What type of content is best for growing an audience?

What type of content is best for growing an audience?

Some creators struggle to grow an audience because their content isn’t a great match with the people they’re trying to reach. That can happen in a couple of different ways, maybe the topics you cover in your content aren’t relevant to your audience or maybe the mediums that you use for your content, like social media posts, or blogs, or podcast episodes, aren’t your target audience’s preferred medium. In this video, we’re going to fix that and help you figure out what kind of content you can share to grow your audience.

First, let’s talk about the topics or main themes of your content.

Before we can even get started, it’s important that we define who our target audience is. It’s a lot easier to figure out what our audience wants when we know who they are.

If you haven’t already defined your audience, check out this video where I walk you through the whole process.Once you’ve done that, it’s time to start asking some questions. Answer the following four questions and write down some ideas to help you zero in on the kind of content that will really resonate with your audience.

Question 1: What do people in my audience get really passionate about?

Go to forums, communities, or the comments section of another creator in your niche. Is there a topic that really gets people buzzing? That people get really fired up about? Write down the topics or themes you see.

Question 2: What are some common questions or struggles my audience shares?

Visiting those same places where your target audience usually hangs out, look for questions or comments that seem to keep coming up. Write down those questions and struggles.

Question 3: What knowledge or insights have I gained that I wish I knew earlier in my journey?

Reflect on where you were a few stages ago in your journey. What insights or experiences helped you get to where you are now? Write down some ideas for topics that would have helped you earlier in your journey.

Question 4: What topics do I feel really passionate about?

When you feel really passionate about something, that passion tends to come through in the way you write or speak. This will naturally attract people who also feel passionately about your topic. Write down some topics that get your fired up.

And lastly, once you’ve written down some ideas, ask yourself:

"Could I get even more specific?"

For example, maybe your audience is looking for advice on the best camera for photography. You could answer a more specific question like, which camera is best for beginners who want to do nature photography. 

Looking at what you’ve written so far, write down a more specific version of that topic or even multiple variations on the same topic.

The more specific you are, the easier it is to connect with people because most people are looking for specific information.

Now for the fun part.

Draw a four circle venn diagram, with each circle representing the four questions we discussed. Look at your topic list and copy down your ideas into the segment that makes the most sense for that topic.

For example, maybe there’s a topic you feel passionately about, but it’s a little advanced for your audience and they don’t seem to be discussing it. That would go in the question 4 circle. But maybe there’s a topic you’re passionate about that your audience is really fired up about, is struggling with, and is similar to an earlier struggle you experienced. That could go into the middle segment of the diagram.

The more overlap a given topic has, the more likely it will really resonate with your audience and make it easier for your audience to grow.

Now that you know what kind of topics will help you connect with your audience, we need to figure out which medium would be the best fit for them.

Even if the topics you’ve chosen are perfect for your audience, delivering that content with a medium your audience doesn’t normally use could be making it more difficult to attract new subscribers or followers. The goal in this section is to find which mediums your target audience is most likely to use, so that the great content you’re creating can really shine.

For this video, we’re going to talk about mediums as different types of media, like video, audio, and written word, but we’re also going to talk about different types of delivery methods, like email newsletters, podcast episodes, youtube videos, or other specific social media platforms.

Thinking about who your target audience is, try to ask questions that will help you uncover the best mediums for your target audience:

• What kind of device would they most likely use to consume content?

• How busy are they or how much free time do they have?

• Do they commute to work or spend long stretches of time on mundane activities?

• What kind of environment do they work in?

• Do they have access to high speed internet?

• How tech savvy are they?

• Where did you see people in your target audience engaging the most?

There are lots of different questions you can ask, but the goal here is to use the answers as clues to the mediums that make the most sense.

For example, let’s say a person in your target audience consumes most content on their 5G phone, has a lot of free time, and works from home in a relatively quiet environment. Video content like YouTube or Facebook videos could be a really great fit. If the demographic of your target audience is a bit younger, YouTube might be a better fit than Facebook.

Here’s another example: A person in your target audience consumes content on their laptop, works full time hours in an office setting, has a lot of free time at their desk and tends to be most engaged in the comments section of forums. Sharing your content as a blog article could be a good fit for this type of person.

And we can’t forget the most important variable in this equation. You.

Which mediums do you feel most comfortable or proficient in? 

If you cringe at the thought of talking to a camera, producing video content might not be the best fit for you.

Or maybe you absolutely hate writing and having to produce a weekly email newsletter would feel like torture. Probably best to avoid that.

On the other side, let’s talk about things you’re good at. Maybe you’ve become a rockstar at posting and getting engagement on Twitter, or you could sit in front of a microphone for hours.

The best mediums are the ones that check all three boxes. They are ones that your target audience is most likely to use. They are ones you feel comfortable with. And they are ones you have some level of proficiency at.

As a quick note, just because you choose not to use a particular medium right now doesn’t mean you can’t grow into it in the future. In the beginning, it’s best to focus your efforts on the things that will have the most impact, then you can expand from there.

Combine the best mediums with topics that will really resonate with your audience, and you’ve got the ingredients you need for a growing and thriving audience.