Whether you just entered the world of making music or have been doing it your whole life there is one problem that many artists tend to fall into at some point of time; not having the size of an audience they desire. Growing a bigger audience in many ways is another skill set, but is also something anyone can do. Below we will go over the 7 best ways to grow your audience, but first, we will go over some of the most popular myths talked about when trying to grow an audience. Going over the myths first will help weave out any misconceptions you might have and can help gain a stronger understanding of some of the rules.
There is no denying that knowing people is important to growing an audience, but in order for that to work, you need to have content. Content that people will value and that will make them interested in more of what you have to offer. If you have nothing for people to value then there really is no worth in knowing people for exposure, you must have something to offer before anything else, otherwise, people won’t see you as being worth there time.
That the more content you create the more traffic you will have. Consistently posting content is one of the most important things when it comes to growing your audience, but that doesn’t mean posting anything will get you the results your looking for. You need to make sure the content you make available is relative to the market your trying to bring in. If nothing you do is relative to the market your pursuing then they will move on to something else. When it comes down to it, it’s all about what your intended audience wants. Therefore it is very important you take that into consideration whenever you come out with something new.
Money can definitely help speed up the amount time it takes to grow an audience but that doesn’t mean that it’s a necessity. If it took money to make money then many successful people wouldn’t be where they are today. Fact is, it actually takes money to lose money. Money is made from something having value. But the question then becomes what gives something value? The value comes from the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. That is why it is up to you to find out what your targeted audience values and use that to your advantage.
Hopefully knowing those myths will help you be more successful with growing an audience and also help you with understanding some of the rules on a deeper level. But it is also important to understand that the rules below are rules that may or may not work. It is really up to you. Many of the rules are ones that professional promoters use, making the chance of them working better, but it doesn’t make it a sure guarantee that anything your doing will result in success because the fact is there is no sure guarantee anything your doing will work. It’s about experimenting and seeing how you can do better. The world is constantly changing and it is important to understand that you need to keep up with the methods of tomorrow in order to accomplish what you want today, otherwise you will be eaten by the competition. It is also important to note that to truly be successful you have to treat promotion like a business. Because growing an audience in many ways is like growing a business.
It’s obvious but its the first thing on the list for a reason. Social Media is very much something you can use to market your content. According to statista.com Twitter has had 330 million active Twitter users worldwide as of 2017. But even more impressively, also according to statista.com, as of 2017 Facebook had 2.07 billion monthly active users. Having access to these platforms is literally having the ability to create free advertising. The advertising, being your content and how you market it through what you post. For example, think of what you post online as a billboard that billions of people can traffic through and see. This brings insane capabilities to the people you can reach. But in order for you to reach everyone, you must be everywhere; on all forms of social media when you first start off. If you don’t, not only are you losing potential viewers but also risking losing all your popularity if something happens to a website you might be popular on. Being on multiple platforms is an important way to make sure your eggs aren’t all in the same basket so to speak, just as important if you’re on other platforms your more likely to be seen by more people. Different people have different personalities which will attract two different things, some people Instagram and some people Snapchat. It’s important to remember that you’re going to the customer, not the other way around.
Associating with a trend is possibly the fastest way to grow an audience. A trend can be thought of something that is popular or current with the public at that point in time. The issue with hopping on a trend is the fact that all trends will eventually die out, which is the same reason why some people claim trends aren’t a go-to source for growing an audience. But the fact is it can help you tremendously with growing an audience. Like stated earlier to truly grow an audience you need to make what the people want, and what a large mass of people want is known as a trend. But keep in mind if you associate everything you do with that trend, when it dies out, your audience will too. But this is also a way to control the size of your audience and how big you want it to be. The more trends that you hop on the more known you will become. It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t need to hop on a trend to become popular, this is just the fastest way to become popular. You can 100 percent do it without using trends, but it will probably be much more time-consuming.
When a viewer has an incentive they have a reason to want to keep coming back to what you have to offer. You giving them a more personal reason or incentive to check you out. This can also be much of the same incentive that they will share what you have to offer to other people they know. Giving someone an incentive to do something gives what your doing instant value you to that person, but you have to keep in mind what incentive you’re giving them will usually have a price, and you need to weight out the good and the bad that this price can bring. In the end, you really need to think about what you putting in and what you’re getting out of it. If not, then you need to rethink another strategy.
Using different forms of exposure is another very important way to become more known. Not only do more people have a higher chance of seeing you but your also building trust with people. This trust is the determining factor in whether people want to share and talk about your content. Bringing new type of exposure can bring in a ton of new potential viewers. For example, one popular way to gain exposure is collaborating with another artist. If this artist has a following, to begin with then collaborating with that artist can bring many of there viewers over your way.
When it comes to creating a personal brand or style you have to recognize the keyword in it; personal. What makes it personal is the fact that it is unique to you and you only. It is something that can distinguish you from everyone else. This can benefit you because it can distinguish you from everyone else. it also can tie your contents similarities together better, which in return could grow the targeted audience to a higher traffic level. There are many ways to create a personal brand or style and in the end its all up to you. Some artists use aesthetics while others use a certain tag, logo, or sound. There truly is no correct way to do it, in the end, its all about whatever you find works best for you.
Evolving your content and your style is critical. If you don’t evolve your style people will drift away and become tired of your content. Not to forget that in order to reach new people you new to use new methods. There is a famous science theory behind this, If you do what you have always done you will get the same results, so it is important to try new things to get new results. So in other words, if you want to bring in new people and a new audience then you need to change your marketing methods.
The final and most important rule in growing an audience is consistency. None of these other rules will matter if you’re not consistent. Other than having value, being consistent is the biggest key to determining your success. Consistency keeps your content memorable and up to date. But its extremely important to remember one of the worst techniques is scamming people to view your content. Doing this can create such a level of being an annoyance that a person may never want to see your content again. Its all about the right timing and frequency when it comes to consistency
In the end, when it comes down to growing an audience it is really up to one person, and that is you. You must determine if the time, work, and effort all worth the effort you’re putting in. Also, what will your returns when some of rules or ideas start working? It is also important to take everything one step at a time, so you can do your best with each step your on. But you also must keep in mind of the future and what your next step will be. Remember in order to stay ahead of the game you must think ahead of them.
