Are You Looking at Your Blog Audience the Right Way?

Imagine an auditorium filled to the brim with people.

Every chair is taken and it’s standing room only.

The lights dim and those in attendance slowly drift to a mere murmur as the announcer introduces the featured speaker.

Among a smattering of applause, a young man or woman walks to center stage and boldly grabs the microphone.

At that point, they begin their speech and start to convey their message to the eager audience.

Everyone sits quietly as they listen and learn from the so-called expert on stage.

This is analogous to what occurs with your blog…but in a bad way.

Much like the stage and microphone, your blog provides the platform for your message.

Each time you press publish you are in effect grabbing the mic and speaking to your audience.

What’s Wrong With Having an Audience

The unfortunate part of this arrangement is the term “audience”.

Go back to the auditorium you were just thinking about. Imagine being a member of that audience.

Stand up, turn around, and look at your fellow audience members.

What you’ll see is a room full of people looking intently at the stage with their mouths closed. Some may even be distracted by other events in the room or a phone in their hand.

Two big things are missing from this picture, and from the concept of an audience. That is feedback and interaction amongst participants.

Lack of Feedback

The audience is typically not allowed to speak freely. They are simple observers of the process, only there to consume the message.

They are not there to provide individual feedback. Even if they wanted to, the mechanisms don’t exist for them to do so.

Lack of Interaction Amongst Participants

The second missing piece is the lack of engagement amongst peers. As an audience member, you can not speak to those around you.

Your attempt at interacting with those near you actually results in you being silenced and reprimanded by others.

“shhhhhh!”

What You Should Have Instead

Instead of pushing hard to grow a large, and typically passive, audience, why don’t you work harder to foster an online community instead?

The term “community” is much better than “audience” 9 times out of 10.

Communities embrace every voice and strive for interaction amongst all participants.

An audience consists of people simply listening to a message then leaving.

It’s pretty easy to see why you should strive for a thriving online community instead of just an audience.

How You Can Gain a Consistent Interactive Community

You will gain a tremendous amount from those you interact with online.

Don’t simply look to force-feed content to them expecting nothing in return.

On the contrary, look for feedback and input from those in your community.

Solicit their feedback directly when you publish a new blog post. Ask them questions on social media.

Respond to their comments and interact with them on their own blogs.

Encourage dialog in your blog’s comment section and on your social media channels. If members of your community are engaging in a conversation, help stoke it by jumping in and exploring the topic together.