Growing an audience base is equally critical for startup and established companies. However, increasing competition and enhanced accessibility have made it challenging for almost every business to attract and retain new audiences. In this post, I will discuss 17 proven ways to grow your audience for increased traffic and better conversions.

Why is it Important to Grow Your Audience?

Growing your audience is essential for several reasons, the most significant of which are:

Brand Awareness

It takes time to market your products, services, and brand to the target audience. However, reaching more people can significantly expedite the process. Many site visitors will become brand ambassadors, recommending your business to others. Therefore, a growing audience helps boost brand awareness.

Increased Sales

Growing an audience can have a massive impact on conversions and sales. The more people visit your site or social media profiles, the greater the opportunity for you to convert them into customers through marketing efforts.

More Backlinks

Many site visitors seek credible information to cite in their posts or articles. Therefore, it is critical to grow your audience to increase the chances of acquiring organic backlinks.

17 Proven Ways to Grow Your Audience

1. Be Consistent in Posting and Updating Content

Growing audience who are interested in your product or service is a tricky task. Securing an initial target audience base may be less challenging, but expanding the audience base to attract new visitors requires more effort. The most effective way to grow your audience is by creating consistent content.

A significant chunk of website traffic comes from organic search results. Most people turn to search engines in search of answers and information. However, people will only get to know about your content if it ranks higher in search engine result pages (SERPs).

On the other hand, you will miss out on many audiences if your content does not rank higher on search engine result pages. Therefore, post content regularly to increase your visibility and grow your audience.

Remember, it is equally important to keep content updated. Updated content is crucial for the following reasons:

• Google prefers recent content and ranks it higher.
• Readers are interested in up-to-date information.
• The audience will only revisit your site if they have confidence that your content is always up-to-date.

2. Create Relevant and Impressive Titles

Titles are what appear as headings on search engine result pages. They provide information about the page’s content to searchers and search engines. In other words, titles play a significant role in establishing if your page is relevant to the search query.

Searchers will only visit your page if they find your title compelling and pertinent to their search. But, if your title is misleading and the visitors do not find relevant content on your page, they will likely leave the page immediately. Consequently, your bounce rate will rise, and your ranking will be affected.

It is, therefore, essential to choose suitable titles that are compelling and relevant for growing your audience. An impressive and appropriate title:

• Is unique.
• Accurately gives an overview of the page’s content.
• Includes keyword.

 3. Use Strategic Keywords

As discussed earlier, most people rely on search engines to find content. They use keywords to find relevant content, while search engines show content containing those keywords. Therefore, even if you successfully secure the top position of Google search results for a specific keyword, you will only generate traffic if people use that keyword to find content.

It is, therefore, critical to use strategic keywords to grow your audience.

To find strategic keywords, do keyword research, i.e., identify popular keywords your target audience enters into search engines. I recommend using a good keyword research tool such as SEMrush, Serpstat, or SpyFu to find the search volume of different keywords. Below is the screenshot of the keyword overview in SEMrush.

4. Create Content in Different Formats

Creating content in various formats is another proven way to grow your audience. On the contrary, creating content in one specific format may keep you from targeting the audience who rely on other forms. Multiple content formats ensure you are targeting the maximum number of people.

Although it may appear time-consuming, you can save time and resources by repurposing already published content. Therefore, regardless of the products and services you offer, create content in various formats, such as:

Blog Posts

Written content is among the top-performing content formats. However, ranking on Google’s first page is critical to grow your audience. WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly are popular blogging platforms to start your blog.

Webinars

Webinars are best suited for introducing new products and services. If your audience cannot virtually attend the online event/session, they can download the recorded session. Various platforms and solutions are available for creating, organizing, and managing webinars, such as Livestorm and Demio.

eBooks

eBooks are long-form written content giving an in-depth insight into the topic. They are ideal for establishing your authority as a writer. Moreover, you can sell them to generate income. Amazon’s KDP, Kobo Writing Life, Draft2Digital, and Smashwords are a few popular platforms for publishing and selling eBooks.

Infographics

Infographics are the best solution for complex and hard-to-understand content. An infographic is a visual summarization of complex data and statistics. You can use infographics in blog posts, promote them on social media, or publish them on other websites.

Although infographics tend to quickly become viral, creating them is a time-consuming task that requires expertise. However, tools like Canva and Visme have built-in templates that make it easy to create professional infographics.

Videos

A particular group of audiences prefers videos over written content. Similarly, certain content is more effective if presented in video form, such as cooking recipes, tutorials, guides, etc. Although creating and editing videos is tricky, you can use tools like Movavi for recording screens, editing videos, and converting multimedia files into different formats. In addition, however, you can use tools like Doodly, Moovly, Vyond, Powtoon, Adobe Animate, and Animaker to create animated videos.

Podcasts

Like videos, podcasts are also gaining popularity among audiences of different age groups. Podcasts are audio content your audience can download and listen to at their convenience. They are ideal for growing an audience and increasing retention. The best platforms for hosting podcasts are PodBean, Buzzsprout, and Blubrry.

However, it is critical to post on social media platforms consistently. Your followers want to hear from you often. It also helps build a bond with your followers. You may lose your followers if you do not consistently post content on social media.

6. Find Out the Ideal Time to Post on Social Media Platforms

The demographics of the audience on different social media platforms vary significantly. For example, the audience on TikTok is much younger than those on Instagram. These demographic differences across platforms make learning the ideal posting time on each forum essential. Posting at the right time enables you to reach new people and grow your audience.

Although data regarding the best time to post on various social media platforms are available, I suggest you analyze your traffic and devise a strategy accordingly.

7. Create an Email List and Send Newsletters

Email marketing is a cost-effective way of attracting and engaging new. It is easy to implement and schedule. Therefore, create an email list of subscribers and send a newsletter to grow your audience.

However, the frequency of emails impacts the success of your email marketing campaign. Generally, you should send up to one email a week. Frequent emails can annoy recipients, and your future emails may end up in a spam folder.

Apart from the frequency of emails, the timing is also important. Sending emails at the right time ensures your email is at the top of the recipient’s inbox. Moreover, add sharing buttons in your emails, allowing recipients to share promotions, offers, newsletters, etc.

ActiveCampaign, Getresponse, Brevo(formerly Sendinblue), ConvertKit, AWeber, and Constant Contact are famous email marketing tools marketers use.

8. Proofread Content

Content with grammatical, typographical, spelling, or punctuation errors will make you lose your audience. Even if people visit your website, they will likely leave immediately and never return. Proofreading content helps identify and correct errors, mistakes, and inconsistencies in the content before it is published. A well written and error-free content is not only easy to understand but also engaging. Therefore, proofreading content is critical to growing your audience and increasing retention.

Hiring a professional to proofread your content involves a hefty investment; therefore, I recommend using popular grammar-checking tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and WhiteSmoke.

9. Format Content for Enhanced Readability

A large piece of content without any breaks or headings is frustrating and unattractive for the readers. It puts pressure on the eyes and the brain, making the readers quit reading. Most importantly, the readers may never come back again. On the contrary, a well-formatted piece of content leaves a pleasant impression and keeps readers engaged.

As a rule of thumb, always:

• Break content into subheadings for easy scanning.
• Use bullets, lists, etc., for a quick overview.
• Use sufficient white spaces by writing short paragraphs for enhanced readability.

10. Make Use of Influencer and Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing and influencer marketing are similar to paid advertisement. Influencers and affiliate marketers promote your content/product/business in return for compensation or commission. They have established authority in their niche and have access to a large audience. Influencers usually charge a fixed rate, while affiliate marketers earn a commission for every sale or visit they generate.

Therefore, to grow your audience, use of influencer and affiliate marketing.

11. Translate Content into Different Languages

Translating content into different languages helps you not only extend your reach but also gain a competitive advantage. It also enables you to rank in language-specific search engines, growing your audience. Most importantly, visitors will likely become loyal audiences if you create content in their native language. Therefore, translate your content into multiple languages to grow an audience across the globe.

12. Include Buttons for Content Sharing

A popular and efficient way to grow your audience is to include buttons for content sharing. It is as important as posting content on social media platforms. Content-sharing controls allow visitors to share your content with others through various platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. They also let visitors share content through emails. Facilitating content sharing helps you reach a vast target audience base who may not otherwise know your presence.

13. Write Guest Posts on Other Websites

Each website has its dedicated audience and subscribers. You can target those audiences if your content is published on those websites. Writing guest posts is particularly helpful if your blog is new. Gather information about websites in your niche that accept guest posts and compellingly approach them.

However, it is critical to consider the following while selecting websites for writing guest posts:

• First, the website is authentic and attracts a significant amount of traffic.
• The website’s audience is interested in exploring other businesses/content.
• The website owner consistently shares content on social media platforms.

14. Welcome Guest Bloggers to Post Content on Your Website

Inviting guest bloggers to create content for your blog is another practical way to grow your audience. Guest bloggers bring in their audience base, allowing you to reach new readers. Guest bloggers promote their content, particularly on social media platforms.

This approach is beneficial if you need help with creating regular content. However, ensuring the guest blog posts are relevant to your niche and have high-quality content is critical.

15. Conduct Quizzes/Giveaway Contests

Quizzes and giveaway contests are popular among audiences of all age groups. They get viral quickly, and audiences tend to share them often. Suitable to your niche, you can create exciting quizzes and contests to engage your audience. Remember to post quizzes and contests on social media, allowing your followers to spread the word. Promoting upcoming quizzes or contests on social media platforms well in advance is equally essential to maximize your outreach.

16. Build Backlinks

Building backlinks is another way of growing your audience. Backlinks help you rank higher in Google and direct traffic to your website. However, building links requires time and effort. It is, therefore, critical to avoid backlink-building mistakes for optimal results in minimum time.

17. Participate in Discussion Forums

Many people use discussion forums such as Reddit, Quora, Github, etc., to get their desired information. Participating in discussion forums helps you connect with people interested in your content. An active presence on these forums lets you connect with like-minded people and establish your authority in your niche. However, these discussion forums have specific rules that members must follow.

To grow your audience through discussion forums, do the following:

• Actively contribute to the discussions. Ask questions, participate in discussions, answer questions, and talk to other members.
• Behave like a regular member. Your reputation will be badly affected if it feels like your only intent is to promote your content/business.

 Conclusion

This digital marketing era requires immense hard work and an intelligent strategy to grow an audience and keep them returning. A single mistake can make you lose valuable customers and make your business vulnerable. Therefore, it is wise to use the above-stated proven ways to grow your audience for better conversion and sales.