I recently shared insight about content and audience growth with a great group of influencers. Each had large offline audiences and small to mid-sized online audiences. I provided strategy and the key tactics I’ve seen work best. I’d like to share some of this with you.
This can be applicable to any size audience you currently have. I utilize both of these strategies myself as well.
Determine Why
Identifying why you want to grow your following is a very important strategy because it will quickly determine what approach you should take.
For example, if you want a large audience to help you attain a specific goal, like a publishing deal or paid speaking, a large following can be very effective. However, if you want to sell a product or service, it can be better to focus your effort on driving people to the product/service through paid advertising.
A lot of people make the assumption that a big audience will automatically convert to sales. That’s not always the case. This is why knowing what you want to achieve is so important.
Focus On Your Content
Major influencers and brands succeed because they provide quality content that people are looking for. A lot of people advise that to create what you want, but if it isn’t what your audience wants, it won’t be effective.
Ask yourself what your audience wants, and focus on providing value to your audience with your content. This is applicable regardless of why you want a large following.
When you want to promote your work, drive product sales or other ask, use the 80/20 rule to maintain a balance and ensure you’re still providing your audience value.
Stay current on the formats that are working for others. You don’t have to implement every strategy or tactic you see, but stay familiar with what’s happening in your category or market. You can make the determination if something might work for you or not.
Last, make sure your hashtags and tagged profiles are congruent to your content so you’re not penalized by algorithms.
If you’d like to learn more, this post breaks down what makes videos go viral on YouTube.
