility creates awareness.

Clear product information and a convenient buying path give that attention a chance to become revenue.

How to Target Customers: Ask for Feedback

To connect better with your target audience, stop guessing what customers want and ask them directly.

Tools such as SurveyMonkey make it easier to collect structured feedback from customers, prospects, and former buyers.

Ask practical questions:

• What problem were you trying to solve?
• Why did you choose, or reject, this product?
• What nearly stopped you from purchasing?
• Which feature matters most?
• What would improve the experience?
• Would you purchase again, and why?

Using technology to reach more customers and grow business works only when the data leads to action.

Use recurring answers to improve your product, message, content, pricing, or buying process.

Survey non-customers separately. Their responses can reveal why interested followers never purchased, but asking for an opinion alone will not automatically convert them into customers.

Remarket to Existing Customers

A painful marketing mistake is paying repeatedly to acquire customers who already know and trust the business.

Someone purchases once, receives no relevant follow-up, and later buys a similar product from a competitor.

To align paid advertising with the sales funnel, segment customers according to their behavior:

• Show complementary products to recent buyers.
• Re-engage customers who have not purchased for several months.
• Promote refills or replacements when they may be needed.
• Offer loyalty rewards based on purchase history.
• Exclude customers from ads for products they already bought.
• Track your returning-customer rate.

Google Ads Customer Match can help eligible advertisers reconnect with customers across Google properties using consented first-party data.

Businesses must follow Google’s policies, disclose data use, and obtain consent where required.

Making the most out of digital marketing means balancing customer acquisition with retention.

Timely, relevant offers can encourage repeat purchases, while a strong customer experience may also generate recommendations and referrals.