We know how exciting it can be to get your content out to the world. As you plan to grow your audience, it’s essential to integrate the role building a community plays into this.
Begin with the basics
Let’s start with a quick definition of what community means in this context. Your community generally consists of engaged members of your audience, creators in your own field, and creators in adjacent fields. A community can grow your audience, offer resources, and expand opportunities.
Here’s how to build a fantastical community around your content.
Identify your community
We recognize that content creation might not be your day job; it could well be a side hustle or a passion project. This is why it’s super important to be intentional with your time when building and nurturing a community.
Start by focusing on identifying the community that your sound will resonate with. To get clear on your direction, here are some core questions to answer:
- For your content
- If you had to describe your content in five or fewer sentences, how would you?
- Why does this content appeal to your audience?
- For your audience
- What are the key characteristics of your target audience? How do they identify?
- Ex: age, gender, and ethnicity.
- What are the key behaviors and lifestyles of your audience?
- Where does your audience convene? More specifically, on what social platform do they connect online?
- For other creators
- What other similar content is out there with the same target audience?
- What other creators’ community building do you love and would like to emulate?
- What communities are you a part of that you can tap into?
- What’s a community you’re a part of that you’d love to emulate?
Armed with this intel, you’re one step closer to starting your journey. But first, you will need the right tools to find answers to these questions.
Tools to use
Remember, your most important tool is consistency. All the following tips can only facilitate your growth if you’re consistent in your efforts in engaging and cultivating connections. The following are some of the tools you can use to discover communities that already exist:
- Conversation starter platforms–these are the watering holes of the internet. More often than not, you will find your communities in niches within these platforms:
- Monetization platforms–you can find potential audience members through joining other communities. The truly engaged lot will be hanging out on membership-benefit platforms like:
- Thought leadership platforms–subscribing to topics that are relevant to your content is a great way to find fellow enthusiasts and thus, community members. Begin by finding and engaging with communities on platforms like:
Create space to connect
Although social media is a significant component of creating a community online, social media alone is not enough to develop and engage with an online community. The best way to engage your audience is by contributing to the ongoing conversations relevant to your content. Make your connections a two-way street by keeping in contact with your audience. Learn what they want more of and let them know you value their opinion with the following:
- Send announcements, updates, and other resources in a monthly newsletter with Substack or Medium.
- Regularly conduct surveys via platforms like Typeform or polls on social media for your audience to submit questions, provide feedback, or offer you resources.
- Expand your social media presence with a more interactive experience like Twitter Spaces.
- Engage with audience comments on social media.
These practices also apply to engaging with other content creators that are part of the community you want to build around your content. You’re more likely to cultivate deeper relationships with other content creators by personally reaching out.
Show up in key spaces
Your work is an expression of who you are. Who better to represent your content than you? And we get it. Engaging in conversations either in person or online can seem intimidating to some. But building community takes vulnerability and boldness. The boldness to be exactly who you are.
As a leading community manager, Arielle Nissenblatt suggests being bold means the willingness to overcome your fears and act courageously to get what needs to be done for your work to reach its audience. But, how do you do that? The answer is your why. Whether you’re creating audio because it’s a hobby or a passion project turned into a business, your why matters. It creates a ripple effect in this world that desperately needs positive sound waves.
Besides, meeting new people can be fun. The best way to get to know other creators is by supporting their work. Reach out to them and make time to get to know them better.
- Check out their work and write an online review or comment.
- Share their work on social media or with friends.
- Invite them to a coffee/virtual intro call to get to know each other.
- Pitch concrete ideas to collaborate.
- Promote them in your work.
- Offer cross-promotion opportunities.
We know cold emailing or DMing someone can seem intimidating. If you don’t know what to say, here are a few things to include in your first message to them:
- The purpose behind your content (highlight your why)
- Alignment in your content and theirs
- A resource they might find valuable
- A call to action: for example – setting a time to talk, shout outs on social media, feedback on something you created, or inviting them to an event.
Building community takes time
Building community around your content takes time. You won’t do it overnight. Still, you will gradually see how the creator community at Recordical is more than willing to support your efforts by connecting you to the right people or directing you to the resources you need.
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