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
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 👇
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
1) Rented Audience
2) Owned Audience
3) Monetized 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
- 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)
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
- Free newsletters
- Free podcasts
- Virtual events
Examples of Businesses with Big Owned Audiences
- @MorningBrew (Newsletter)
- @tferriss (Podcast)
- @salesforce (Event)
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
- Paid newsletter
- Paid web subscription
- Membership
- Commerce
Examples of Businesses with Big Monetized Audiences
- @something_navy (Apparel)
- @nytimes (Subscription)
- @MrBeastYT (Burgers)
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.
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.
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.
