Own your audience
In marketing, there are two types of audiences: borrowed and owned.
You control the distribution channel to your owned audience. These are your newsletter, podcast, and blog subscribers.
You don't control the distribution channel to your borrowed audience. These are your social media followers.
The goal is to transfer people from your borrowed audience to your owned audience. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, put it this way on Twitter.
It’s crucial to own your audience for a few reasons.
Organic social is down
There’s no guarantee that people who follow you on social media will see the content you post. In fact, the average organic (not paid) reach for a Facebook post is only around 6%. And that’s people who already follow you!
Paid social is up
With organic social reach down, competition for paid social is up. While this has impacted return on ad spend (ROAS), social media spending is still expected to rise by more than 70% over the next five years.
Algorithms change
Just as Google is always changing their algorithm, so are social media platforms. When you rely on them to distribute your content, you do it at the risk of being rendered irrelevant overnight. Owning your audience reduces this risk.
Thank you for being part of my owned audience. Take good care of your mental health this week.