How Should Writers Stay Authentic When Building an Audience?
3 Things I want to share this week
'Know your audience' is one of the most common advices you hear on social media.
The advice itself doesn't tell the whole story. Its importance is no stranger to me since it's vital for marketing the message and its target.
This week, I want to share with you 3 things you should consider when writing to build an audience on social media:
Why writing for an audience is risky ✍
There's such a thing as audience capture.
Writers or content creators are easily shaped by their audiences' preferences, expectations, and feedback. You can't build a brand if you don't have an audience - they say.
You can't sell your products if you don't have an audience - they say.
Before you write, 'know your audience' advice is risky. As David Loewen says "Social media is driven by algorithms - not by 'some audience'".
Rather than staying true to themselves, constantly fighting for attention may turn you into someone you may not even like.
David B. Clear strikes me with a fresh look at what it means to be authentic - "Being authentic isn't about presenting the same you to everyone. It's simply about sticking to the repertoire of roles that don't clash with your value and, for the lack of a better word, for the real you."
David reminds us we play different roles according to our environment. At home, at work, or online. As a writer, we also play a role, depending on who we are writing for. You can try many different roles and see how readers react to them. You can do this as long as those roles fit your true self.
Don't give the steering wheel into your audience's hands. Here's how you can stay true to yourself according to David:
Set boundaries: Decide what types of content you won't create.
Welcome diverse opinions. Welcome outsiders with different opinions
Don't obsess over stats and engagement: If you're writing and staring at your metrics, then you're letting your audience dictate your content.
Track feedback: Assess whether it aligns with your vision. if it does use it to tweak and improve your content.
Stay clear of extreme content: Choose your literary companions wisely
Assess your motivation: Before you publish ask yourself this - are you writing because it brings you joy and you're sharing ideas that genuinely interest you? Or are you just fishing for compliments?
Be patient: It's better to have zero fans than a bunch of eccentric weirdos. The right audience is out there looking for you
"Make stuff you love and talk about stuff you love and you'll attract people who love that kind of stuff. It's that simple." - Austin Kleon
Let others tell your brand story for you 📚
There's no better way to attract an audience than telling stories.
So be open to different ways of telling your story.
As Mark Armstrong explains 'Stories are important for the same reasons that marketing advertising and communication are important. They're how you get attention, create a good impression, and get people to remember you.”
One of the best ways to tell your stories is from testimonials from readers or customers.
Marketing expert Jay Baer says 'word of mouth' is the most effective and cost-effective way to generate customers and grow any business.
Mark adds that the best way to do that is to provide something your customers or readers wouldn't normally expect.
Another way is to tell small stories. But be selective in which stories you tell.
Tell stories that show expertise, and make them more entertaining.
Mark says we should add humor in the stories we tell - "Humor is putting people at ease, helping them relax and feel welcome. It's being willing to poke a little fun at yourself."
"A good storyteller holds your attention and makes you feel glad to be there. They make you want to hear more."
It's not just the story - it's how you tell it.
Mark reminds us that there's always a fresh way to tell an old story. We can retell it in ways that make us laugh, wonder, and think.
Oh and know your target audience. Empathize with them, identify with them. The reader needs to like the writer.
Your target audience is the person you were 2, 6 months, or 1 year ago.
The state of social media 👩👩👧👧
We as content creators, and writers are to some extent influencers.
Michal Malewicz explains the goal of influencing is to pursue a narrative, opinion, or product onto a large group of people.
Everyone is focusing on building an audience and having a personal brand. They're been told is the only way to stay relevant.
Being good at what you do is not enough. You need to be a brand to be well known. Then the next thing you do is jump on the creator economy bandwagon. Start racing for numbers and begging for engagement.
Michal argues most of the interactions are based on the rule of reciprocity. If I'm nice to you, there's a bigger chance you'll engage with your content.
“Social media has become all about engagement farming and trying to 'hack the algo’. Clickbait and gaming attention are more important than merit." - Michal Malewicz.
I have been writing for a year now and something I realize there's a lot of engagement that is not genuine. It’s one of the reasons I started to focus on building relationships and not following.
As Michal explains "Everyone's desperately 'gaming the algo' to enlarge their piece of the pie."
Often I notice most of us are past having something to say. It's online trolling for the sake of causing the most controversy. And pleasing the algorithms.
"The algorithm works to reinforce an opinion.
If you express a solution to a problem as complex and nuanced, nobody wants to hear it. There's much reward for one to say this is bad or this is awesome. When you stick to the middle you don't get the support of either side.
Picking a tribe is always more comfortable. Staying in the middle is the lace of the greatest tension." - Konstantin Kisin
We're fighting AI-regurgitated content. Preventing others from stealing our writing and not becoming those who seek controversy just for the sake of it.
But there's hope.
Some groups of people get bored of all this. Some want to get value from what they do online.
Aim your writing to those groups of people.
It’s a long one but that’s it for me. See you in one week!
Chat soon… more insights coming your way…
This post was written on: 💻 Typeshare