In a world all about attention, likes, clicks and popularity online, how do you go from a ‘nobody’ to a ‘somebody’ in the online world? There are thousands of courses out there focused on content creation, audience building and turning you into an influencer, but can they be trusted and what about creating an audience for a business?
In this article, we debunk some of the myths around building an audience online and look at tried and tested methods for you to make the use of eyeballs on social media.
An audience is an audience
Whether you have 5 million followers on social media or 50, an audience is still an audience. There’s a common obsession over more likes, more clicks, more comments, etc and of course while more eyes are better this is only true if the eyes are relevant.
A business with an audience of 400 across all its social channels can be generating more leads through this audience than a business with 40,000 followers. It’s not only a numbers game, it’s about being targeted where possible.
Do you need to build an audience?
Another aspect to consider is whether you actually need to build an audience, or would it be more beneficial to leverage someone else’s? Particularly for businesses in the B2C space, the use of influencers who appeal to your target demographic is massively underrated. Many people think that this is inaccessible to them but using micro-influencers who have 10k-50k followers can be surprisingly effective and low cost.
Getting influencer marketing right requires research to understand the relevant and accessible influencers in your area and needs the strategy behind it. A product plug in the middle of a YouTube video is great but there are much more creative ways to get influencers to tell your story for you.
Consistency is key
When it comes to building an audience on social media the key element is consistency, even viral videos have their moment in the limelight and then it’s on to the next thing. In 2022 the only way to build an audience organically is to be posting almost every day, which for most businesses is a huge ask.
That doesn’t mean to say you shouldn’t post if you can’t meet the everyday requirement, something is better than nothing, however, you have to manage your expectations accordingly about how quickly your audience will grow organically.
It can be difficult to know what to do with your audience, what it is worth, how to build yours, or how to tap into someone else’s. Fortunately, minc marketing can help you understand how you reach more people online and harness this for the benefit of your business.