First of all, let’s establish what an audience is. An audience is the total number of people you can reach through your mailing list, social media networks, and other channels. Imagine your business as a concert, and your audience being made of the people that fill up your venue. When you first start building your business audience, you have to expect that you won’t even fill a dive bar with people who come to hear your message. However, the more you work to build your audience, the bigger your audience will grow.
If a person can hear your message, they are part of your audience, even if they aren’t buying your product. For example, while you might be friends with hundreds or even thousands of people on your social media platforms, only a small percentage of them will buy your products when you launch them – yet all of your followers are your audience. Today, we are specifically talking about amplifying your message so that more people hear it. When that happens, you achieve a bigger buying public, and with that in mind, we want to share a few creative ways to build your audience.
VIRAL GIVEAWAYS
What exactly IS a viral giveaway? Well, a viral giveaway is a sweepstake that relies on going viral for rapid growth. “Going viral,” a term we hear a lot these days, means that an image, video, or piece of information is circulated rapidly and widely, often reaching millions of people. The goal of a viral giveaway is to create a giveaway that has a good chance of being shared and entered by a lot of people. You could offer books, gift cards, or free services. The more enticing your giveaway is, the more likely people will be to enter and share it with the world.
CONVENTIONS
Another way to increase your audience is through product tables at conventions. Now, conventions can be a bit of an investment, since you need to pay for products and table space, but it’s a phenomenal way to build that personal interaction between you and your prospective clients. The more personal a connection you can build with a potential customer, the more likely they are to connect with you, and then do business with you.
DEMONSTRATIONS
Look for local businesses who might be interested in having you come in to do product demonstrations, talks, or book signings. The one downside to doing business online is that we aren’t connecting with our public in an organic way like we used to, and studies show that people need this kind of interaction. If you sell services, look for local meet-ups that might benefit from hearing from you. Offering to perhaps conduct a mentoring session before an audience so that they can get an idea of what that looks like could be a smart way to encourage people to schedule their own session, for example. (Just make sure you don’t give away all your secrets for free!)
Here at Piccolo, we are dedicated to helping the small business owners of Music City on their business journey to achieving their dreams. We offer the services and client care of an experienced marketing department that is fully customized to your current projects and budgets. If you need help to build your audience, but neither hiring a full-time marketer or establishing a marketing department are the right solutions, Piccolo is the fix!
