Do you really own your followers? |
It's a lot of time and energy into growing your following. Shouldn't this hard work pay off? The reason why you should be able to control your fans is essential to creator success.
Why shouldn't the effort pay off?
Being popular on a platform doesn't mean you own your relationship with that group of people. If you're not have a relationship with them, you're missing 1) people seeing all that you can offer and 2) the advantages -- community building, monetization and the growth that comes from being able to reach that audience in the initial place.
This is the definition of "owning your target audience" signifies and why it matters.
What does it mean to own your audience? (And why is this vital?)
Building your brand's reputation by establishing relationships with people in your own way. You are aware of who they are as well as how they interact with your work, regardless of regardless of whether they're discovering your content for the first time or already have been faithful fans for years.
The way to establish these relationships is by owning when and how you talk to your audience. Your communication with them is via a channel or platform that you control, like an email newsletter, your online community or your website. The direct channel of communication is scalable, so you are able to easily contact individuals at the right time, whether that's one individual client or the entire list of email addresses.
There's a difference between posting content on Instagram and waiting to see if algorithms will place your posts in front the people who follow you as opposed to. being confident that your post gets to the right people.
Imagine that you're planning an evening party with new friends. To ensure they'll enjoy themselves You must know the following facts about them before they arrive Are they averse to food limitations? What type of music does they enjoy? Do they prefer alcohol, wine or a mocktail?
Just like asking your family members for their suggestions helps you cater a party to your guests. Getting to know your audience as more than just "likes" as well as "follows" can help you develop items and contents that will meet their requirements.
The result? growing your business as a creator by increasing sales, and happier customers.
The consequences of not owning your target audience
If you're not able to control your audience, you miss chances to develop connections, and monetize your followers, make sure your followers get to see your content and grow your business.
There are three different ways social media platforms make it difficult for you to establish your audience:
Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok do not let you share the audience you built with you. You aren't able to contact all your TikTok fans at the same time or create a list of their email addresses so that you can communicate with them in a way that is on your own terms.
Social platforms' algorithms are created to keep users on social media apps for as long as they can and putting profits from platforms over the success of their creators. The ever-changing algorithm means that your fans may not be able to see your content right when you post the content, or actually see it. These platforms also promote other creators' work to your followers and show your posts in the brand of the platform, not your own.
We aren't saying that creators should swear off social media completely. It's a powerful means to build your fan base and help new people get to know your work however it shouldn't be the the onlyway you communicate with your audience. Utilizing social media in conjunction with other channels (like email) will make a significant contribution to the success of your business as a creator.
Intentional ways to build audience relationships according to your own preferences
A big part of owning your followers is having complete the control of their experience at every stage regardless of whether they're brand new fan or an old-timers.
There are a variety of ways to achieve this. We have two suggestions for creators:
Begin to build your email database early on
Pick a user-friendly, all-in-one platform for creators.
1. Begin to build your email database early on
Email is a tried-and-true marketing channel for a reason: It's simple and inexpensive to start in the process. Creating your email list early can yield a wealth of benefits.
The success of your workshop is at the mercy of the algorithm *.
(*The Instagram algorithm changes frequently and with no prior notice, therefore the information in this graphic could change. That's one of the biggest reasons why creators are bored with Instagram -- and are moving to their own channels, like email and private groups.)
What you do with the place you host these digital items -- as well as control the rest of your business -- can make huge differences, as well.
2. Select platforms and tools that are user-friendly for creators.
Some platforms view creators as if they're in a vacuum -- only to produce content and engage followers on the platform instead of as actual people who work to build brands and businesses. The companies do not understand what it takes to begin and grow a creator business.
Also these aren't a good fit for creators.
A Creator-friendly platform makes owning your audience relationships and controlling the user experience simpler.
"Creators strive to develop their own audience with long-lasting relationships -- and that shouldn't be a reason to get locked into a certain platform. It's your right to enjoy the benefits of your time and labor along with you wherever you go."
"That implies the capacity to take your data, customers, and earnings along to a new platform, or , at minimum, export from an existing platform, with ease and speed in a quick, easy manner."
The platforms that are creator-friendly allow you to connect with all of your customers -- students, members of the community who are free and paid subscribers on your mailing list in the way you'd like. You can send a note to everyone on your list or even a certain student in a course cohort using the same platform.
Platforms like Facebook do not send data to email providers. (They won't let you export email addresses.) So, you aren't able to make use of audience information to segment your audience, so you need to work on multiple platforms to connect with everybody.
"I must pay for an entire virtual assistant allow members in, welcome them, moderate, etc. There's Google Sheets and separate Facebook Messenger software that costs $30/month in addition to Facebook's algorithm and distracting features. It's such a mess."
This is particularly important when you plan to go further than just provide free content. If you want to start making money by offering digital services and community it is essential to have the proper equipment.
Set up a platform where they can share their updates with their supporters
Bottom line: The tools that you choose to use must see your holistically and assist you as someone creating something amazing -- not just as an opportunity to make more money. Platforms that are supportive of creators understand how crucial it is for creators to take control of their relationships and communicate with their followers. If you're given the power to own those things then you're able to establish an amazing creative business that is your own.
Are you ready to start with a creator platform which is focused on your success? Sign up for your free account today . We're excited to watch your progress.