How To Build An Audience Online?
Tired of overspending on ads, and not seeing the results you want? Cut costs and build an audience online that will be more sustainable.
Building an audience online is not necessarily difficult, but it does take a lot of hard work and devotion to the craft.
Looking to build an audience online? You’ve come to the right place.
Identify your audience
Since you have a much better understanding of who your audience is, it’s time to do a little more research and determine if they’re active online. Some questions to ask yourself:
- Are they online? If so, how frequently?
- Do they care what you have to say?
- What content do they want from me?
- How much will it cost to reach them?
Be specific
Define who you are creating content for by narrowing your focus to one type of person.
You might be thinking this will limit your potential audience and leave money on the table.
But there are many ways to niche down without limiting yourself in the long run.
Get to know your audience
- Find out where your audience is and go there. There are many places to find this information, but a good place to start is Reddit. Go on Reddit and find a subreddit that relates to what you want to talk about (or make one if there’s not one already). Then, post on the subreddit and see what happens. It may take a while before people start noticing you, but they will eventually (probably).
- Get involved in communities that your audience is already in. If you’re an artist, for example, then join forums related to art or photography and share your work with other members of those communities. This will allow them to see what kind of work you do and hopefully interest them in visiting your site/social media
Find the right platform for you
The first step is to identify what social media platforms you will use depending on where is your audience. You can’t be everywhere, so focus on 1 or 2 social media that you are comfortable using and engaging with.
Each has its own benefits, but most likely you’ll need to use a combination of platforms to reach your audience.
Social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
Blogging platforms include Medium, WordPress, and Squarespace.
Podcasting platforms include iTunes and Soundcloud. Video platforms include YouTube and Vimeo.
Once you’ve selected your social media channels, the next step is to get a plan in place for content. Content can include anything from blog posts and testimonials to video tutorials and product updates.
Plan out your content for at least one month ahead of time so that you don’t get stumped on what to post when it comes time to share something new with your audience.
Now that the content is planned, it’s time to figure out how often you will post your content. I recommend doing some research on your specific platform of choice and finding out what the best posting frequency is for them.
Start small
You’re building a community, and the best communities start small.
When you do decide to start growing your audience, it’s important that you do not try to appeal to everyone. You can’t build an audience without knowing who they are. Most people won’t care about what you’re doing, but some will really care. Find those people first.
How To Build An Audience Online is a long-term investment. When I was younger I thought that if I started a blog or an online magazine it would be successful within months or weeks — but now I know the truth: It takes years to build an audience (or even make money).
Be consistent
Consistency is key. You don’t have to post every day, but you do need to be consistent with your posts in order to drive traffic. Try posting at the same time each day or on a predetermined schedule. This will make it easier for your audience to know when to expect new content and begin looking for it.
The type of content you post should also be consistent. This does not mean that everything you post needs to be identical, but consistency will help you build an engaged audience. It’s best to focus on one specific niche audience so all (or most) of your posts are relevant, valuable, and interesting for the same group of people.
It’s also important to interact with any followers who leave comments or ask questions in order to build a relationship with them and keep them interested in what you have to say (and sell).
Responding quickly will show that you genuinely care about their feedback and help form positive associations between your brand and quality customer service.
Be authentic
Along the same lines as being useful and generous, it’s important to be authentic in your daily life as a creator. This means, if you are talking about a product or a business that you don’t personally use or like, don’t talk about it. Be real. Be honest. Be transparent. And above all, be yourself!
Be patient
Don’t expect a huge following overnight. Building an audience requires patience and dedication. It will take some time before you see any significant growth. Don’t get discouraged if results are slow at first; if you stay consistent, your numbers will rise gradually.
Don’t run out of content or ideas to keep your readers coming back. Make sure to put in the work to deliver something fresh and engaging for them to read or watch and more enjoy.
Create valuable content that addresses the core problems of your audience
Building an audience is to have a solid understanding of who your ideal audience is, what they want and what they need.
Once you know this, create content that provides value to your audience. Don’t just create content for the sake of creating it.
Create content because it will meet the needs of your target audience. By providing valuable content, you establish trust with your audience and increase the likelihood that they will reward you with their loyalty and engagement.
Make it easy to share your content
When you make it easier for people to share your content, they’ll be more likely to do so. You can add social sharing buttons on every page of your site, encouraging visitors to share with their friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites.
Ask your audience to share it and add that it will help you a lot!
Listen to feedback
One of the best things about the internet is that it is a medium that makes it easy to listen to feedback.
You should definitely take advantage of this and actually listen to the feedback you are getting.
Here are some reasons why:
- You can find out what you’re doing right, and what’s working for your audience. This means you can do more of what works.
- You can find out what you could be doing better, and implement improvements based on that knowledge. This is often just as valuable as finding out what is working well!
- Engaging with your audience in a way that shows they have been heard is great for building an active, engaged community around your work or creations.
- Finding out from your audience what they want to see more of will help you create content that appeals directly to them, which means more eyeballs on your stuff!
Don’t get discouraged if it takes a while to build an audience online
Don’t get discouraged if it takes you a while to build an audience online. There is no magic shortcut that will allow you to instantly attract thousands of followers.
Keep at it and don’t give up!
It can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you think all your posts are going into the ether. But keep at it and even if it seems like you aren’t making any progress, the seeds are being sown; they just take time to grow.
Building an audience takes time. An audience is a long-term investment and you should be authentic, patient, and listen to feedback. But it is so rewarding, just Start 🚀
