Building an Audience

What’s an external asset that all businesses need to be successful? An audience. Having excellent products, outstanding staff, and beautiful content marketing is great! But, these things can’t garner success without an audience. So how do you build or expand the one you have? We have some tips for building an audience that will not only recruit new customers but also keep current ones. 

Defining Your Audience

An audience is a group of people that support, share, and engage with your business’s content. Not only that, they purchase from you! Your audience will likely consist of people interested in what you sell and the industry you’re part of. Take a look at the audience you already have and produce content that targets people like them. Pro tip! Your audience should include people you want to build a relationship with.

Building an Audience

Growing your audience is valuable, but retaining it is crucial. The critical aspects to building an audience are mostly about doing your research. If you don’t have a marketing team to research for you, put on your marketing hat. Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds! There are some things you need to know to grow your audience.

1. Audience Identification

Who does your audience consist of? You might be shocked to find that your audience is not as predictable as you thought. You can assume that you know your customers and what they want, or you can give them exactly what they’re hungry for by doing behind-the-scenes research.

2. Quality Content Creation

Create content continually and ensure that it’s high quality. Keep your content relevant by following trends and what’s performing well in your industry. Living under a rock may be peaceful and quiet, but it’s not good for business, friend.

3. Content Optimization

To get your content to reach the largest audience possible, you must optimize it. Include keywords, title tags, and relevant links. These things allow Google to find your business quickly, which means it can recommend your business to others. As another way to optimize content, look at your insights or poll your audience to produce more of what they want. 

4. Content Distribution and Promotion

Release your content at times when audience engagement is highest. If you receive your highest number of podcast listeners at 7 a.m., release new episodes at 7 a.m. If your Instagram reels get the most views at midnight on Tuesdays, post at midnight on Tuesdays. Follow what your people want! You can also promote your content on non-social media platforms. Partnering with complementary brands, email marketing, and guest blog posts are a few to note.

5. Audience Conversion

Your conversion rate is the number of people viewing your content versus those who subscribe to it or come back. Motivate potential buyers by providing incentives or instant sign-up discounts. Conversion is where being helpful and personal in your approach to potential buyers is beneficial.

Building Customer Loyalty

You’ve discovered your audience, started producing what they like, and promoted your content in multiple ways. Now what? Now you have to turn customers into loyal fans. 

Consider these tips for building customer loyalty:

• Optimize Buyer Cycle or “Marketing Funnel.” Your audience’s journey to purchase from you is a marketing funnel. Fine-tune your marketing funnel to make the buying process enticing and seamless.
• Create Serial Content. Developing something that visitors can experience, like a chapter book or Netflix series, engages your audience. Serial content is a collection of content pieces that together tell a bigger narrative. It keeps people coming back for updates!
• Utilize Analytical Tools. Your site analytics give you the raw truth about your content’s success. You can see what posts result in the highest visits, engagement, sales, and conversion. They provide insight into what is working and what’s not.
• Follow Up. Don’t just ditch your customers after they fork over their cash. Rude! Following up with them furthers your relationship and makes them feel appreciated. Add them to a rewards program, send email updates, or mail a postcard to show you’re grateful for their business.

As You Build

Building an audience takes time and requires research. Not everyone goes viral overnight, and that’s okay! Be patient with yourself and your team. If you need assistance building an audience for your business, contact Content Journey for help. We partner with you to understand your mission, goals, and current audience to build on your company’s success. We’d love to guide you on your content journey.