Audience Building 101

Every company in the world is an audience company.

Whether it's a Media, VC, or DTC business, if you're not building audience Day 1, you're not prioritizing the right things.

Here's my framework for thinking about & building a killer audience 👇

I call it the Audience Funnel.

The concept is simple, but it allows you to...

1) Think strategically about building your own audience

2) Analyze the relative strength of other companies' audiences

3) Understand the similarities & differences of different audience channels
The Audience Funnel is divided into three tiers, which include:

1) Rented Audience

2) Owned Audience

3) Monetized Audience
Tier 1: Rented Audience

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁: This is your top of funnel. It allows you to build mass awareness & is key for developing a relationship with your audience.

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀: High shareability, high discoverability

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀: You don't own your audience
Examples of Rented Audiences

- Social networks (IG, FB, Twitter, TikTok)
- Video platforms (Twitch, YouTube)
- Search engines (Web content)

Examples of Businesses with Big Rented Audiences

- @BuzzFeed (Instagram)
- @GoPro (YouTube)
- @charlidamelio (TikTok)
Tier 2: Owned Audience

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁: This is your opt-in audience. It allows you to build a deeper, more intimate relationship.

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀: You own the relationship with your audience.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀: Low shareability, Low discoverability
Examples of Owned Audiences

- Free newsletters
- Free podcasts
- Virtual events

Examples of Businesses with Big Owned Audiences

- @MorningBrew (Newsletter)
- @tferriss (Podcast)
- @salesforce (Event)
Tier 3: Monetized Audience

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁: This is your highest intent audience. This allows you to extract value from your audience directly.

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀: Extends LTV of best customers

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀: Difficult to pull off, must be done with existing owned or rented audience
Examples of Monetized Audiences

- Paid newsletter
- Paid web subscription
- Membership
- Commerce

Examples of Businesses with Big Monetized Audiences

- @something_navy (Apparel)
- @nytimes (Subscription)
- @MrBeastYT (Burgers)
That's the Audience Funnel...

Now, here's how to think about it with your own audience:

1) Rented Audiences aren't inherently bad.

You must leverage them responsibly. Use the power of platforms (size, shareability, discovery) to kick-off a relationship with your audience.
2) But never put all your eggs in Rented Audiences.

Remember, you don't own the relationship. A platform, network, search engine does. You must become great at building large, rented audience & moving that audience down the funnel.
3) Owned Audiences take a while to grow, but when done properly they create immense value.

Just look at @MorningBrew. We built an owned audience from scratch.

2.6 million email addresses later, we have the privilege of building up audience elsewhere.
4) It's not just about Renting or Owning an audience.

It's about serving great content that solves a problem or fuels a passion.

While technically an Owned Audience, an email list with a 5% open rate will do little to help you achieve your ultimate business goals.
That's all for now!

I hope you've enjoyed my framework for understanding & building audiences on the internet.

For more threads related to business-building, media, and marketing, shoot me a follow!

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Following @BAUDEGS I have experienced hateful and propagandist tweets time after time. I have been shocked that an academic community would be so reckless with their publications. So I did some research.
The question is:
Is this an official account for Bahcesehir Uni (Bau)?


Bahcesehir Uni, BAU has an official website
https://t.co/ztzX6uj34V which links to their social media, leading to their Twitter account @Bahcesehir

BAU’s official Twitter account


BAU has many departments, which all have separate accounts. Nowhere among them did I find @BAUDEGS
@BAUOrganization @ApplyBAU @adayBAU @BAUAlumniCenter @bahcesehirfbe @baufens @CyprusBau @bauiisbf @bauglobal @bahcesehirebe @BAUintBatumi @BAUiletisim @BAUSaglik @bauebf @TIPBAU

Nowhere among them was @BAUDEGS to find

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Rig Ved 1.36.7

To do a Namaskaar or bow before someone means that you are humble or without pride and ego. This means that we politely bow before you since you are better than me. Pranipaat(प्राणीपात) also means the same that we respect you without any vanity.

1/9


Surrendering False pride is Namaskaar. Even in devotion or bhakti we say the same thing. We want to convey to Ishwar that we have nothing to offer but we leave all our pride and offer you ourselves without any pride in our body. You destroy all our evil karma.

2/9

We bow before you so that you assimilate us and make us that capable. Destruction of our evils and surrender is Namaskaar. Therefore we pray same thing before and after any big rituals.

3/9

तं घे॑मि॒त्था न॑म॒स्विन॒ उप॑ स्व॒राज॑मासते ।
होत्रा॑भिर॒ग्निं मनु॑षः॒ समिं॑धते तिति॒र्वांसो॒ अति॒ स्रिधः॑॥

Translation :

नमस्विनः - To bow.

स्वराजम् - Self illuminating.

तम् - His.

घ ईम् - Yours.

इत्था - This way.

उप - Upaasana.

आसते - To do.

स्त्रिधः - For enemies.

4/9

अति तितिर्वांसः - To defeat fast.

मनुषः - Yajman.

होत्राभिः - In seven numbers.

अग्निम् - Agnidev.

समिन्धते - Illuminated on all sides.

Explanation : Yajmans bow(do Namaskaar) before self illuminating Agnidev by making the offerings of Havi.

5/9