how to build an audience

If you have ever attempted to gain attention from a specific group of people, you may have encountered the frustrating situation of sharing an impressive piece of content and receiving no response or engagement. Earning attention has become increasingly difficult due to the rise in content supply, which has been further amplified by the emergence of AI content tools.Nevertheless, this also implies that the importance of receiving attention is growing, and those who achieve success have greater influence than in the past. This concept is well articulated by renowned investor Andrew Wilkinson.

It is possible to create a new audience, which is a positive aspect. It only necessitates a new approach compared to previous methods. Therefore, in this article, we will outline a sequential plan that you can employ to establish a brand-new audience in the year 2023.

Step 1 involves choosing a subject, format, and perspective

If someone chooses to follow you after consuming your content, it is likely because they enjoyed it and would like to see more similar content. Therefore, if you decide to change the topic or style of your content, you run the risk of losing those subscribers as they may not be interested in the new topic or style. Therefore, you will notice that your subscribers often leave, and it will be difficult for you to establish a dedicated group of followers. Eric Siu highlighted a significant error he committed while establishing his YouTube channel. In certain videos, he talked about marketing, while in others, he focused on NFTs and cryptocurrency. This led to a decline in his subscribers as his marketing-focused audience was uninterested in his NFT content, and vice versa for the NFT audience and his marketing videos. Therefore, the crucial factor in developing a dedicated and engaged audience lies in choosing a subject, perspective, and platform. Let me explain the meaning of each of these elements.

•  Topic This is the subject matter you will discuss. Some examples of topics are marketing, finance, food, travel, and so on. Select a topic that you have special knowledge about and are truly passionate about. Building content takes time, and you are more likely to succeed if you genuinely enjoy the topic, even if you don’t see any immediate rewards for your efforts.
•  Medium This is the way in which you convey your content. Mediums can be forms like videos, text, or audio content. The crucial aspect of choosing the most suitable medium is selecting one that you find enjoyable and can consistently create. Maintaining a regular publishing schedule is vital for long-term progress, hence if you believe you cannot produce that particular type of content every week, it is advisable to opt for a different medium. For instance, if creating weekly video content seems challenging, you may want to go for text-based content instead.
•  Angle This is how your content will offer a unique viewpoint compared to other existing content. Just like how a product must fit the market, your angle will be the distinguishing factor that helps you achieve success in the content industry. For instance, if you’re starting a vlog about traveling to Japan, how will it be distinct from other Japanese travel vlogs? Perhaps you can interview local Japanese chefs and record them preparing a meal. The key to choosing a successful angle is to make it distinct and something that can be done repeatedly. For instance, interviewing Japanese chefs and filming their cooking process is a format that can be done multiple times.

In order to assist you in selecting your subject matter, medium, and approach, here are a handful of examples that may inspire you.

Example #1:  Justin Rowe

•  Topic: LinkedIn Advertising
•  Medium: Text (LinkedIn)
•  Angle: He provides insights into the analysis of strategies and real-life examples on how to enhance the effectiveness of your LinkedIn advertisements.

Example #2:  Sam Parr and Shaan Puri

•  Topic: Entrepreneurship
•  Medium: Podcast
•  Angle: Two friends who are entrepreneurs engage in a casual conversation about business.

Example #3:  Caleb Simpson

•  Topic: Rent
•  Medium: TikTok
•  Angle: The person surveys individuals about their monthly rental expenses and then proceeds to visit their apartments for inspection.

If you examine the content of each of these individuals, you will notice that they consistently discuss the same subject using a consistent structure. Please be aware that all of them have followers on various platforms like Twitter and YouTube. We will now explain how you can adopt an omnichannel strategy, however, it is advisable to begin by concentrating on just one medium and platform when you first begin.

Step 2: Generate and share content on a consistent basis.

The primary reason for content not being successful is when the person who created it gives up too early. It’s completely normal if your initial content doesn’t receive much attention. When starting out, the key is to keep practicing and improving your skills as a content creator. Choose a particular subject, format, and perspective, and dedicate yourself to regularly publishing for the next three months. Below are some suggestions to assist you in maintaining a regular publishing schedule:

1. Establish a reasonable frequency for publishing content.If you intend to publish on a daily basis, you will likely become overwhelmed and eventually quit. It is crucial for content success to have consistency and a long-term plan, so start by creating one piece of content and note the time it took to produce it. Based on that, choose a reasonable publishing schedule that you can commit to for at least six months.
2. Prepare and schedule your content in advance.A lot of creators discover that it is more convenient to generate multiple pieces of content in a single session when they are in a state of concentration, as opposed to scheduling multiple content creation sessions throughout the week or month. Batching content also guarantees timely publication.
3. Delegate and streamline routine tasks through outsourcing and automation.There are numerous small tasks that come with creating content, such as editing videos and scheduling social media posts. However, these seemingly minor tasks can consume a significant amount of time every week. To save time, you can utilize software tools that automate these tasks or hire a virtual assistant from platforms like Upwork. By delegating low-value tasks, you will be able to dedicate more time to content creation, which will reduce the likelihood of experiencing burnout.

After you release your content, you have the option to request input from mentors and fellow peers. For example, platforms like Intro.co and Clarity.fm enable you to plan mentorship conversations with experts of exceptional caliber. One mentioned above is where you can interact with people who share similar interests. In this way, you can learn from each other, get advice or guidance, and form meaningful connections. This can be a great way to expand your network and find new opportunities. In Copyblogger Academy, you have the opportunity to ask me (Tim) any questions and get input from your peers. We also arrange Q&A sessions featuring renowned content creators.

If you are interested in enhancing your content creation skills, there are several supplementary materials available for you to explore.

• How to improve your  copywriting skills
• How to improve your  video content
• How to improve your  podcast content
• How to improve your  social media content

One more great approach to enhance your content is by examining the content of your competitors and identifying which content generates the highest level of interaction or favorable remarks. One way to explain this could be: If you create video content on YouTube, you have the option to sort videos by popularity and analyze the trends and influential creators that emerge, allowing you to incorporate similar elements into your own content.

Step 3: Partner with Existing Creators

Many people believe that if their content is of good quality, it will automatically attract engagement. Regrettably, the majority of algorithms (such as those used in social media and search engines) prioritize content that quickly generates high levels of interest and interaction during its initial hours. When you begin, it is likely that you only have a small number of people who follow you, therefore the content you create won’t If your content doesn’t get a lot of engagement shortly after being published, it’s unlikely to be widely seen by people through algorithms, regardless of its high quality. This results in a harmful cycle that makes it challenging to gain a fanbase and increase involvement.

In order to escape this repetitive pattern and increase the natural exposure of your content, you should contemplate teaming up with an influential person who already has the interest of your desired audience. When they endorse your brand to their audience, your content will naturally gain more exposure, leading to increased interaction and ultimately helping you gain a larger number of followers.

The challenging aspect lies in persuading a prominent influencer with a vast following to engage in a content partnership with a lesser-known brand that has a limited audience. Before you approach an influencer for a collaboration, consider how this alliance can be advantageous for them. In some cases, influencers are open to interviewing smaller brands under the condition that they can reuse the content on their own social media platforms. Since influencers often allocate time to producing their own content, they may be more willing to conduct an interview with a smaller brand if they can also utilize that content to enhance their personal brand. Alex Hormozi is a prime illustration of putting ideas into practice. He frequently transforms all the interviews he conducts into content for social media platforms, such as this clip which he took from an interview he conducted on Impact Theory.

In addition, numerous influencers help promote your brand by sharing and giving a shout-out to the content when it becomes available.

Some influencers may decline an interview, particularly if your audience is small. To improve your chances of getting a positive response, seek out influencers who have recently been interviewed by competitors with comparable audience sizes. In addition, you may seek out influencers who are releasing a book, as they generally show greater willingness to give interviews.

Even if you are only writing text-based content on social media platforms such as Twitter or LinkedIn, you can still conduct interviews and summarize the important highlights from the conversation to share on your channels.

If you find it difficult to convince an influencer to work with you, you might want to consider offering payment in exchange for an interview. One option could be to utilize a platform such as Intro.co or  Clarity.fm to cover the costs of consulting with top-notch professionals.

Another option is to directly compensate an influencer for advertising your content. Nevertheless, forming collaborations usually yields better results as influencers are generally more invested in the partnership when their own expertise and opinions are integrated. If you create audio or video content, you have the option to provide written guest posts to blogs that cater to a similar audience. You can request that they include the video or podcast link within the guest post. For instance, a well-known car YouTuber named Doug DeMuro gained a significant number of YouTube subscribers by contributing articles to the car blog, Jalopnik, and embedding his videos within the written content. In conclusion, you have the option to invest in advertising your content on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Step 4: Adopt an Omni Channel Approach

If you have already set a regular publishing schedule for your primary channel, the most effective way to enhance your productivity and audience reach with minimal extra work is by implementing an omnichannel strategy. One option is to take your existing video or podcast content and cut it into smaller segments. These shorter clips can then be shared on different social media platforms such as LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram. With this feature, your ability to extend your audience and interaction grows significantly, as your one extended video can now be divided into ten or twenty separate pieces of content. Eric Siu and Neil Patel excel at reusing and adapting content effectively. Marketing School. You can see an example here:

To simplify this process, you have the option of utilizing a tool such as Repurpose.io. Alternatively, if you would rather delegate the entire procedure, you have the option of employing a company similar to Shortzy to do it for you. As an illustration, you have the option to input the video script into an artificial intelligence content generator tool and request it to create a blog post or social media content using the script. To achieve success with an omnichannel approach, it is crucial to tailor and optimize all content according to the platform where it will be published. For instance, if you plan to repurpose content on TikTok, enhancing it with subtitles and editing it in a fast-paced style that aligns with the type of content preferred by TikTok users. If the idea of repurposing your content across multiple platforms all at once feels too daunting, start by selecting just one platform and gradually add more as you feel more confident in repurposing.

Step 5: Strengthen and focus on the strategies or actions that are proving to be successful.

The field of content marketing is constantly evolving, and the strategies that are effective now may not be as successful in the future. Therefore, as your audience grows, it is important to continually gather feedback from them to understand which content they connect with the most. This will enable you to create more of that type of content and engage your audience further. The general audience growth strategy follows the same approach. Analyze your growth indicators and prioritize the collaborations and promotional approaches that result in the highest increase in your target audience. A lot of business owners get sidetracked by modern and popular marketing techniques, but the real secret to achieving lasting success is to concentrate on what is effective and invest more effort in those proven marketing strategies. It is advisable to restrict the number of new marketing campaigns to only one or two per month, as experimentation can be helpful in finding more successful strategies. Apart from that, it is important to dedicate most of your efforts to the top two or three marketing campaigns that are currently generating the highest level of growth. To illustrate, if email marketing promotions currently contribute to 50% of your progress, focus and invest more effort in conducting additional email campaigns.

Extra: Take into account various ways to make money

The reason for gaining a group of followers is to ultimately transform them into customers who make purchases. However, the timing and manner of how you generate income from them will greatly affect the amount of revenue you receive in the long run. Initially, if you attempt to make money from your brand too soon, it could result in your audience losing faith in your entity. Consequently, a significant number of people may stop following you or disregard any promotions you present. You can compare the trust you establish to a bank account – the more you offer and the longer you wait to take advantage of it, the higher the request you can make when presenting an offer. Therefore, how can you determine when you have established the sufficient trust to confidently make a request? There is no exact number of subscribers or engagement rate that can be considered definitive, but a useful way to assess this is to make a simple request that doesn’t involve money and observe the number of people who respond. An example of this could be asking your audience to answer a specific question in the comments section or on social media. You can also use a  sentiment analysis tool like Awario or Brandwatch to assess the overall opinion of your audience and pinpoint particular grievances that they may have.

Interacting and connecting with your audience is a common and effective way to attract more followers, and by reviewing the comments you receive regularly, you can gauge their loyalty. After establishing a faithful group of followers and reaching a certain point in your business where it is feasible to generate income, there are various options to consider for monetization. Here are some strategies you may want to explore:

•  Start a business This approach is likely the most labor-intensive but also the most financially rewarding method for long-term monetization. Mint Mobile, Ryan Reynolds’ company, serves as a superb illustration of this. billion-dollar business developed primarily with the support of one influential person’s followers.
•  Offer a course This method of monetization is widely used and favored by a large number of people. Ramit Sethi Pay Flynn and Pay Flynn exemplify successful content creators who have established lucrative course businesses through their devoted audience.
•  The affiliate sales paragraph suggests that there are numerous product businesses seeking promotion, and one can collaborate with other brands to present their products and services to their target audience. By making sales of these products through the audience, one can earn a commission. Although this method allows for quick revenue generation, it might not be as lucrative or focused on long-term benefits compared to the previous two options. Influencer Marketing Hub It serves as a great illustration of a website that gained its viewership through search engine optimization and mainly generates revenue by promoting affiliate products.
•  Sponsored posts This choice is comparable to affiliate sales, where you will promote other products or services to your audience. However, instead of earning a commission from the sales you generate, you will receive a fixed payment.

Not everyone has the same ideal monetization strategy, and it is possible to implement multiple strategies at the same time. To effectively earn money from your audience, it is important to have a strategic plan and find the right balance between providing value and making requests. Continuous promotion of products and services can lead to a loss of trust and interest from your audience.

Start Building Your Personal Brand Today

As the amount of online content grows, it becomes more challenging to grab people’s attention. Consequently, the importance of attention will keep rising. There is a positive development that the amount of content is growing, thanks to the use of AI tools. However, this also means that the proportion of genuine content is declining. Therefore, if you have a real and authentic message to convey, you can still make yourself noticeable and unique. Your initial content may not succeed, but if you actively seek feedback, continuously improve your abilities as a content creator, and deliver a genuine message, you will eventually establish a dedicated group of followers.