It’s every content marketers dream to have an active, engaged community. Not only does it help to entrench you as an expert in your field, but it also provides an unending supply of relevant content going forward.
In this episode of the Content 10x podcast, our founder and host, Amy Woods speaks with presenter coach and award-winning podcast host Kate Cocker.
Kate specializes in helping businesses and business leaders speak their brand to engage new and existing clients.
From public speaker training for business leaders, to coaching broadcasters and helping clients create podcasts, she is also the co-founder of the annual podcasters conference Pods Up North.
In addition to this, Kate is the host of Everyday Positivity, which is a daily podcast that spreads positivity and general good vibes to listeners in a short – literally a couple of minutes – but powerful snippet. The podcast boasts an amazing community that has built up around it, which, as Kate explains later, was one of the reasons why it won Best Daily Podcast at the British Podcast Awards 2022.
Kate built her community via the podcast and the community now provides the content that informs the podcast episodes going forward.
It’s the great circle of content repurposing!
In this blog post we share the main learning points from Kate’s interview, including how she built and maintains the community, why it’s so special and how she repurposes the content that her community provides.
Listen to the full podcast episode here:
Watch the highlights video below or head over to our YouTube channel for the full episode in video format.
Or, if you prefer, keep reading for the main points from the episode.
Why is it so valuable to build a community around your content?
In a time when information is instant and abundant, it’s more important than ever that content marketers have a level of transparency in their content. People want authenticity and are craving community more than ever – which means community is vital for success.
If you can create that connection via your content, then chances are you will build a thriving community that will increase your brand awareness, loyalty and improve outcomes. Plus, it will provide an amazing resource of content that can be repurposed!
For Kate, her community lives mainly on a Facebook group that she promotes via the podcast. “I could see an upturn in people joining when I mentioned the group on the podcast and that space became really active so I focused a lot of attention there.”
The enormous value that a community brings can be highlighted through Everyday Positivity’s win at the British Podcast Awards 2022. As Kate explains, she might not have had the most highly-produced podcast in the Best Daily Podcast category, but the judges said that the community was the most important element of it and that’s key to why she won.
That and the fact that it’s brilliant, of course!
So, if you want to build a thriving community where do you start?
How to choose the right platform
Picking the right platform for your community is important. There is no one-size-fits-all answer as every community is different. For some, it might be obvious, because your demographic fits perfectly into a Facebook group for example, or they are all active on Twitter, or they prefer forums or discussion boards….
But for others, it might not be so clear, so there are a few things to ask yourself before you decide:
- Where does your audience spend their time?
- What size is your community?
- What type of community do you want to build?
There are so many options available, each with its own features, so ask the questions, experiment, promote your platform via your podcast or video and see what works!
As Kate says, it’s important that every podcast has a partner platform where you can “put your arms around your community”.
When you release a podcast episode or a video for example, you are broadcasting, but a social platform is a two-way space. You have the opportunity to have a conversation and they can speak back to you.
Initially, Kate’s listenership sat comfortably in the Facebook demographic, so it was the perfect platform for her to start on. But she hasn’t stopped there. She’s done a lot of experimenting and a lot of listening, which has resulted in a now thriving Instagram community too.
The repurposing potential that comes from having an engaged community
When your community is actively engaging with you and with each other on the right platform, it will result in an endless amount of repurposing potential!
As Kate explains, it can be as simple as asking a question.
For example, she posts in the Facebook group, ‘how are you feeling?’ – and from the responses she can see trends appear and discover what they want and need from her at that time. That content will then inform future podcast episodes.
Another way to engage your community is if you are deciding whether to launch a Patreon for example, or release an e-book, then you can ask what people think. If you involve people in the decision-making process then you are creating a space that they feel is theirs. And that, says Kate, is the whole point!
In conclusion
If you build an engaged, active community via your content, then in turn your community will constantly provide you with timely, relevant content that will help them and meet them where they’re at. It’s the great circle of content repurposing!
Are you building or maintaining a thriving community? If so, remember the repurposing potential that your community provides!
For more from Kate Cocker connect with her on the Everyday Positivity Facebook Group, or on Instagram.
You can listen to Everyday Positivity here!