In a world where big data can tell you where your readers/viewers/listeners are from, where they go for dinner, and the time/date/place they were born, it can be easy to convince yourself that you should create content for a customer avatar that doesn't exist in the real world. With more content being produced than ever before, the best and brightest in content marketing know that building an audience that actually cares might be the only way to stay relevant and profitable—for entrepreneurs, marketers, and big business alike. Slides were a collaborative effort from the Fizzle team, including Corbett Barr and Chase Reeves.

1. Is anybody out there?
Creating content that lasts and building an
audience that cares
Barrett brooks, fizzle.co

2. let’s do the social thing
@barrettabrooks
@fizzle
@mimatweet
#mimasummit #anybodythere

3. blog, podcast and
video content are More
popular than ever

4. 61.8 million wordpress posts
published in september 2014

5. “hundreds of thousands of
free podcasts” -apple

6. 100 hours of video uploaded to
youtube every minute

7. and this is just a
fraction of the total
content being produced

8. but watch, read or
listen to a given post,
podcast or video…

9. and find average
quality content created
for someone else

10. which means there is
plenty of room for you,
if you do things
differently

11. great content is the
best way to build an
audience that cares

12. an audience of raving
fans who can’t wait to
buy your products and
services

13. let’s talk about two things
1. understanding your audience
2. creating helpful content

14. understand your
audience
1

15. 1 photo by kempton on flickr via avatar movie trailer
the problem:
Customer avatars

16. i have a secret:
dads with 2.7 kids don’t
exist
1

17. 1
your audience is made
up of real humans

18. “The way to succeed in a startup is not
to be an expert on startups, but to be
an expert on your users and the
problem you're solving for them."
!
- Paul Graham
http://paulgraham.com/before.html
1

19. C. experiment
1
A. gather
B. evaluate

20. 1
woohoo,
aggregate
data!
(GATHER)

21. 1
Now
I know
everything!
(GATHER)

22. 1 photo by kempton on flickr via avatar movie trailer
wait…

23. 1 (GATHER)

24. ¯¯¯ What does he/she
think & feel?
What really counts?
What major preoccupations?
Worries and aspirations?
What does he/she see?
What’s in the environment?
What do his/her friends look like?
What does the market offer?
What does he/she
say & do?
Attitude in public? Appearance?
Behavior towards others?
What does he/she hear?
From friends? From boss?
From influencers?
1

25. Problem.
1

26. "We could broadly generalize about our users
(savvy, self-reliant, techie, motivated), but we
realized that we couldn’t rattle off the four
or five archetypical MailChimp users.”
!
- the mailchimp blog

27. how to do audience research
like mailchimp
1. interview stakeholders to see who you assume your
audience is
2. rank pool of active users by industry
3. identify subjects from popular industries and
interview, interview interview
4. analyze what you see and hear
5. share the findings with your team
1
source: http://blog.mailchimp.com/new-mailchimp-user-persona-research/

28. 1
source: http://blog.mailchimp.com/new-mailchimp-user-persona-research/

29. Is this the audience
you want?
(EVALUATE)
1

30. if no, TRY new
audiences
(EXPERIMENT)
1

31. 1
AUDIENCES
YOU WANT
TO SERVE
AUDIENCES
THAT MIGHT
PAY YOU FOR
WHAT YOU DO
(EXPERIMENT)

32. 1
if yes, then we can move on
to solving their problems
with valuable content

33. 1
your audience is made
Up of human beings.
Understand them first
on the individual level.

34. create helpful
content
2

35. 2
ME
me, me, me, me, me

36. the problem: most
marketers start with
their goals
2

37. you are not the hero. You
are yoda.
2

38. your content is firepower
for your audience
2

39. IT HELPS GET RID
OF THIS IDIOT.
1

40. 1
“just because it’s important to you, it
doesn’t mean that it’s important to your
audience. Focus on the latter and not
the former.”
!
- seth godin

41. 1
“great content is the best
seo strategy.”
!
- rob flaherty
http://www.ravelrumba.com/blog/editorial-seo/

42. C. experiment
2
A. gather
B. evaluate

43. 2
(GATHER)

44. 2
(GATHER)

45. 2
(GATHER)

46. 2
(GATHER)

47. average time on post
÷words in post
= apples to apples
(GATHER)
2

48. three questions to ask
1. what’s working well?
2. what’s not working so well?
3. what might you do differently?
2
(evaluate)

49. what to consider
1. length
2. Content type (audio/video/written)
3. Content purpose (teach/inspire/entertain)
4. Relevance to the audience
2
(evaluate)

50. what to try
1. try new lengths
2. try new formats
3. try to teach, inspire, and entertain
4. try solving a real problem for your audience
2
(experiment)

51. 2 artists
musicians
filmmakers
authors
designers
developers

52. 2
on the gumroad blog
“grow your
audience and
promote your
work with
instagram"

53. deconstructing the strategy
1. solve customer problems
2. make customers famous
3. ps: gumroad is great for selling
2

54. create helpful
content that solves
real problems for
real people
2

55. Write (Create) for the
body of work you want
(your brand) to have in 5
years.
2

56. questions? what’s on your mind?
1. converting visitors to subscribers to customers
2. growing your audience
3. telling your story
4. onboarding subscribers and customers
5. creating content for customers

57. My closing thoughts:
1. most content is exceedingly average at best
2. there is still room for your content to stand out if you…
✴ care enough to understand the humans in your audience
✴ put in the work to create engaging + valuable art (content)
3. great content is the best way to build an audience who
cares
4. audiences who care are audiences who are profitable