How to Find, Grow, and Cultivate an Online Video Audience

One question that any online video series has to deal with is how to attract viewers. Lacking the promotional advantages of television, online video programs need to work harder to make themselves known. A panel at the recent Streaming Media East conference in New York offered expert advice on audience-building.

"'Anyone but Me' is a scripted drama about young people -- gay, straight, and multiethnic -- searching for identity and relationships," explained Susan Miller, executive producer and writer for the series. "My background in traditional media -- film and television and as a playwright -- I'm moved towards telling stories through characters."

Adept at turning minuses into positives, Miller explained how having a cast of unknowns is actually a plus for a series, since it allows the audience to discover the characters fresh.

"That qualities that we were looking for were relating to people, engaging people. First of all, you didn't know the actors; we had all newcomers, and so the sense of discovery of these people and making them one's own for the audience was a very big factor in the success and of people wanting to tune back in," said Miller. "But also, the quality of telling stories to audiences that were maybe underserved, as it turned out -- young people, particularly. In a sense, you could say that we partly derived from that, even though our model of drama has been around in theater and film and television for ages. Yet, the fact that this is on the internet, the fact that this gives us a different kind of canvas and new territory I think changes the landscape of how we do it."

For the full panel discussion, including advice from other online video insiders, watch the full video below.

Finding, Growing, and Cultivating an Audience Online

From lonelygirl15 through the latest YouTube premium content channels, direct feedback and interaction with audiences is one of the ways online storytelling distinguishes itself from other forms of visual storytelling. The ability to engage and create action items for your online audience is a valuable tool that's often underutilized. But where do you find the audience, and how do you keep them coming back again and again? How soon should you begin the audience-building process? How do you keep an audience engaged between seasons? This panel offers real-world success stories and technical and business guidance from some of the most successful audience- builders online entertainment has to offer.

Moderator: Jenni Powell, Content and Speaker Coordinator, VidCon
Speaker: Susan Miller, Executive Producer/Writer, "Anyone But Me"
Speaker: Tim Street, VP, Mobile Video, mDialog
Speaker: Carole Walker, VP, Trade Marketing, Demand Media
Speaker: J. Sibley Law, Founder, TangoDango Network