Audience Building

Audience Building for B2B Marketers

Overview

This skill covers how B2B marketers build owned audiences across social media, email newsletters, and community platforms — and how to sequence those efforts for compounding business impact. All practices are sourced exclusively from guests on the Exit Five podcast. Where guests disagree, both positions are presented with full attribution rather than a false consensus.

Foundational Principles: Audience Before Everything

Establish audience before community, product, or launch. Audience is the prerequisite for everything else. Before launching a community, a product, or an event, confirm you have an existing audience that is engaged with your content and willing to show up. Launching into a vacuum produces ghost towns and wasted effort. (Source: Matthew Carnevale, Episode #213; Dave Gerhardt, Episode #147)

Distinguish audience from community. Audience is a broader set of passive content consumers; community is a smaller, active subset who contribute, refer, and participate in exclusive experiences. CMOs often conflate the two or focus only on small on-property customer forums, missing the larger audience-building opportunity. Build audience first; community is a behavioral tier below it. (Source: Anthony Kennada, Episode #145)

Treat social followers as an owned distribution asset, not a vanity metric. Each follower has opted in to see your content. When you have something to promote — a webinar, lead magnet, product launch — you can reach that audience directly via organic posts. The larger your follower base, the more reach you get per post, making it a multiplier for conversions and business outcomes. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #209)

Prioritize owned/organic media over paid media as a long-term demand driver. Owned media is more efficient than paid media for customer acquisition and retention, and is recession-proof because it doesn't depend on ad spend. (Source: Anthony Kennada, Episode #145)

Platform Strategy: Where and How to Build

Focus audience-building efforts on a single primary platform before expanding. Choose one platform where your target customers concentrate — for B2B, this is typically LinkedIn — and make it your workhorse. Build momentum, test what works, and develop expertise there before expanding. You can repurpose content to other platforms (e.g., podcast episodes to YouTube), but original content creation should focus on the one platform where your audience is most active. (Source: Matt Carnevale, Episode #233)

For B2B, LinkedIn is typically the platform where customers concentrate. Exit Five found that 60% of new community members came from LinkedIn, validating focus on that platform. Use an automated onboarding survey (e.g., Typeform) that triggers immediately after signup to ask new members how they heard about you — this measures which channels are actually driving conversions. (Source: Matt Carnevale, Episode #233)

Treat LinkedIn followers as a legitimate opted-in audience segment when built through relevant content. LinkedIn followers built through consistent, educational content relevant to your ideal customer profile represent an opted-in audience that has signaled interest — not a vanity metric. This is distinct from a meme page trying to sell B2B software. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #180)

For long B2B sales cycles (6–12 months), use subscribable media as a nurture bridge. Split campaigns into direct-offer campaigns and long-term nurture campaigns. As a middle step, get interested prospects to subscribe to your owned media — LinkedIn page, thought leader accounts, YouTube channel, podcast, newsletter. Once subscribed, they receive ongoing content for free during the long consideration period, bridging the gap when platform retargeting windows are shorter than your sales cycle. (Source: Anthony Blatner, Episodes #228 and #152)

Appear on multiple B2B podcasts to build awareness and create content repurposing opportunities. Commit to appearing on 8–10+ B2B podcasts per month, even if individual audiences are small (50–200 listeners). Each appearance builds credibility with a devoted audience. Record appearances and repurpose them: slice short-form clips by idea, extract key questions and insights, and turn them into LinkedIn posts. The cumulative effect of multiple small audiences is more valuable than chasing one large platform. (Source: Adam Robinson, Episode #157)

Content Strategy: What to Post and How to Position

Niche down your content positioning to build a targeted audience faster. Choose a specific topic or industry vertical to be known for, rather than posting about diverse interests. Commit to building a following within that niche by consistently creating content about that topic. This strategic narrowing increases the likelihood that your posts resonate with a cohesive audience and grows your following faster than generalist content. Example: position yourself as "the B2B marketing person" rather than mixing fitness, politics, and marketing equally. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episodes #275, #228, and #152)

Before posting, answer clearly: "Why should someone in my target audience follow me?" This should be specific and niche — not broad topics like "business" or "entrepreneurship." Examples: "to get better at B2B sales," "to improve email marketing," "to learn B2B social strategy." This clarity prevents scattered content that attracts the wrong audience. (Source: Tommy Clark, Episode #171)

Build content strategy around becoming the go-to resource for your niche. Rather than promoting your product directly, position your brand as the expert resource for a specific audience segment. Your entire content strategy — across search, social, email, and other channels — should answer the questions and solve the problems that audience faces. When you eventually have something to sell, that audience already knows and trusts you. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #209)

Prioritize content focus and quality over follower count growth. Three years of unfocused posting may yield 100,000 followers, but two months of intentional, focused content with a clear system can yield 101,000 followers plus 30,000 engaged followers on a secondary platform. The quality and intentionality of your audience matters more than raw follower count. (Source: Amanda Goetz, Episode #244)

Balance consistent content cadence with opportunistic, attention-grabbing moments. Combine predictable content rhythm (regular publishing schedule, consistent distribution, clear calls-to-action to drive subscribers) with spontaneous, high-impact moments designed to break through attention clutter. The rhythm ensures relevance and builds habit; the jazz creates viral moments. Neither alone drives significant subscriber growth. (Source: Anthony Kennada, Episode #145)

Use Twitter/X long-form posts (threads) to publish substantial content and drive followers. Write long-form posts that require "show more" to expand. Within the post, tease future content mid-post — not at the end — to create curiosity and drive follows. For example, mid-way through a story, mention what you'll share next week. This works better with the algorithm than asking followers to subscribe at the end of a post. (Source: Greg Isenberg, Episode #146)

Create content by interviewing partners and agencies in your ecosystem. Build a content strategy centered on interviewing the agencies, vendors, and partners your target customers already work with. This generates high-engagement content because you're featuring voices your audience already trusts. A small team can generate significant traffic by systematically interviewing partners over time — no paid advertising required. (Source: Jared Fuller, Episode #174)

Email List Building

Build email lists by creating valuable content first, then promoting it. Start by identifying what content your target audience values and needs. Create that content (reports, guides, research). Then promote it via paid ads, social media, or events to drive signups. This builds a list of genuinely interested subscribers who are more likely to engage. Do not start by trying to build a list; start by creating content worth subscribing for. (Source: Sara McNamara, Episode #256)

Use AI to create lead magnets and support list-building, not just email generation. AI's strongest use case in email marketing isn't generating the email itself — it's supporting the entire funnel around email. Use AI to create compelling lead magnets, power chatbots for customer support that capture emails, and automate list-building workflows. Focus AI on top-of-funnel activities that feed your email list. (Source: Alyssa, Episode #312)

Use content tripwires to capture emails and drive community signups. Set up subtle calls-to-action embedded in your content — a "View my newsletter" link above a LinkedIn post, or a "Join [community]" section at the bottom of a weekly newsletter. These should not be aggressive; they work best when organically discovered as people consume your content over time. Once you have their email, you can then promote your community offer. (Source: Matt Carnevale, Episode #233)

Drive audience from rented channels into owned channels. Use rented platforms (LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Google Search) as acquisition channels to build awareness and drive traffic, but funnel subscribers into owned channels (email list, direct community) where you control the relationship and can monetize without algorithmic or platform dependency. (Source: Anthony Kennada, Episode #145)

Gate vs. ungated content for list building — see "Where Experts Disagree" below. Both gating high-value assets and publishing ungated content with optional soft capture are practiced by experienced B2B marketers, with different tradeoffs. (Note: this is contested — see Where Experts Disagree)

Newsletter Strategy

Optimize the first email to new subscribers with a compelling subject line. The first email sent to a new subscriber is the most important email you will ever send them. Use a compelling subject line instead of generic ones like "Welcome." The first email trains email clients and the recipient on whether you belong in their inbox. If it gets opened and clicked, you're more likely to stay in the inbox; if not, you'll go to spam more often. (Source: Jay Schewedelson, Episode #167) (Note: what primarily drives open rates is contested — see Where Experts Disagree)

Invest in a dedicated newsletter writer if you commit to newsletter as a product. If you decide to invest in email newsletters, hire a dedicated writer (not a contractor juggling multiple projects) to focus exclusively on creating high-quality, non-promotional content. The newsletter should provide genuine value — trends, insights, analysis — rather than promoting your product. Treat it as a product in its own right, similar to how Morning Brew or Monday Insights operate. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #183) (Note: newsletter cadence philosophy is contested — see Where Experts Disagree)

Newsletter cadence — see "Where Experts Disagree" below. Whether to publish at high frequency or reduce cadence to avoid fatigue is a genuine point of disagreement between guests. (Note: this is contested — see Where Experts Disagree)

Find niche newsletter creators by searching Substack and Google for your target audience titles. To discover niche creators and newsletters in your space, go to Substack and search for your niche, or use Google to search for "[your target buyer title] newsletter" (e.g., "CFO newsletter"). These creators are often undermonetized and eager for sponsorship partnerships. (Source: Ross Simmonds, Episode #200)

Content Flywheels and Monetization Architecture

Build a three-tier flywheel: Social → Newsletter → Tiered Offers. Drive traffic from social media to a free newsletter. Use the newsletter to test what resonates and learn audience needs. Create tiered offers based on what you learn — DIY course, community/group offering, high-ticket coaching, fractional services. Each tier feeds back into the previous one: insights from community inform newsletter content, which informs social content. This creates a sustainable revenue model where each layer validates the next. (Source: Amanda Goetz, Episodes #244 and #158)

Use the newsletter to reveal what resonates, then feed that back into social and product. Your newsletter is a research tool as much as a distribution channel. What gets opened, clicked, and replied to tells you what your audience actually cares about — use that signal to inform both your social content and your product development. (Source: Amanda Goetz, Episode #244)

Audience-to-Community Conversion

Follow the ACP sequence: Audience → Community → Product. Build in this order: first establish an audience on a rented platform with niche content until you reach approximately 10,000 followers. Then convert the most engaged subset (50–100 people) into a community using scarcity tactics (waitlist, invite-only, private access). Finally, layer products on top of the community. This funnel prevents building community in a vacuum and ensures you have credible distribution before asking people to join a gated space. (Source: Greg Isenberg, Episode #146)

Use waitlist and invite-only access to create scarcity and drive early community adoption. When converting your audience into a community, make the community waitlist-only and private — even if free — to create scarcity and FOMO. This drives human behavior and ensures you onboard only the most committed members initially. Be exclusionary at entry, but fully inclusive once members are in. This allows you to validate the community with a small, engaged cohort before scaling. (Source: Greg Isenberg, Episode #146)

For teams without a strong founder social presence, build a standalone media asset first. Create a media asset (job board, resource library, benchmarking tool) that solves a problem for your target audience and attracts them independently. Use this asset to build an engaged audience first, then funnel them into a community later if they request it. This decouples community growth from founder brand and creates a sustainable acquisition channel. (Source: Matthew Carnevale, Episode #213)

Drive referrals through exclusive content and insider perks rather than transactional rewards. Structure referral programs around exclusive content access — behind-the-scenes podcasts, insider content, swag — rather than traditional lead-based commissions. This creates social proof and community identity rather than treating referrals as transactional lead generation. (Source: Anthony Kennada, Episode #145)

Partnership and Distribution Leverage

Multiply marketing reach by leveraging partner databases alongside your own. When you partner with other companies on content or campaigns, you gain access to their email lists and audiences. By featuring partners in your content and distributing that content to both your database and theirs, you multiply your reach at minimal cost. Partners benefit from exposure to your audience; you benefit from exposure to theirs. (Source: Jared Fuller, Episode #174)

Barter media placements for reach in early stages of media company growth. When launching a media company or newsletter, barter sponsorships — trade media placement for audience access — with established companies that have relevant email lists. For example, trade a podcast sponsorship for a newsletter feature to their 15,000-person list. Once you have proven reach and engagement, transition to paid sponsorships. (Source: Jared Fuller, Episode #174)

Pre-Launch Audience Building

Post twice daily on LinkedIn for 6 months before product launch to build audience and early customer base. Before launching a product, commit to posting twice daily on LinkedIn for a fixed period to build awareness and a small engaged community. Use a mix of original product/category insights and commentary on relevant industry conversations. This creates an audience to launch to and generates inbound interest. (Source: Emir Atli, Episode #165)

Validate event demand before committing by testing audience interest. Before fully committing to an event, test demand with your existing audience — email list, LinkedIn followers. Announce the event concept and gauge interest. If enough people express interest, proceed with confidence. This de-risks the event investment and ensures you have an audience before booking venues and speakers. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #164)

Where Experts Disagree

1. Should you publish your newsletter at high frequency or reduce cadence to avoid fatigue?

Support summary: 1 vs 1

Position A — Invest in consistent, high-quality publishing (treat newsletter as a product): Dave Gerhardt (Episode #183) recommends hiring a dedicated newsletter writer to focus exclusively on high-quality, non-promotional content, treating the newsletter as a product in its own right — similar to Morning Brew or Monday Insights. This implies consistent, regular publishing as a core investment signal. The newsletter functions as an ongoing engagement channel that builds sender trust over time.

Position B — Reduce cadence to monthly or less to avoid fatigue: Sara Lattanzio (Episode #268) argues that content saturation is hitting a cap and high-frequency newsletters cause subscribers to disengage and ignore content by default. She recommends shifting to lower cadence — monthly or less — so subscribers anticipate and look forward to each issue like a seasonal release, improving engagement and retention.

Context dependency: Dave Gerhardt's advice may apply more to brands building a media-style newsletter as a core product (where consistency signals professionalism and builds sender trust), while Sara Lattanzio's advice may apply more to brands whose newsletters are supplementary to other channels and risk blending into inbox noise. Both are speaking to B2B newsletter strategy broadly, making this a genuine disagreement on default cadence philosophy.

Trend note: Sara Lattanzio's lower-cadence recommendation is more recent (July 2025) vs. Dave Gerhardt's high-investment/consistent approach (October 2024), potentially reflecting a growing concern about inbox saturation as AI-generated content floods email.

Why it matters: Newsletter cadence directly affects open rates, unsubscribe rates, and list health. Choosing the wrong frequency can either erode audience trust through fatigue or signal inconsistency and lose top-of-mind awareness. When helping a user decide, ask whether their newsletter is a core product or a supplementary channel, and how saturated their audience's inbox already is.

2. Should you gate your best content to build your email list, or publish it ungated with optional capture?

Support summary: 1 vs 1

Position A — Gate content behind a form to build a high-quality opted-in list: Dave Gerhardt (Episode #256) explicitly recommends creating a high-value asset (report, guide, benchmark data) based on customer research, gating it behind a form, promoting it via LinkedIn ads, and using a welcome sequence to convert new subscribers. He frames this as the primary mechanism for building an opt-in list of genuinely interested subscribers.

Position B — Publish ungated with optional soft email capture: Erin May (Episode #337) achieved a 13% email conversion rate on ungated content by offering a compelling reason to subscribe (email delivery of a structured learning experience) without forcing users to provide their email to access the content. She argues this approach maximizes both organic reach and SEO value while still capturing emails from interested users.

Context dependency: Gating may work better when the asset is a discrete, high-value download (report, benchmark data), while ungated with soft capture may work better for ongoing content experiences (courses, newsletters). However, both guests are addressing the same core question of how to build an email list from content, making this a genuine tactical disagreement.

Trend note: Erin May's ungated approach is more recent (March 2026) vs. Dave Gerhardt's gated approach (June 2025), potentially reflecting a broader industry shift away from hard gates as audiences become more resistant to mandatory form fills.

Why it matters: The choice between gating and ungating affects both list quality and list size. Gating may yield fewer but more intentional subscribers; ungated with soft capture may yield broader reach with comparable conversion rates. When helping a user decide, ask about their primary goal (list size vs. list quality), their content type (discrete asset vs. ongoing experience), and their SEO/organic reach priorities.

3. What drives newsletter open rates more: subject line optimization or sender trust and consistency?

Support summary: 1 vs 1

Position A — Subject line optimization is critical, especially for the first email: Jay Schewedelson (Episode #167) argues that the first email is the most important email you'll ever send and that subject line quality directly affects inbox placement and open rates. He recommends specific compelling subject line formulas (e.g., "Thanks, and you got to see this...") over generic ones like "Welcome." The first email trains email clients and the recipient on whether to open your future emails.

Position B — Sender trust and consistency matter more than subject line cleverness: Dave Gerhardt (Episode #166) argues that open rates are primarily driven by readers recognizing and trusting the sender name and developing a habit of opening based on consistent, valuable content delivered on a predictable schedule. He cites examples like "Monday Insights" where readers open based on sender recognition, not subject line quality.

Context dependency: These positions may be complementary rather than fully conflicting. Subject line optimization may matter most early in a newsletter's life before sender trust is established, while sender trust dominates for mature newsletters with loyal audiences. However, both guests are making general claims about what primarily drives open rates, representing a genuine difference in emphasis and tactical priority.

Trend note: No clear chronological trend identified.

Why it matters: Where you invest your optimization effort — copywriting for subject lines vs. long-term brand consistency — has compounding effects on list engagement and deliverability over time. When helping a user, ask how established their newsletter is: newer newsletters may benefit most from subject line discipline, while mature newsletters should prioritize sender consistency.

What NOT To Do

Do not start by trying to build a list — start by creating content worth subscribing for. Building a list without valuable content to offer produces low-quality, disengaged subscribers. (Source: Sara McNamara, Episode #256)

Do not launch a community without an existing engaged audience. Launching a community without an audience to funnel into it will result in a ghost town and wasted effort. Validate that you have an engaged audience before building a community. (Source: Matthew Carnevale, Episode #213)

Do not post about diverse, unrelated topics if your goal is audience growth for business purposes. Mixing fitness, politics, marketing, and personal content equally dilutes your positioning and slows follower growth. Niche down. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #275)

Do not use AI to generate email copy as the primary use case. AI-generated email copy can feel generic. Use AI instead to create lead magnets, power list-building workflows, and support top-of-funnel activities. (Source: Alyssa, Episode #312)

Do not make content tripwires aggressive or in-your-face. Subtle calls-to-action embedded in content work best when organically discovered. Aggressive CTAs undermine the trust you're building through content. (Source: Matt Carnevale, Episode #233)

Do not treat follower count as a vanity metric — but also do not chase it without content focus. Follower count matters as a distribution asset, but only when built through relevant, niche content. Unfocused follower growth produces an audience that won't convert. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episodes #209 and #180; Amanda Goetz, Episode #244)

Do not rely solely on paid media for audience building. Owned media is more efficient and recession-proof. Paid media should support owned media growth, not replace it. (Source: Anthony Kennada, Episode #145)

Do not skip the welcome sequence when building a list from a gated offer. New subscribers need to be introduced to your newsletter and brand. A welcome sequence converts new signups into engaged readers. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #256)

Sources