What are the Best Ways to Build an Audience with Content?
Let’s be real.
Attracting and maintaining a highly engaged online audience is hard.
There’s so much pressure to pay attention to metrics such as likes, comments, and social shares that it can become overwhelming to even think about constantly churning out high-quality content.
But, you need this regularly produced content in order to build a large audience. The more people in your audience who’re actually interested in your product or service, the better your chances of generating revenue and long-term clients.
Plus, content marketing is healthy for your ROI. According to DemandMetric, “content marketing costs 62 percent less than traditional marketing and generates about three times as many leads.”
So, how can you use content marketing to build your audience? Here are five tried and proven strategies.
Post At Least One Blog Article Per Week
Blogging success depends on a variety of factors including how frequently your content is updated, the goal of your blog and the source of your blog traffic.
Nevertheless, a good rule of thumb is to start with at least one evergreen blog post per week. An evergreen blog post is based on a topic that is relevant to readers regardless of the current trends and news cycle.
Here’s the difficult part – coming up with evergreen content ideas that matter to your audience. Some ideas for dealing with this struggle include:
- Considering the questions your customers frequently ask.
- Paying attention to the comments on your social media pages.
- Directly asking your audience what they want to hear by using surveys or social media posts.
Your existing audience is more likely to share blog articles they find useful. They’ll probably comment on a few of your articles and you can use these comments as a way to build relationships.
Additionally, someone who finds one of your blog posts valuable probably won’t want to keep that information a secret. That post will be shared either directly with a friend or on that person’s social media platform. This social sharing ultimately leads to an increase in followers in the long-term.
Create a Lead Magnet
OptInMonster defines a lead magnet as “an incentive that marketers offer to potential buyers in exchange for their email address or other contact information.” This incentive is typically some type of downloadable content such as an eBook, exclusive video, guide or whitepaper.
A lead magnet is a useful tool for building your email subscriber list. Start with some well-written (or well-filmed) content that showcases your brand’s unique perspectives on an evergreen topic.
Once you’re satisfied with the quality of the content, promote it! Effective promotion can help you build a large email subscriber list.
Use Email Marketing Effectively
Email marketing tends to be underrated. However, Oberlo cites a statistic which states that “for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $42”.
Here are some reasons for email marketing being so effective:
- You can send targeted emails to segmented audiences based on their interests and demographics.
- Although messages are sent in bulk, they can still be personalized through mail merge features. Therefore, the reader feels like the message has been specifically written for him or her.
- You can share content that matters to your audience directly to them. It’s like getting a hand-written message delivered straight to the customer’s door.
The personalized nature of email marketing makes it a useful tool for building your audience. Furthermore, people can share the content of the email with those in their network which further expands your reach. You may even get a few new subscribers!
Are you ready to make email marketing work for you?
Check out these three tips.
- Use catchy email subjects. Say something that will encourage your audience to open the email.
- Have a clear call-to-action.
- Make the email clean yet attractive.
Understand the Social Media Platform You Use
Social media is where most people believe the real audience building happens. However, it’s only a small part of everything you need to include in your content marketing strategy to build your audience.
Nevertheless, the process of building a strong social media following that is highly engaged begins with understanding the social media platform you use. For instance, the type of content you would need for an Instagram post would be different from the type of content you would need for a Facebook post.
Here are some tips for creating the right social media content:
Be Authentic
It’s easy to spot a brand that’s only posting just for the sake of posting. People follow your page because they want to understand what your brand stands for and what makes it unique.
Listen to the Stats
All social media platforms provide statistics on the performance of each post. Instagram, for instance, breaks down the number of likes, comments, direct messages and saves on each post.
Pay attention to the posts that have the most engagement across all metrics (stop focusing only on likes). Looking at the broad spectrum of metrics will give you a better sense of the types of posts your audience likes. Your aim should then be to create more of those types of posts to increase your chances of getting more followers.
Post Consistently
Consistent social media posting is just as hard as blogging. However, it’s a strategy you need to use in order to grow your social media audience. The frequency of posts depends on your audience and the platform you use, but once per day seems to be the common practice.
Leverage the Power of Videos
HubSpot reports that “78 percent of people watch online videos every week, and 55 percent view online videos every day.” Videos are a powerful way of reaching your target audience and building your customer base.
YouTube dominates the online video landscape with two billion monthly users. It is also “the second most preferred platform for watching video on TV screens among 18 to 34 year olds” according to Hootsuite.
Therefore, creating a YouTube channel is important for publishing the video content necessary for building your audience. There’s a little snag though. The process of filming and editing videos is highly involved and you need the right equipment to create videos that will have a lasting impact.
Additionally, you need videos that showcase relevant content. But, one you get it right you can attract buyer prospects to your website through the videos you post.
Final Words
Content marketing is important for building a highly engaged audience. We have outlined five strategies that you can use to reach your audience with the right content.
You may need to hire a content marketing manager to help you get things done right. There’s no shame in that. Schedule a consultation with us and we’ll help you get started.
Connect with us today and we can get you started on the right track…
SwingPointMedia is a marketing company focused on using content marketing, such as written articles, video and podcasts, to attract their customers ideal audiences. This approach has proven to attract higher quality customers while simultaneously reducing the sales cycle by as much as 70%.
SwingPointMedia serves local businesses in Southern California and can be reached by calling 760-422-5176.
You are invited to also attend a free weekly presentation, providing you the tools and strategy to roll out your own content marketing program for your company, or see exactly what SwingPointMedia does for its clients to achieve success. It can be viewed live on SwingPointMedia’s YouTube channel, at 11 am pst.