1. Understanding Your Audience
Who are your Ideal Readers?
Decide on who it is that you are targeting, define them. Once you have determined that, it is time to consider their hopes, their wants, their dreams, their desires, and any questions that they may have. How can you meet their needs? How can you help them obtain their goals?
Consider the demographics what are their ages, their income (depending on your niche), what are their current life situations? Are you targeting the parents of struggling middle school students who need a little extra help in a certain subject? Or maybe you are targeting stay at home moms who are into finding activities to do with their toddlers to keep them busy at home. Be specific but do not limit yourself.
Also, consider yourself. Think about your niche and consider what it was that interests you about it, what demographic do you fit into and how does that apply to your audience, are they just like you and you can connect on a personal base? Can you relate to where they are coming from and can help them meet their goals?
Who is actually reading your blog?
Now that you have a general idea of who you think it is that you are targeting, do some research and find out who is actually reading your content.'
Take a Poll- For those of you with a decent following already, this could be a game changer. Ask your audience about themselves, not only will you get the data you need but you will make your audience feel more of a connection with you because they have a chance to share a piece of themselves with you. Currently, we live in a "Thank You Economy" broadly put, we live in a social media age and we should connect with our audience create a relationship (as though we are a mom and pop shop) this will allow us to have an exceptional level of customer interaction and also puts us in the position to have a competitive edge.
Looking at the profiles of those commenting on content or even those commenting on content similar to or in the same niche as yours is also ideal when you are trying to understand exactly who it is that is looking for your content. Once you know the who, what, when, where, and how's of your target audience you will be able to produce more relevant and quality content for them to consume.
2. Provide Value
In the age of social media, information is everywhere, what will set you apart for everyone else is by standing out. One way of doing this is by providing value. When you offer actionable, effective, repeatable value to your readers, they are more likely to trust what it is that you have to say. Your readers will also become more likely to return to your blog because of the value that you have already given them.
3. Encourage Discussions in the Comments
Readers like to know that they are appreciated. One method of doing this is by encouraging them to offer up their opinions on the subject at hand. You can do this by asking Open-ended Questions. When you ask an open-ended question you are prompting the reader to open up and share their perspective. Given the fact that many enjoy giving the opinions and leaving reviews, this will surely help to establish a dedicated readership.
4. Reach Out
Do not expect your readers to always find you. Do some diligence and go to your audience. By now you should have a general idea of your potential reader's who, what, when, where, and how. Now, armed with this knowledge go out to forums, comment on other blogs, and engage in other's social media platforms.
5. Provide Value
The more you give the better your odds of receiving, be that a share, a social media should out or even a sale. Your audience wants you to deliver something worth their while. A question that often comes up is, why should I take my time to read your blog post when there are hundreds and thousands of other blogs that produce the same is not better quality material than yours? When you are constantly providing gold nuggets to your readers, you are giving them the best of you and this will help develop a foundation of your relationship with your audience.
6. Reply To Comments and Those who contact you
Have you ever sent out a message to someone you looked up to and received no response? How did you did you feel? Granted the individual that you follow may have a huge following and may not be able to get to each and every person who reaches out to them, but how do you think they got to this point? When you respond to comments, emails, and even acknowledge likes on your page you are not only showing your readers that you care about them, but you are showing them that you are there for them and that you are a real person that they can potentially connect with. Remember your goal is to build relationships and one of the best ways to do this is by responding to your audience.
7. Constantly Improve
This better goes left unsaid, however, I have seen time and time again there are so many creators who make this mistake and not improve. Your audience comes to you because they have a connection with you in some way or another, be it a personal connection or they return because of the value you offer. Regardless of whatever it is, readers enjoy the audience and all too often there are those
8. Be Polite
When you are responding to your audience it is best to not offend. One can voice their opinion without condemning those around them. A key component for this is not shaming and name calling. If you do not agree with the ethics of your audience offer an alternative method in which they can go about doing what they want to do.
9. Set Personal Boundaries
You are a person with feelings, as is your audience. Make sure to set those boundaries; be it seller and customer, teacher and student, or counselor and client. When you are interacting with your reader, it is best to define your boundaries and what it is that you are there on help them accomplish. The last thing that you want is for those lines to become crossed.
10. Get Personal
This may seem conflicting with #9 but it is important all the same. Blogs are more intimate than the usual website. A blog site usually stems from the experience of an individual and others who are like-minded visit because they can relate. It is okay to share your personal experiences, as a matter of fact, that is one of the main reasons readers visit blogs, so see how others deal with their current situation.
11. Inspire Your Readers
This one goes without saying. You want your readers to leave your blog feeling better about the subject they are searching. You want to meet their needs and encourage them to continue in their efforts towards whatever it is that they are aspiring. If you are a blog like mine, then you are looking to encourage others to flourish as content creators, or maybe you are a book blogger and you want to introduce your readers to their next favorite read. Whatever your niche you want your readers to have learned at least one new thing per post.
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