How to Develop an Online Audience

What is Audience Development?

Before the lights, camera, and action, it is important to understand your audience. As a top video production company in Boston, we have witnessed brands that have succeeded with audience development and others that have fallen short. The most important concept to keep in mind is that your audience IS your NUMBER ONE priority.

Audience Development Strategies

What you like and what your audience likes may be to different things, and you must make sure to not cross the line. The audience should be put first, so when you are developing a video marketing campaign, you can be certain that you will grab their attention. How do you do this? Through video optimization. Everything from the clothing, lighting, and props should intrigue your audience and be relatable. For instance, if you are a local restaurant looking to create online how-to video for dishes you serve, you must be able to convey it in a way that your audience will understand. If most of your audience and customers are 20-40 years and in the middle class, they probably won’t be attracted to a video with a man dressed up showing them how to create a fancy dish. They want simple, easy, and want a point of view that is relatable. If you want to reach an audience that is more experienced with cooking fancier dishes, make a separate video and YouTube channel. You should never combine the two, for it will be confusing and off putting to the audience.

Audience Development Social Media

If you are a business that has to separate audience groups due to different services and products within your company, then again, you must create division between the marketing videos and social media platforms. The audience wants to be able to find what they need and the information as quickly as possible. They shouldn’t have to search to find the YouTube Channel and video they need.

Digital Audience Development

Besides video optimization, it is equally as important to tell a story that the audience will resonate with. Storytelling can go in many different directions during a marketing video. It can be in the form of an interview, training video, brand video, commercial, etc. Nonetheless, be sure to pick the style of video that you know your audience will want to watch.

Once you have established an audience and a following, don’t lose sight of what they want and what you want. If you are looking to reach a wider demographic be sure to optimize content for that specific branding, and don’t take away from the following you have attracted.

Audience Development Plan Examples

Overall, here is what you should be doing to establish audience development:

• Connect with the customer
• Establish a voice
• Engage with the audience
• Optimize content specific to the brand
• Don’t combine two different audiences
• Understand every platform is different and to conform to that
• Create a Point of View for the audience, whether it be a spokesperson or influencer (depending on the video style)
• Be passionate about your audience
• Create content your audience wants, not what you want

Skillman Videography Group LLC specializes in Boston video marketing. Call us anytime at 1-800-784-0140.