How to Build an Audience Beyond Friends and Family
Here’s the nightmare scenario: You come up with a one-of-a-kind product idea. You do your market research and identify your target audience, you figure out your business model, you line up the right production team. You finally release your product and…crickets. Aside from the support of your friends and relatives, your great idea has just not found its people.
Forgive the cliché, but you simply can’t build a structure that lasts without a solid foundation. Whether you’re planning to launch a crowdfunding campaign or simply looking to build your business, these steps will help you lay the groundwork for success.
Create content steadily
The content you create can take the form of podcasts, blogs, social media posts, email newsletters, etc. The type of content you produce will depend on who you’ve determined your target audience is. Are you in a position to be a thought leader in your industry? Share that expertise through blogs and podcasts. Are your prospective customers likely to be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest, LinkedIn? Go where they are, and shape your content to resonate with them and to be appropriate for the platform.
All of this content should be designed to get more people to follow you on social media. The more followers you have, the more appealing your brand becomes, and the more followers you’ll attract. It’s an exponential-growth kind of thing. At the same time, at least in the beginning, it’s really more about how engaged your followers are, than about how many there are. If people are commenting, sharing, and liking your posts at a good rate, that shows that you’re striking a chord with your audience, and the number of followers will organically grow from there.
Your aim is also to drive traffic to your website, where visitors can learn more about your company and your product, and, ideally, sign up for your email list. They will only be motivated to sign up if the content you’re producing is of interest to them and they don’t want to miss it.
Do a viral giveaway contest
If you’re promoting an actual physical product (rather than a service or an online platform, for example), consider holding a viral giveaway contest. Those who enter the contest can increase their odds of winning just by sharing news of your giveaway through social media or in any other way that works for them. The enticing nature of a contest is a great way to attract some attention, and the viral aspect is a great way to reach a whole new audience!
Collaborate and form partnerships
Whether you call them affiliates or brand ambassadors or influencers, these people, who have already done the work of building their own audience, can be essential partners in helping to spread the word about your product. It would be lovely if you could attract such influencers simply by virtue of creating something amazing, but generally, you’ll need to offer them something in return — perhaps paying them outright to promote your product on social media or in a YouTube video, or offering them a cut of any products that are sold through their recommendation. In the latter scenario, these influencers might offer their followers a discount code to save money on your product, and that code, in turn, gives them a percentage of those purchases.
Consider targeted online advertising
You’ve already done the research to know who your target audience is, so put that research into practice by placing your ads in front of the right people. The magic of our 21st-century world is that you can pinpoint the group that will see your ads by gender, age, race, and interests. That way your advertising dollars can be spent not on a scattershot campaign but on one with a surgical focus.
Engage with your growing audience
You want your growing audience to engage with you, so you need to be willing to return the favor. Respond to comments and messages, even if they’re nasty, with positivity and enthusiasm and real answers to questions. Be authentic and honest and grateful for their interest. Any one of these commenters could turn around and promote you to their followers, or they could do the opposite.
Check the analytics
The effectiveness of everything you do to grow your audience can be measured. Make the time to analyze the results so you can focus more of your energy on the things that are working and abandon those that aren’t.
If you commit to putting in the time and effort (and, yes, some cash), you will build a better, stronger foundation for your business. Don’t rush this process. It takes time and patience and fortitude…but it will yield results.
