Building an Audience Is Harder Than Ever — Here’s How to Do It Anyway

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the challenges of building an audience on social media platforms and provides strategies for effectively growing an audience in the current landscape.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Reasons for the Difficulty in Building an Audience on Social Media

1. What are the key reasons mentioned for the difficulty in building an audience on social media?

• The author's own experience of growing a Twitter account to 20K followers and then seeing it shrink to 15K due to neglect, while their LinkedIn audience grew to 12K
• The collective "jadedness and blindness to marketing messages" due to the overuse of tactics that once worked
• The increased competition for attention and time as social media usage has grown significantly in recent years
• The outdated advice being recycled, as the world has changed post-pandemic with people spending less time glued to their screens

[02] Strategies for Building an Audience

1. What strategies does the author recommend for building an audience effectively?

• Stand for something and be polarizing - make people feel something when they read your content
• Limit self-promotion and focus on providing value to your audience
• Collaborate with others through cross-promotions, live events, and affiliate partnerships
• Use other channels to drive people to your most important channel (e.g., email list)
• Consider using ads to boost visibility and audience growth, even on a small budget
• Join social media groups or forums outside your area of expertise where your target audience hangs out

2. What is the author's key message about building an audience? The author emphasizes that building an audience takes time and patience in the current social media landscape, and encourages the reader to be more strategic and creative in their approach, rather than relying on outdated tactics.