How to build an audience without social media?

From the dawn of time, humans have communicated with one another using their voices, body language, and written words.

The invention of social media has given us yet another way to communicate, but it is by no means the only way.

It is a powerful tool for building an audience, but you can’t always rely on it. If your account is suspended, you’ve lost access to one of the biggest tools in your marketing toolkit. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to build an audience without social media.

This article will outline key strategies for building an audience without using social media. So How to build an audience without social media?

Reasons to avoid social media

Social media can be a real mixed bag, and it’s not always an easy one to carry. While it offers some great opportunities for connection, it also comes with some serious downsides.

If you want to avoid social media because you’re concerned about how it affects your mental health—good! We encourage you to take control of your own emotional well-being and do what feels right for you.

If you want to avoid social media because you don’t want your business to rely on platforms that might change their policies or go out of business—again, good! We agree that’s a smart move, and we’ll help you make it happen.

It’s true—we’re all pretty much stuck using social media these days. It’s a great way to connect with people, but it can also be a huge time-suck and energy-drain.

But you don’t have to get sucked into the noise!

Create a blog

Think about what your knowledge, skills, and experiences could be used for.

Is there something that you’re already good at? Or do you have a life experience that would work well as a blog?

Maybe it’s your passion for sports, technology or cooking. Or maybe it’s the experience of raising children or running a business.

Whatever it is. Start writing about it on your blog. And if you don’t yet have an audience. Be consistent, over time people will start reading your content and sharing them with others.

Attracting attention without social media is possible, especially if you combine multiple strategies. These strategies can be used with or without a website – but having your own website also opens up more opportunities for building an audience.

Guest posting

Guest posting is one of the best ways to get your work before a new audience and grow your audience without spending on ads. But it’s more than just getting your name out there: Guest posting can be used to promote your own work, build relationships with other writers and bloggers, and introduce your work to an entirely new audience.
To start looking for guest post opportunities, search online blogs that fit within the genre or niche of what you’re writing about. Make sure that blog posts have comments enabled; this will give you the ability to leave a comment with a link back to your website or blog in each guest post.
Before submitting or emailing any blog owners about potential guest posts, make sure you read their guidelines carefully; most bloggers prefer that their submission guidelines be followed as closely as possible in order to avoid having your pitch edited or rejected outright.

Learn about SEO

This acronym stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.

By practicing SEO, you can make sure that when people are searching for something related to your business or industry, they find you first.

Optimizing for search engines is a long process and it might feel overwhelming at first. But if you’re not already incorporating SEO strategies into your marketing plan, now’s the time to start.

Create an email list

People often ask me how to build a strong readership without social media.

The answer? An email list.

An email list is the most important asset you can build and is the best way to connect with your audience (free from the whims and censorship of social media).

If you don’t have an email list, or have one but haven’t yet started using it, what are you waiting for? You need to start now.

Your audience is your most valuable asset. To truly build a relationship with them, you’ll have to take the time and put the effort into communicating with them 1 on 1. Sending personalized emails, as opposed to generic newsletters, will help you build a deeper connection. Here are a few ways to craft a personalized email that will impress your audience:

Use their name in the subject line of an email – it creates a sense of familiarity and urgency for opening the email
Show them how much you care about their interests by sending emails that are relevant to them

Make it easy for readers to share your content

Maybe you are not on social media but let your audience do the work for you. Make it easy for readers to share your content with social media sharing buttons.

Your site needs to provide a clear and simple way for readers to share your content with their friends and family.

Even if you don’t have a social media presence, you’ll need buttons that allow readers to email your content or share it on various platforms. If you make sharing difficult, they’re that much less likely to do it at all.

Create a referral program

The lifeblood of any successful business is its audience. You can have the best product in the world, but if no one knows about it, you won’t make sales. This is why you should get a referral program going ASAP.

A referral program is a system where your customers bring in new customers for you. For instance, if someone loves your product and tells their friend about it, that person might use a special link or code to buy from you and save some money. You then reward them for this by giving them an even better deal on future purchases or sending them something cool like stickers. It’s win-win!

You can automate this process with software that tracks links and codes, or you could do it manually by emailing people in the future to give them deals based on past purchases they’ve talked other people into making using your products.

Automating things makes it easier to scale as more people shop with you (and keep referring their friends), but manual systems are fine too! Just be prepared to have more work as your audience grows bigger than expected—which is always good news!

Work with influencers in your industry

If you’re working in an industry where other people or brands are doing similar work to you, and your work might be complementary in some way, reach out to them and see if they’d like to collaborate.

You can find influencers by searching on Google or using a tool like Buzzsumo. Once you have some leads, reach out with an offer of collaboration. For example:

I love the stuff you do with “topic X” and think it might be interesting to combine it with my approach of “topic Y” that I cover on my blog. If that sounds interesting to you, this is how we could make it happen…
What do you think about us combining our readership? If both our audiences are interested, this is what we could do…

Start podcasting

Podcasting is a means of building an audience without social media.
It’s a way to develop a personal connection with your audience.
It’s a great way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise.
It’s a great way to build credibility with your audience or customers.

Google Adwords

Google Adwords is the advertising service provided by Google. It’s a powerful platform that allows you to advertise to people who are searching for specific keywords on their computers and mobile devices, and it’s one of the best ways to grow your business, service or product.

You can use Google Ads to advertise based on location, age, gender, language, and even device type! The possibilities are endless (okay maybe not endless) but you get the idea.

Join Forums

Forums are also a great place to learn from others, and your participation will help you become known as an authority in your niche.

You can find forums related to nearly any topic by doing a quick search on Google.

Forums are better for building an audience because they’re more active and engaging. You’ll be able to invite people to join in the discussion, which gives you a ton of opportunities to build your reputation.
On a forum like Reddit, it’s just easier for someone to participate in the conversation. People feel more comfortable joining in and asking questions that help both them…and you!
In a forum setting, you have more control over who sees your posts and comments. It makes it easy to build an intimate relationship with your readers while gradually expanding the group as things progress organically.

Use offline marketing

Let’s go over some strategies that you can use to get your message out there:

Flyers. Design a flyer with a simple message that conveys what your company is all about and where visitors can find you online.
Postcards. Use postcards with a special offer to attract customers or send them as thank-yous to existing ones who leave great reviews online.
Business cards. Having business cards handy makes it easy for people to share your contact information with others, increasing the likelihood that they’ll pass it along.
Print publications. Placing an ad in print publications gives your advertising efforts longevity, making it more likely to be seen by people who weren’t around at the time of distribution but still need access to this information later on.

Print advertisements are still effective because they reach targeted audiences, like those who read trade magazines or attend industry events where flyers would not do well (think of all those conference badges hanging on lanyards).

Phone Application

Many companies’ digital communications strategies have shifted from mobile-friendly to mobile-first. It occurred in a flash.

The most crucial difference between a mobile site and an app is that users can access and use the material and features both online and offline, and they can also use their own device’s features.

In-app feedback eliminates the need for public forums where customers can complain about customer service. It also allows people to share good comments with their friends quickly.

What a mobile app gives is addressability. Marketers can contact consumers with push notifications and in-app alerts at the perfect moment. An intelligent marketer’s approach may be influenced by increased access.

Organize workshops or events in real life

Organize workshops, events or meetups in real life:

If you want to reach people that share your values, hosting events is an effective way of doing so. It will allow you to connect with your audience face-to-face and build a community around your work.
Just like online communities, organizing offline events and meetups allows you to attract new customers for your business.
If you’re offering products or services that are directly related to the event’s theme (such as photography workshops), it can be a great source of revenue too.

The biggest takeaway from this article is just to keep creating. You don’t have to be on social media, but you do have to create. If you have it in your heart, if you are passionate about it, then create and Just Start 🚀