It’s tempting to go after clicks and high rankings, but in truth, focusing on building a quality audience is just as important – if not more. We’re not saying to abandon SEO or anything. However, if you make the effort to create brand loyalists, you’ll likely get more clicks and boost your rankings naturally. Read on for 10 tips to help build a quality audience.
1. Know Your Audience
- Tailored content is your best friend. Especially with tech giants like Google and Yahoo cracking down on spam emails. Know who your audience is and what kind of content resonates with them. This will likely take some thorough market research to identify demographics, preferences, and behaviors.
2. Create High-Quality Content
- Relevant, high-quality content is the key to attracting (and keeping) a quality audience. Don’t push out material just to meet a quota. Instead, strive for compelling storytelling and informative articles. You want your content to add value to your readers’ lives … and that will keep them coming back for more.
3. Keep Branding Consistent
- Make sure your image is consistent across all platforms, whether it's your website, social media, digital or print publications. Consistent branding builds trust and recognition. By staying consistent, you reinforce an identity that your audience associates with quality content. Quality content = quality audience.
4. Be Active on Social Media
- Social media is a wonderful way to engage with your audience. Share your content, respond to comments, answer questions and participate in conversations. These things help build community around your brand and drive traffic to your site.
5. Optimize for Search Engines (SEO)
- When it comes to building a quality audience, SEO is a big piece of the puzzle. Implementing solid SEO practices ensures that your content is discoverable by a wide audience. Focus on relevant keywords, meta tags, and mobile optimization to drive traffic to your site.
6. Create Solid Email Marketing Campaigns
- You can build and grow relationships with your audience through email campaigns, but be careful! As aforementioned, many email servers are now penalizing bulk senders who go above a certain spam threshold. To avoid getting blacklisted, make sure you’re providing exclusive content, newsletters, and updates to the right audience.
7. Utilize Analytics
- Refine your outreach strategies based on real-time data. Leveraging analytics gives you insight into user behavior, helping you understand what content resonates the most, which platforms drive the most traffic, and how users interact with your website.
8. Offer Interactive Experiences
- Polls, quizzes, and surveys help keep your audience interested and engaged. Not only will interactive content encourage participation, it creates a more memorable experience for users and gives you valuable data on your audience’s preferences.
9. Host Events and Webinars
- You can create opportunities for more direct interaction by hosting events, webinars, coffee chats – the options here are endless! These platforms allow your audience to connect with your company in real-time and inspire networking, community building and knowledge-sharing.
10. Encourage User-Generated Content
- Allow your audience to contribute content through comments, reviews, contests and submissions. User-generated content will add some diversity to your content stream while giving you the chance to strengthen the bond between you and your audience while acknowledging and showcasing user contributions.
It takes time and dedication to build a quality audience. We’re talking about an ongoing process that requires adaptability and a deep understanding of what your audience needs. But, by implementing these 10 strategies, you can create a foundation for sustained growth, build brand loyalty and set yourself up for long-term success. For an in-depth look at building a quality audience, click here.
