Why do they tune in?

Everyone knows Macaulay Culkin as the cute kid in the Home Alone series. In 1993, he starred in a thriller, ‘The Good Son’. The role was a stark departure from his cute kid image. Here’s how critic Hal Hinson of the Washington Post described his role:

“the mere presence of the adorable boy star…seems to throw the whole film out of whack, making the picture play more like an inadvertent comedy than a thriller.”

Artists sometimes go to extremes to avoid being typecast. People tuned in to a Macaulay Culkin movie for wholesome family entertainment. Now, they were subject to watching him play a psychopath.

Here’s a question – why do people tune into your marketing and content? Is it because you:

a) Make them laugh

b) Shout at the top of your voice

c) Get them to think

d) Provoke for the sake of it

e) Make them feel clever

f) Spend a lot of money on paid media and force people to tune in

g) Give them something of value

h) Improve their lives in some manner

When people hit the subscribe button or choose to follow you, they do it because it matches something they’re seeking. It’s easy to lose focus here. You want to get people to think critically but you realize that won’t get you a huge following. Do you dumb down your work to reach a wider audience? Or do you stick to your guns? Do you seek genuine connections but are sold on inconsequential metrics by an SEO agency?

Your marketing and content will change over time. But people will tune in for more or less the same reason. Nike’s shoes have come a long way from being made with a waffle iron, but people still tune in to them for inspiration.

When you know why people are tuning in, it’s easier to channel your efforts into delighting them over time.