Loyal Subscribers Means Saving Money
Building a following of loyal subscribers means you eventually spend less.
Content that you produce yourself on channels that you either own (your own website) or borrow (social media) with the aim to build an audience of loyal subscribers negates the need for budget allocation on other areas to build awareness and affiliation with your product or services.
The World Leader
The King of this is Red Bull, with over 3.3 million subscribers on YouTube and over 1 million more followers than the second place brand, Play Station. To keep momentum and to establish a subscriber network even further, Red Bull launched at the end of January ‘Red Bull TV’ on Apple TV showcasing free sports content and live events.
Whilst achieving mass fan status on different channels is something that we may not necessarily ever come to achieve (but perhaps strive for), there is nothing stopping us building a network of subscribers that we are committed to. In the case of Red Bull the thing that keeps them head and shoulders above everyone else is the responsibility to produce and share relevant content for their audience. Whilst the budgets to cover spectacular events such as Felix Baumgartner’s stratos jump in 2012 was akin to a fully-fledged film production, there is nothing stopping us from looking at more cost effective ways to have others who recognise who we are and willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with us.
Tailored Message To Your Loyal Subscribers
The more engaged an audience is with you, the less you have to spend on everything from Facebook ads (we’re all getting fed up with the constant noise, as Robert Rose highlighted in his recent Talking Marketing Content interview) to more traditional means of advertising. This is because you effectively have ownership of your subscribers and it is your duty to think about their needs first and to keep them engaged. This doesn’t mean monthly product offers or ‘get it before its gone’ sales pleas, but messages and information that is tailored to them. The meaning of this article ties in with another recent article that identified the importance for us to effectively become media companies.
One tactic that I have found to make a significant difference since October 2013, is a commitment to sending to my audience at the end of every week an email digest of news articles from the ID Group blog. It’s now a duty to serve the audience by sending them new information and stories each week, as opposed to a sporadic email on an inconsistent basis. It’s a bit like exercise, it’s something that I have to make a pledge to every week, otherwise the week that is missed out, becomes a further week missed and so on. The one thing that I’ve learnt is that relevant and owned content with a loyal following does make a difference. Working to this formula does work to stand out from the competition:
Owned Content + Loyalty + Consistency = Less Reliance On ‘Paid For’ Platforms
As businesses our aim is to be part of our customers content consumption and to grow our audience via means where we have total control. Our biggest commitment is consistency and time, it’s down to us all.
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