How to build an audience online

Demoralized online content creators who see "The Toilet Flushing Cat" racking up millions of hits and getting more every day should take heart... remember it's just one video.

Successfully getting audiences to consistently engage with your content online is no accident, and there are specific things you can do to build an audience online, including: 

"Easy entry" is essential. There should be no context necessary for the viewer to engage with your content. Each of your videos should be able to stand on its own: easily understandable and immediately compelling.

Minimize branding and opening credits. Get right to the action.

Short chapters engage audiences.

"Topical" works. This is especially good news for news people and news organizations. Consider what people are searching for every day. What's happening right now, what's relevant, what's new, unusual and breaking stereotypes are what people are constantly looking for and sharing online. 

Cross promotion builds audience share. Give your target audiences as many opportunities as possible to find and share your content. Have a presence and playlist on as many video platforms as possible, including YouTube, DailyMotion and Vimeo. Create a dedicted Facebook page, Twitter feed and Instagram site specifially about your content. When you have created something new, update each site with your new content simultaneously.

Seek subscribers. People are 20% more likely to view new content if they subscribe to it. Alert your subsciber base each time you add new content to your site.

  

Optimize for search. Use lots of tags and metadata. Invest time and energy into thumbnails, keywords and especially provacative, intuitively searchable titles and headlines. Make it easy for the audience to find you.

Use analytics to show who was watching and for how long; identify patterns; why are some of your videos rising ("trending") or falling off in your ratings?