Understand Your Audience to Drive Business Growth on Social Media | Marketing | YAPCreator Replay | E5

Social media marketing success starts with understanding your audience, yet most creator-entrepreneurs skip this step entirely. Without that foundation, even consistent creators end up guessing what works, leading to low engagement and missed business opportunities. In this episode of the YAPCreator Series Replay, Hala Taha shares proven insights from experts like Neil Patel, Julie Solomon, and Ken Okazaki to help you understand your audience, create content that converts, and build a loyal, engaged community. In this episode, Hala will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:04) Neil Patel on Finding the Right Audience (06:22) Turning Your Audience Into a Business (08:28) Creating Content That Actually Converts (12:55) Understanding What Your Audience Really Wants (17:29) Mastering Your Craft and Building Trust (21:48) Using Data to Guide Your Content Strategy (23:32) The Toilet Strategy for Video Marketing (26:13) Adapting Content Based on Audience Feedback Hala Taha is the host of Young and Profiting, a top 10 business and entrepreneurship podcast on Apple and Spotify. She’s the founder and CEO of YAP Media, an award-winning social media and podcast production agency, as well as the YAP Media Network, where she helps renowned podcasters like Russell Brunson, Jenna Kutcher, and Neil Patel grow and monetize their shows. Through her work, Hala has become one of the most influential creator entrepreneurs in podcasting. Sponsored By: Indeed - Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at Indeed.com/profiting Shopify - Start your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/profiting. Quo - Run your business communications the smart way. Try Quo for free, plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/profiting Experian - Manage and cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reduce your bills. Get started now with the Experian App and let your Big Financial Friend do the work for you. See experian.com for details. Intuit - Start paying bills the smart way, not the hard way. Learn more at QuickBooks.com/billpay Huel - Grab nutritionally complete meals you can drink. Get 15% off with code PROFITING at huel.com/PROFITING AT&T Business - Power your small business with reliable connectivity from AT&T. Switch today at business.att.com. Fabric - Protect your family with term life insurance from Fabric by Gerber Life. Apply today in just minutes at meetfabric.com/profiting ZocDoc - Stop putting off those doctors’ appointments. Find and instantly book a doctor you love today at Zocdoc.com/PROFITING Blinkist - Turn the world’s best nonfiction books into quick 15-minute reads or listens. Grab your free trial plus an exclusive 30% discount at blinkist.com/profiting Resources Mentioned: YAP E226 with Neil Patel: https://youngandprofiting.co/4gqjng0 YAP E325 with Nick Loper: https://youngandprofiting.co/40MTrVM YAP E233 with Oz Pearlman: https://youngandprofiting.co/42DkUMt YAP E292 with Julie Solomon: https://youngandprofiting.co/4jJTpXp YAP E230 with Ken Okazaki: https://youngandprofiting.co/3Ervwnx YAPCreator Replay E1: youngandprofiting.co/YCR-E1 YAPCreator Replay E2: youngandprofiting.co/YCR-E2 YAPCreator Replay E3: youngandprofiting.co/YCR-E3 YAPCreator Replay E4: youngandprofiting.co/YCR-E4 Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap YouTube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting Newsletter - youngandprofiting.co/newsletter LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services: yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth Mindset, SEO, E-commerce, LinkedIn, Instagram, Content Creator, Storytelling, Advertising, Communication, Social Proof, Marketing Trends, Influencers, Influencer Marketing, Marketing Tips, Digital Trends, Online Marketing, Marketing Podcast

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Hala Taha?

  Today's episode is sponsored in part by Northwest Registered Agent, Whatnot, Mod, and AG1. Northwest Registered Agent gives you the tools and guidance to build a complete business identity. Start using free resources at northwestregisteredagent.com/ yapfree. Whatnot helps sellers grow through live shopping, community, and real-time connections with buyers. Search Whatnot, W-H-A-T-N-O-T, in the App Store, download, and you can start selling right away. Mod connects qualifying patients with licensed medical providers for modafinil to support sustained energy, focus, and alertness throughout the day. Visit mod.com for a free consultation and get 10% off your first order plus free shipping

• 0:43Hala Taha?

  with promo code PROFITING. See their website for important safety information. AG1 Next Gen supports your nutritional foundation with vitamins, minerals, pre- and probiotics, and superfoods. Go to drinkag1.com/profitting and get a free immune support bundle with your first subscription order. As always, you can find all of our incredible deals in the show notes or at youngandprofiting.com/deals.

• 1:20Hala Taha?

  Hey, Young and Profitters. Welcome back to another episode of the Yap Creator Series Replay. If your content is not landing, I want you to stop blaming the quality for a second, because the real issue might be your audience. When you truly understand who you're trying to reach, everything shifts. Your message gets sharper, your content gets more engaging, and your results get a whole lot better. So today, we're breaking down exactly how to read your audience, adapt to what resonates, and create content that connects and converts. Whether you're building a business, scaling your platform, or just trying to grow your reach, understanding your audience is your biggest unfair advantage. You'll hear from top experts plus the exact strategies we use here at Yap to stay relevant and impactful.

• 2:05Hala Taha?

  If you want your content to finally stick, this one is packed with gems. So listen up, take notes, and let's get right into it. First things first, before you can forge a meaningful connection with an audience, you need to figure out who they are. As a content creator, understanding the balance between a broad and niche audience is crucial for growing your engagement and your business. Broad content allows you to reach a wider audience and potentially increase views and revenue, while niche content creates deeper and more meaningful connections with a dedicated community. The key is finding the balance that works for you. And whether you're marketing a product, a service, or just yourself, it's useful to start by thinking in terms of your TAM, or your total addressable market.

• 2:50Hala Taha?

  But just how big or small should you start? This is what Neil Patel, an expert on digital marketing, told me about how he approaches a potential audience.

• 2:58Speaker 01

  What makes a good audience market, to me, is a big TAM. So assuming you find something you're passionate about by just through trial and error, you got to make sure you're focusing on a big TAM. Everyone says the riches are in the niches. That's far from true. If you look at the majority of the large corporations out there, like Tesla's, automotive, right? People need cars in this world. If you look at Microsoft, everyone needs software to run these computers and digital devices that we're on. If you look at Google, we're relying on search for anything and someone organizing data and feeding it to us in a very organized fashion. If you look at Apple, we need all these hardware pieces that they're selling, from headphones to cell phones to laptops, right? These are large markets.

• 3:42Speaker 01

  If you look, again, look at the biggest companies in the world, they're going after large markets and not niches. So the key is to go after a big TAM. Now, you can start in a niche if you want, and there's nothing wrong with that, but you need to make sure that you can expand that niche into a large market, because the amount of effort it takes to market a business, whether it's on LinkedIn or any social platform, or even SEO. For a niche compared to a large market is almost the same amount of effort. Sure, it's harder in a large market, it takes longer to see results, but it's the same process and the same time and energy that you're putting into it. So might as well go after something big because it's very unrealistic to be in a niche and being like,

• 4:23Speaker 01

  you know what, I'm going to dominate this niche and gobble up 100% of the market share, or even 20, 30%, that's very hard to do. But on the flip side, it's easier to say, hey, I'm going to go after this multi-billion dollar market, and I'm going to gobble up 0.1% of it. Right? You gobble up even something small, that's enough money where you're generating millions of dollars where it's meaningful. For example, if it's a $10 billion market that you're going after, you gobble up 0.1%, that's big enough to create amazing life and a business.

• 4:55Hala Taha?

  So you're saying you need a big, sort of more broad market. You don't want to get too in the niches because they're really hard to find. That's like finding a needle in a haystack. When you're a marketer, you want to find your audience in mass. You want to target them in mass. That's how you're going to target them in the cheapest way, most effective way. If you have to find like 10 people here, 10 people there, it's like you are just going to exhaust yourself, and it's going to be very expensive.

• 5:19Speaker 01

  Exactly right. You need to go after a big market so that way you don't have to have frequency issues of like, oh, I've shown my ad to 500 people. All right, how many more people can you show it? Well, that's my only audience. Or even 10,000 people, it's not enough. You need to go after the masses.

• 5:36Hala Taha?

  So I know that you have a formula for marketing that you talk about. Could you break that down for us?

• 5:41Speaker 01

  Number one, go after a really big TAM. Once you have a big TAM, then if you want to do well, you needed to take an omni-channel approach, from LinkedIn to Facebook to Instagram to WhatsApp marketing through text, through email marketing to SEO to paid advertising. It doesn't matter if you like paid ads on Facebook or not. If it's profitable, it's profitable. You got to keep leveraging it. And then from there, you got to figure out how to add in the upsells and downsells. Because if you look at marketing over time, it continually costs more and more. So you got to add in the upsells and downsells. In other words, build that funnel, figure out how to generate more revenue from that same customer. And if they're buying more right at purchase, it allows you to spend more money on marketing

• 6:26Speaker 01

  as well as figure out a way to generate reoccurring revenues.

• 6:30Hala Taha?

  However broad or narrow you go with your potential audience and whatever channel you reach them through, remember that you are ultimately the one picking your audience. That's right, your audience is your choice. And building an audience is really its own kind of a business. In fact, none other than Mr. Side Hustle himself, Nick Loper, shared with me how he now considers building an audience on channels like YouTube to be one of the most promising side hustles around.

• 6:59Hala Taha?

  Something that I read of yours that I thought was really interesting is that you actually consider a side hustle being growing an audience, right? You call it an audience business. So talk to us about why having an audience in itself can be a side hustle with multiple avenues.

• 7:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, this is probably, you know, tier three. We know tier one services, tier two products. Tier three is this really flexible, hybrid, you know, content-based business, audience-based business, where it could be a social following, it could be a blog following, a podcast following, a YouTube following. And once you have people paying attention, like the entire playbook opens up. Yeah, sure, you could sell services, you could sell products, you could sell attention in the form of advertising or affiliate partnerships. But it really is a powerful place to play. And that's really where I spent the bulk of my side hustle and entrepreneurial time over the last 10 years, trying to figure out how to get more traffic, how to get more listeners, how to get more email subscribers and play in that space. Because

• 7:59Speaker 02

  The scale is almost infinite, right? It takes, as you know, the same effort and energy and investment to create an episode, a podcast episode that 10 people listen to, or 10,000 people listen to, or 100,000 people. And so it's a really unique platform in that way. And the same thing with social content or video content.

• 8:20Hala Taha?

  Whatever content arena you decide to play in, it's not just enough to turn up and churn out content. Julie Solomon, who's the queen of influencer marketing and an expert on how to break through on platforms like Instagram, explains the critical distinction between simply creating content and producing content that genuinely drives results with your audience.

• 8:41Speaker 03

  When it comes to Instagram, because that's really been my platform of choice since 2013. So I have been there through the ups and downs and the in-betweens. And I think that where most people get it wrong is that they get so lost in having to have to do it a certain way, or trying to beat some kind of system or some kind of algorithm. And what I have noticed throughout a decade plus of supporting people on Instagram and coaching them in order to build a brand and visibility there is that, yes, it's important to understand things like hashtags and SEO and, you know, viral hooks and all of those kinds of things.

• 9:19Speaker 03

  But really, at the end of the day, it just comes down to, do you have value-based content that is specifically talking to the person whose problem that you solve? And are you showing up as an authority and as someone that can educate them as being that solution provider as consistently as possible? And most of the time, people aren't doing that because they're so focused on these things that really just don't matter at the end of the day. You know, it doesn't, and that's why, Hala, you know, I have a lot of people that will come to me and it's, it's wild that they've got tens, if not hundreds of thousands of followers and they make no money.

• 10:04Speaker 03

  And I'm thinking, how do you have all this and you don't make money? And it's because maybe they figured out a way to go viral, or maybe they figured out some kind of... Giveaway process to gain a following, or maybe they did some collabs, but because they weren't creating that value from the get-go, because they weren't thinking about what do I specialize in? What is my offer? Why do I want to pick up this phone and post something every day? It's like they completely missed the boat. And before they know it, they're three months in, or three years in, or 10 years in. And then they come to me and they're like, Julie, I don't understand how I've kind of been trying to grow and piecemealing it together. And maybe I've gotten to 1,000 followers and nothing's happening. Or maybe I've gotten to 100,000 followers, but still nothing's happening because I'm not making any money.

• 10:49Speaker 03

  And so what's happening here? And so I think that for growth on Instagram, you really have to think about that through line. Are you just creating content just to create content? Because that is just a hobby? Or are you actually creating content to solve a problem for somebody? To be of service to someone? To be a solution provider for someone? Because that's how you actually end up monetizing it. And those are two completely different focuses.

• 11:12Hala Taha?

  Totally agree with that. And also, from a sponsorship perspective, it's also important to think of this. Because if you're just creating mindless content that's going viral, maybe you're reposting viral videos, and you've got this huge, broad audience, but nobody knows what you stand for. You're not the actual influencer. Your content went viral. You didn't necessarily go viral. Your ideas and your products and services didn't necessarily go viral. It's just content, right? And so it's hard to get brand sponsorships when you actually are not an influencer and your content just went viral. Because there's no way to really describe your audience. It's hard for brands to understand who they're targeting exactly. So that's something else to think about.

• 11:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, I call those people cold creators. That they are showing up to create content, but there is no warmth behind them focusing on building the know, like and trust. And we even see this with a lot of massive influencers out there. You think about, you know, Charlie, I can't remember her last name, but she was on Dancing with the Stars. Her family had a reality show. They went, her and her sisters went viral on TikTok. And now, it's like, not only is there, all they talk about is how their mental health is just like all over the place. They can't show up. They can't be consistent. They're not happy. They're not fulfilled. But a lot of the brand deals that they've started to do, whether that's product lines that they've launched or what have you, have now been pulled off the shelves because they're not converting. And the reason why is because they didn't take the time to build that know,

• 12:36Speaker 03

  like and trust with their audience. They didn't take the time to really build a brand around the reputation that they wanted to have. They were just creating content for the sake of creating content and, you know, doing it on TikTok and blowing up. But now they don't have anything to show for it. And there's a lot of creators that that has happened to over time that have gone on to maybe get a Sephora, you know, makeup deal. But then a year later, they don't have any makeup in the stores and it's because it can't sell.

• 13:04Hala Taha?

  So how do we figure out exactly what will resonate best with our target audience? To truly connect with that audience and create content that genuinely serves their needs, you need to understand what interests them, what drives them, what thrills them. Understanding what your audience wants is the foundation of creating content that stands out, even since the dawn of time, when early humans were telling their first stories around the communal fire. Of course, nowadays, most of our audiences are online. But we can still learn a lot about how to shape and respond to an audience from those who are gifted performers and make their living by delighting live audiences. The magician and mentalist Oz Pearlman is one such performer. And he shared with me some fascinating insights into how he uses deep

• 13:49Hala Taha?

  knowledge of human behavior to read an audience.

• 13:53Speaker 04

  Every show is different, which is great because every audience is different, right? Think about it. If you're watching a movie, the movie is always the same. Versus what I do is not like watching a singer or a band where, you know, they can change the song a little bit, but it's still the same song. For me, everything I do involves audience interaction. My show is the audience. Because if I'm doing a show for 1,000 people, 50, 60, 100 of them will be a part of it at some point. I throw frisbees around the audience, we hand envelopes, we pick people out of the whole crowd. I've done arenas before with 10,000 people. And what my show is all about is audience reactions. Watching someone's face and that shock and that amazement and sometimes that just absolute silence when you've

• 14:34Speaker 04

  Done something that seems impossible, or you've told them something there's no way you could have known or anticipated. And that's really the product I'm selling is very memorable moments, usually with a lot of emotional impact. And so it's helpful in certain parts of everyday life. But it's funny because not as if I can just walk into a real estate negotiation and be like, I know their bottom line. I know how much money I'm saving. Like it works in certain ways. It's helpful. It's an edge, but it's not the same. It's a. It's a facade, you know, it's, it's an entertainment pursuit because in my shows, I'm the director. I get to call the shots in a certain way. So I wish I could tell you, I go to the poker table and just make millions. You know, funny enough, a lot of casinos, they have people trained in what I do.

• 15:18Speaker 04

  Going against me, you know, they're, they're the ones who are making sure that I can't cheat.

• 15:22Hala Taha?

  That reminds me of something that I've also heard you said, where you say that your profession is more like a comedian than it is a magician. Because you're actually feeding off the audience and not just like doing the same thing over and over again.

• 15:34Speaker 04

  Totally. And, and I can't, it's hard to practice what I do. So a magician, think about it can practice, like I use example of a card trick. You can practice a card trick at home in front of the mirror for days, weeks, years, and perfect the moves that are required, right? Same with the same thing with a juggler, let's call it. But a comedian has to tell their joke. He or she tells their joke and the only way you know if it's funny is if an audience reacts, right? The audience is your canvas. So the exact same thing applies. And that's the reason right there, why there's so much fewer mentalists than magicians. Because the learning curve is so steep, you can't get better without first bombing. So you need to be bad and start doing it and getting better and better with audiences.

• 16:17Speaker 04

  And, and a lot of people don't have that stomach. They can't deal with that level of rejection over and over and not be good for years at times.

• 16:24Hala Taha?

  The audience is your canvas. I just love that. And it's just as true for an online audience. The best online content isn't just a one-way broadcast. It's a conversation. It's about give and take, where we're tuning into what our audience really wants, what resonates with them, and what keeps them coming back. In other words, you're not creating content for yourself. Just like Oz Perelman, you're responding to what your audience is telling you, even when it's through nonverbal cues like likes, shares, and comments. Every interaction is a signal, and your audience is showing what they relate to, what they're curious about, and sometimes what just isn't clicking. At times, you may bomb, just like a stand-up comedian or a live performer might.

• 17:08Hala Taha?

  The magic happens when you take the time to interpret these signals and respond to them. That's when your content goes from good to great. But figuring out an audience, of course, takes time. Perhaps nobody I've spoken to knows this better than my good friend, the entrepreneur and the host of the social proof podcast, David Shands. David is one of the hardest-working people I know. And as you'll hear, he knows his audience down to their daily routine and their habits. Let's hold that thought and take a quick break with our sponsors.

• 17:40Hala Taha?

  What's up, Yap fam? You guys know we love reading on this show, so I'm always excited when I find a book I genuinely think is worth sharing. "Life at the Speed of Play: Launch Products People Love" by Mark Pincus is one of those books. Mark is a legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor, and this fast-paced 170-page book is his playbook for testing ideas quickly, navigating uncertainty, and figuring out what's actually worth pursuing. One of my favorite concepts is what he calls "the abyss", those moments when you feel stuck or unsure of what's next. Instead of fearing uncertainty, he shows you how to use it as a tool for discovery. Right now, Mark is doing a buy-one-get-one offer for Yap listeners.

• 18:25Hala Taha?

  Go to getmarksbook.com/yap, buy one copy for $32 and get a second copy free, so you can keep one for yourself and give the second to a friend, future co-founder, or someone who needs a little push. Hey, young improffeters. You know, hiring reminds me a little bit of dating. You can get a lot of potential candidates, but you still might not find your right match. And when I'm hiring at Yap Media, I don't have time to just hope the right person sees our job posts. And Indeed Sponsor Jobs helps me get in front of the right people. Sponsor Jobs boosts your job posts and search results so you can reach the people who actually help your business thrive. Plus, you only pay for results.

• 19:05Hala Taha?

  Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all of your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed Sponsor Jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help give your job the premium status it deserves at indeed.com/podcast. Just go to indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast, Young and Profiting. That's indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need the right hire fast? Then this is a job for Indeed Sponsor Jobs.

• 19:48Hala Taha?

  Yap, bam. You know, October hits different. The season shifts, and suddenly, when your alarm goes off in the morning, your body's like, absolutely not. But when you have the business and a million decisions waiting for you, you cannot start the day already feeling behind. And that's why AG1 has earned a real spot in my morning routine. AG1 Next Gen is a daily foundational nutrition drink with 75+ ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, and superfoods. AG1 Next Gen is backed by four separate gold standard clinical trials and key nutrient levels improved within three months of consistent use. Plus, it's formulated to support immune defense, which is really important this time of year.

• 20:29Hala Taha?

  Yap, bam. If you want to start your mornings off right, go to drinkag1.com/profiting and for a limited time, get a free immune support bundle, including a bottle of Omega 3 Fish Oil and a bottle of vitamin D3 K2 with your first subscription order of AG1 Next Gen or AG1 Pro. That's drinkag1.com/profiting. Drinkag1.com/profiting. So how can we get more engagement on YouTube, more views, and subscribers?

• 20:58Speaker 05

  Uh, one... You have to be good at it. I don't have a one, two, three step for someone that's not good. That doesn't ask good questions, or put up amazing content, or come out with shareable stuff. There's nothing I can do for you. You have to practice the craft. It's really cool because for two years of actually doing the podcast and putting it on YouTube, I wasn't thinking money. For 10 years, I mean, while I was doing it, so I started in 2010. I didn't start monetizing until 2020. For those 10 years, I'm not even thinking that YouTube makes money. I never even thought about it.

• 21:41Speaker 05

  My only thing was, are people liking this content? Are they sharing it? Are they commenting? And I was focused on having a good show and being a good interviewer and being engaging. So that's where I'm blessed because I came before the era of jump on YouTube to make a million dollars. I had time to perfect my craft. So, one, you just have to be good at it. I don't care if you're super consistent, you have the best camera, best lighting. If the content isn't amazing, it's not going to work. So, practice your craft. You really need to find a niche that you're passionate about and that other people are passionate about.

• 22:26Speaker 05

  And you have to brand yourself around this conversation. My whole world is branded around podcasting and entrepreneurship. One, I've been doing it for 10 years, or longer than that, my whole life really. But this whole podcasting thing and entrepreneurship, my whole world is that. My bio says it. If you talk to me long enough, we're going to talk about podcasting or entrepreneurship. That's my brand. So, I have a niche, I have an audience, I know all the things that my audience is struggling with. That's how I can tell you. All right, so you gotta stop stopping. One of the worst things that can happen to an entrepreneur is a little bit of success, because other people see that little bit of success and they start inviting you to their thing that they're doing.

• 23:11Speaker 05

  And it's going to take you off path. The reason I know that is because I've been through it and I've been coaching entrepreneurs for the last decade on this space. So I know my audience, I know exactly what they're going through. So you need to know your audience, know exactly what they're going through. You for sure need to be consistent. So the best way to do that is have a consistent day that you record, whether it's every Wednesday, every Thursday. We record our podcast every Wednesday, for sure. Now, if somebody can't do Wednesday and they're a big enough guest, we'll do it on Thursday or do it on Tuesday, because I have my own studio, so it's cool. But I have a specific day that we record, we have a specific day that we release, and it's consistent. If you think of your favorite shows growing up,

• 23:55Speaker 05

  it wasn't sporadic when they delivered the content. It was the same time, same day, every single week. Because people put your show or your content into their life. So I've released my podcast at seven in the morning because I know there are people going to work. And I want them to listen to my podcast on their way to work. Because I want them to be inspired, I want them to be motivated. And this is their thing, it's in the routine. If anything ever happens, like there's a misfire on the scheduling or something like that, I get messages. "Hey, you ain't released an episode? What happened? What happened? What happened?" I'm like, "Whoa, whoa, let me find out what's going on."

• 24:35Speaker 05

  Because they put my show into the framework of their lives. And you can't disappoint. Or you'll break trust. So if you say every Monday at seven o'clock it's going to release, and sometimes it's at seven, sometimes at 2:00 PM, sometimes it releases on Tuesday, sometimes it just doesn't release that week, you're breaking the trust because now I can't trust you to put this in my schedule anymore. And also looking at the trends, studying your craft, studying what's working in your industry. If you put all of those together and you're good at it, it will grow, period.

• 25:13Hala Taha?

  If you want to have a detailed understanding of your audience like David, you need information. And today, the best tools for understanding audience preferences is our data and analytics. It might not sound super glamorous, but trust me, these numbers are gold. Engagement metrics like views, likes, comments, and shares reveal what topics and formats your audience is drawn to. By analyzing these patterns, you get insights that might otherwise go unnoticed. Data doesn't lie. If you're not looking at your analytics, you're missing out on a treasure trove of information that can help guide your content strategy. At Yap, we regularly review our analytics to spot trends and highlight what's working. It's about more than just knowing which episodes are posted well.

• 25:57Hala Taha?

  It's about understanding why. If a specific topic or guest sees a surge in engagement, that tells us that our audience is interested in that subject, and we might explore it further in future episodes. And we're not just looking at the numbers. We're looking at the why behind the numbers. What was it about this particular guest or topic that hit the mark? Was there something in the style or the format that people responded to? By digging into these insights, we can adapt and evolve our content to meet our audience's preferences. On the other hand, if certain themes or styles consistently underperform, it's a sign that we may need to rethink our approach or pivot. Analytics is not just about measuring success. It's about learning, adapting, and evolving based on the hard evidence.

• 26:42Hala Taha?

  It's like having a compass that guides the direction of your content, but you have to be willing to act on that feedback you get from your audience. Flexibility is crucial in content creation. You don't need to change who you are, but you can refine how you present yourself to meet your audience where they are. One of my favorite examples of using data and feedback to know your audience better was shared with me by video marketing expert Ken Okazaki. Sometimes, meeting your audience where they are means literally knowing where they are, even if that happens to be on the toilet.

• 27:16Hala Taha?

  So fun fact, and I've heard you talk about this a few times. Eighty percent of men and 69% of women use their phone while on the toilet. And you've taken this data and created something called the toilet strategy. So what is the toilet strategy? And what does this data tell us about how we should be conducting video marketing?

• 27:34Speaker 06

  Yeah, I should probably look that up. I don't know if the numbers have gone up or down. And that was a couple of years ago, I wrote that book. But I don't know about you, but I happen to use my phone in the toilet. And when I realized that there's that huge percentage, because that's kind of like literally your downtime, right? So that's when you're like, you know, you're checking messages, looking at social media. And there's a couple of things going on here. And right now, it may seem obvious, but when I first presented this at a conference, everybody was like, oh my, you know, smack my head. Like, that's so obvious, why didn't I think of it? But when your audience is in the toilet, you have to, well, put it this way. Tune your videos as if you're speaking to someone on the toilet. So there's a couple of things going on. Number one, you want to make sure there's captions on every single word.

• 28:16Speaker 06

  Because when you're in a public bathroom, it's very rare that you're going to want the speakers blaring while you're in there, right? So immediately someone's going to mute. If they can't hear you or read you, then they're going to skip off, right? So that's rule number one. Rule number two about the toilet strategy is the length. There are so many times where I've seen a video, I thought, this is great. And then what we've done is eye tracking tests. The first thing we look at is the title to see if we want to stop. The second one is the person's eyes. The third place we look, believe it or not, is the play bar to see how long it is. And that's through eye tracking data. And if the video is too long, like you probably want to spend five minutes in the bathroom, max. If it's a 20 minute video, what happens is this is a great video, but I don't have 20 minutes, so you save for later.

• 28:59Speaker 06

  Which, by the way, nobody ever goes to the save for later video and actually watches them. It is a black hole where things go in and never come back out. So you never want to get saved for later. So there's the length, you want to keep it, you know, two minutes max. Nowadays, it's under a minute, it keeps getting shorter. Oh, the third thing is really the big title on top. Now, that's kind of changed because nowadays with the way TikTok format videos have really taken over. The algorithm chooses what shows up. It's not what you subscribe to, so it doesn't matter quite as much. But I think it's quite effective on some platforms where the thumbnail is going to be much more prominent than the actual video itself. For example, YouTube.

• 29:39Hala Taha?

  The toilet strategy might be an extreme example, but it shows how responding to data and feedback you're given about your audience can allow you to transform your content in a way that will connect even better with them. At Yap, we're always actively listening to feedback. We read comments, look at engagement metrics, and keep an eye out on the formats that are doing well. For instance, that we've seen that our audience really responds to a conversational style in interviews. So we integrate that into more episodes purposefully. And if a certain topic, style, or format isn't resonating, we're not afraid to just switch it up. Think of adaptation as a cycle. You put out content, gauge your response, and then adjust. And if you do this over and over again, and turn up for your audience on a regular basis,

• 30:23Hala Taha?

  you will acquire some powerful insights from them. And their feedback will not only help you improve existing content, but it will also help you generate bold new ideas. Now here's Ken Okazaki again with more.

• 30:36Speaker 06

  If you don't show up, things don't happen. And that's when success builds on success. And that's when people start realizing, hey, this person is a pillar in this vertical, in this niche, in this industry. And the more they hear you, the more they want to hear about you. The rock stars are the people who, in a nutshell, you're no longer pushing your content. It's your audience is pulling the content from you. Like, the demand for it is greater than your effort to push it out there. You're getting more people to share it. You're getting people requesting to be on your show. You're getting so much engagement that you'll never run out of ideas, because you could just look at the comments and use that for your content ideas. And that's that feeling of getting pulled.

• 31:19Speaker 06

  And once you reach that, there's a lot of people who just realize that there is this, I guess it's like the flywheel type of feeling. And that's flow. And that's where I want all my clients to get.

• 31:31Hala Taha?

  This willingness to evolve shows your audience that you're paying attention and that you respect their preferences. It's a win-win. You're creating content that's meaningful and relevant. And your audience feels more connected to you because they know their feedback genuinely matters. When you understand your audience, it transforms your entire approach. You're not guessing, you're responding. And that makes all the difference. When you approach content as a partnership with your audience, you're building something powerful, a loyal, engaged community that trusts you and wants to come back again and again. Well, yap fam, that's it for episode 5 of the yap creator series. By paying attention to engagement, using data to guide your strategy, and creating a feedback loop,

• 32:15Hala Taha?

  you can build a stronger connection with your audience and keep your content fresh and relevant. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll see you in episode 6, where we unlock the secrets of content creation with a focus on how AI is changing the game. Until next time, this is your host, Halataha, aka the Podcast Princess, signing off.