How to build an audience from scratch (Strategy + Tactics)
Most articles on how to build a fanbase will cover tactics e.g. Facebook Ads, cross-promotions (joint ventures), and SEO (search engine optimization.)
I’ll share my thoughts on tactics, but the most important thing is this:
A true audience gives you their consistent attention.
That’s the kind of audience you want to build: a loyal following that has grown to count on you, and therefore, an audience that you can count on to engage with your content, share it forward if they like, and to actually look at your products/services.
If you don’t start with that understanding, then you’ll do grossly inefficient things such as buying Facebook Ads to get more “likes” to your fan page.
This may actually move you backward, as you end up with thousands of fake fans who “like” your page but don’t pay real attention to your content. They don’t actually engage with or buy from you. I’ve seen this happen many times. This is why the term “vanity metric” exists.
A true audience cares about your content, and about you.
You have developed a feeling of kindred spiritness with your following. They’re not consuming your content in a drive-by fashion, only taking what they need and then disappearing. They are genuinely interested in your journey and growth.
How does this happen?
You have shown genuine caring for your audience, rather than make them feel like they’re part of a marketing funnel. You’ve also consistently shown up, so they feel like they can count on you. And you share your true journey of ups and downs and what you’re learning, aka you are authentically you, so they feel like they can really trust you.
These are really the values of how you approach audience building, and each of us will apply them in our own ways.
Now let’s get to the tactics.
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~ Paid Distribution ~
There’s a myth that almost everyone seems to believe in the beginning:
I’ll just post my blog or videos on social media, and the right people will find it!
Once you’ve tried this a few times, you’ll realize the truth:
Unless you already have an audience (refer to the first part of this article), nobody even saw your content because it was drowned in a sea of millions of other pieces of content that were also posted today.
And even if a few people saw it, they weren’t your target audience anyway.
This is where paid advertising comes in. It gets your content in front of enough (actually, as many as you want) of the right people.
My favorite is Facebook Ads because you can very specifically select what kind of person you want to reach, with what kinds of interests, age and other demographics. Based on years of experience with it, I now teach an online course about Facebook Ads: www.georgekao.com/facebookworkshop
The other major alternative is Google Ads, which allows you to reach people who are searching for the specific topics that you want your content to reach. I’ll be teaching a Google Ads course later this year. Get notified here: www.georgekao.com/invitations
The simplest, easiest way to build an audience is through paid distribution/advertising of your content.
Again, I remind you that content needs to be authentic (true to you), consistent (so your audience can count on you), and relevant (showing that you care about your audience.)
Paid distribution, and any of these other tactics, are amplifiers of good content, not a substitute.
And content is what builds a true audience.
~ Cross Promotion ~
This is simply where someone else promotes your content, and you promote theirs. When it’s the right fit, it’s a win-win.
Look for peers in your topic (or a related one) and with a similar-sized audience, and see if you like their content. If you do, reach out to them, praise their content (be specific), and ask if they might want to cross promote so that you can help each other grow your audiences. Include links to 3 of your best pieces of content that might interest their audience.
The way to cross promote will vary. Some will include your content in their email newsletter. Some will link to you on their website. Some will post it to their Facebook Page (if so, I would recommend paying them $10 to have them boost it to their fans, to ensure you reach them.)
The most impactful way to cross promote is with an influencer whose audience is much larger than yours. Why might they promote you though? See this article for the method:
/ getting-visibility-via-influencers
~ Guest Blogging / Podcast Speaking ~
If you find a blog that has a similar audience as yours, they might be up for you writing an article for their blog.
Usually they’ll want your article to be exclusive to their blog, at least for a few months, before you “syndicate” it on your own website blog too, or in other places.
To read the rest of this article, go to:
/ how-to-build-an-audience-from-scratch