Image created on Canva by: Christi Bouchard Howden
I have a goal to create my own blog/vlog. Actually, it has already been created, but to be honest, I find myself slighty intimidated by the possibility that no one will want to read my articles or watch my videos. Who in the world is going to want to sit there and consume the ramblings of some 40-ish year old, married with children woman, that is passionate about kindness, humanity and the world we live in? Apparently over 1.4K people to be exact. To my surprise, I already have an audience and I had no idea they were listening.
What a difference a week can make.
I’ll start with a bit of a back story. This past week was one filled with Oprah Winfrey type AH-HA moments, along with a side of rollercoaster emotions. I had the fortune of attending the very first Social Media North 2020 Conference (virtual of course), and I walked away inspired! One of my social media favourites, Amber Mac, was a panelist and I hung onto every bit of advice she had. The conference addressed many topics however there were a couple things that stuck with me. I will get to those in a minute.
I was having a great week, learning and growing. I was collecting valuable information and storing it away with a million ideas on how I could put my newfound knowledge into action. Then mid-week hit. On Wednesday evening, as I was scrolling my Facebook feed, I encountered a video that dipicted two business owners of a tattoo shop, located in my northern hometown, ridiculing overweight people. BOOM-I was triggered! The hateful and vial comments just kept replaying in my head. I felt sick to my stomach and couldn’t sleep that night. By the time I returned from work on Thursday, I knew this was the time to apply some knowledge I attained during the conference.
One of the panelists that spoke earlier in the week had emphasized the impact of video on social media. She talked about quality content being responsive in nature rather than reactive. She also said there were two types of content created- look at me content, or learn from me content. With these keypoints in mind, I decided to try something different. I created my own video responding to the hateful messages I saw the night before. I delivered a message encouraging kindness amoung people rather than judgement or hate. I figured a few people on my friends list would see it and that my voice would be heard by a handful of people. I almost pulled the video down, feeling exposed and afraid of judgement.
What happened over the next 48 hrs was so unexpected. Almost 1500 people watched the video, and messages of appreciation and thanks poured in. Some felt the same way and were afraid to speak up, others stated they were very upset and my response gave them hope that there were people that saw past their weight. Strangers reached out with their stories and thanked me for giving them the voice they didn’t have. I realized right then, my passion gave me a voice and I found my niche. I had an audience.
Photo credit: Canva
My target audience.
I began taking a look at the people that watched and responded to my video. There were a few things that jumped out immediately. The people that responded were mostly women, between the ages of 30-45. They were either married or in a serious relationship, with children and were educated. The people that engaged with my post belonged to pages and groups similar to the type I participate in. It was easy to see the demographics and psychographics of my audience were very much aligned to my own interests and passions.
As each comment was posted on my feed or inbox, I made sure to engage with every person. In turn conversations started and I felt like relationships were being built. It didn’t take long to see complete strangers interacting as well and a small community of support was forming.
Expanding my horizons.
By understanding some of the details about my audience, I can build and grow my listeners base by utilizing a listening tool. I have some experience with Google Alerts and Google Trends. Feedly is a tool used for my professional platforms and could it could be incorporated to listen to different blogs and sites my audience follows.
If there is anything that I learned from the Social Media 2020 Conference last week, it is to find your niche, be authentic and get to know your audience. With this knowledge I feel more comfortable moving into my blog space and letting my voice be heard, because there is always an audience somewhere-you just need to realize it.
Do you have any tools or tips that you use to grow your audience? Drop a comment below and share your experiences.
To see the video I posted in response to the “fat shaming” incident online, please visit my Facebook page.
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 