Where should you publish your work?
Deciding on a digital channel strategy for you or your organisation can feel overwhelming: just as you’ve managed to master one channel, it feels like a new one appears. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Substack: there are potential audiences for you online, and the pressure to be everywhere means you can end up spreading yourself thinly. Here is our advice to help you decide where you should be.
Do less
Give yourself permission to do less with digital. You have a far greater chance of success and more potential reach online by mastering one or two digital channels and formats than by trying to be everywhere at once but mastering nothing.
Remember that more channels will not necessarily equal more people. More likely, it will mean you are not giving those channels the time and dedication they need to grow an audience or community, or to perfect a format. Do less, but do it well, and your audience will grow.
Humans of New York, a social account with a single format of a photo and short interview, grew to have more than 20 million followers.
Go where your audience is.
Deciding which digital channels to use doesn’t always mean the newest or most exciting channel. Think about where your current audience and network exists online. Do you already have a healthy Facebook following? Is there an existing community around your work or art form on Instagram? It is much easier to build from an existing follower base: use your followers as your advocates and create shareable content that invites new audiences to find you through them.
Find content and stories similar to yours.
Think about what stories you have to tell that look and feel similar to those you see on digital channels. Facebook can be a great place for locally focussed content. Instagram is great for human stories. TikTok and Reels are great for comedy. Look at what people are consuming online, and think how your work be adapted to a similar story to tell.
Choose your growth strategy.
Growing your online audiences should always be a goal: it supports your work and contributes to the future sustainability of your organisation. But there are different approaches for growing your following online. Do you want to create content that people share on Facebook? Do you want to grow a community around your work on Instagram? Do you want to build a newsletter following and bring people to your website? Different channels have different tactics for finding new audiences, so decide which you think is suitable for you and your organisation.
Consider carefully when to try out new channels.
If you are wondering whether you should launch or try out a new platform or channel, ask yourself these questions: do we have evidence that there is an audience for us on the channel? Do we have the time, resources and equipment to create (and repeat) formats that work in this space? What will success look like for us here? It’s great to experiment, but it’s also better to wait until you have the time and energy to dedicate to building a following and properly trialling content.
Choosing where you or your organisation should be online can be tricky, but these pointers can form the basis of a digital channel strategy (and give you an answer for those tricky “should we be on TikTok” conversations).
Further reading
To find out more about building an audience online, read how to conduct an online audience audit, what to consider before using TikTok or download our Online Audiences Toolkit.
About the author
Katie Connolly, Space associate
Katie is a freelance content specialist and digital associate for The Space. She works across media, education and culture to advise organisations on digital content strategy and online audience development.
How useful was this resource?
You may also be interested in
Making TikTok works requires an understanding of the platform and latest trends
David Ripert explains how organisations can achieve a deeper understanding of their audiences.
'Communities can self-sustain and create within digital spaces' - Rankin
Join our Mailing List:
Follow us on social media:
