The Fastest Audience Building Platform Today (And How To Start Effectively Using It Now)

A raving audience hungry for your course that you can easily turn into long-term customers and promoters.

We all want that, sure. 

However, attracting said audience can be a daunting task, especially when you’re starting from scratch.

And given the fact that “gurus” flaunt all these different content marketing platforms while making it seem like you must use them all to succeed.

Or praise the heck out of the platform they have a course on.

But you don’t have to be on all content marketing platforms (definitely not when starting out). Nor is there a one-size-fits-all solution.

You should always choose a platform based ONLY on your unique circumstances and goals. 

Today, I want to help you make that choice and ensure it’s the right one. So, I’ll give you a brief overview of the best content marketing platforms for course creators

And explain in what circumstances each of them would be an optimal solution. 

Plus, I’ll show you how to immediately start creating content on the platform that usually gets the fastest results. 

Let’s dive into it.

How Much Time Do You Have (And Are Willing To Spare) To Build That Hungry Audience

Let’s start by laying out the most popular content marketing platforms:

• SEO
• Blog
• Podcast
• YouTube (traditional - not shorts)
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube Shorts

These aren’t all platforms you can use, of course. But they are the most common ones I see course creators have success on.

Each of them can help you build a high-quality audience. But the speed at which you’re building that audience differs.

Slow Audience-Building Platforms

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) typically involves writing blogs and finding clever ways for Google to pick them up.

Yes, this can work. And get you to a great audience/offer match.

But getting there will take a while. Months (or even years) will pass before you see any results. 

That’s why SEO shouldn’t be your only go-to platform if you’re looking to get traction quickly. (Unless you already have a well-performing blog on Google.)

Podcasts are faster in terms of seeing results than SEO. But they are still slow.

Yes, a podcast can get you a consistent flow of highly qualified prospects (my podcast, “The Online Course Show,” is a living testament to this). So, you should definitely consider having one as a part of your long-term content marketing strategy.

But again, if you’re looking to move the needle fast — don’t put the crux of your focus & resources on building a podcast. 

(Quick Tip: If you already have a podcast getting at least some traction and want to speed up its growth — appear on other relevant podcasts as much as you can.)

Medium & Fast Audience-Building Platforms 

YouTube (in its standard form) falls in the middle of the speed spectrum. 

Actually, if I were writing this several years ago — I’d classify it as fast.

But the YouTube game has changed quite a bit in recent years. Cracking its algorithm and finding success is becoming harder and harder.

To do this, you now must have really good thumbnails, title your videos well, keep insane audience engagement & retention levels, etc. 

YouTube isn’t slow. But it’s not as fast as the last 3 platforms on the list above:

Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.

If you want to build an audience quickly and with a decent ratio of quality & speed…

These platforms are your best bet. (If you have a good content creation strategy, of course.)

Plus, the three platforms are very similar. Meaning you can take one piece of content and put it on all of them. 

But, when you’re still starting out, there’s a real benefit in focusing on one of these platforms. And if it’s me, in most niches, I’d choose Instagram Reels.

Let me explain why.

Why Instagram Reels Are Currently The Fastest Method For Building A High-Quality Audience (and how to start making them)

Quite simply — if done right, your Reels could explode and get traction in a heartbeat compared to other options. And among better-qualified prospects, in most cases.

That’s what happened to many of my coaching clients. Spencer grew to over 1 million followers by focusing on high value reels. More importantly, this helped him reach 7 figures in course sales.

Kate just started her course journey 2 months ago and wisely chose this approach too. By focusing on high-quality Instagram reels, she already has over 20k followers. Who are begging her to release her course.

Now, before you can start making Reels, you first need to create an Instagram profile, of course. The image below gives you all the basics for setting up a relatable one:

I stress using your picture because it helps build trust and rapport with an actual human being.

Also, if you follow only the people your ideal customer would (so, competitors) …

Instagram’s algorithm will recommend you to their followers. This can be really powerful in terms of high-quality prospect influx. 

Now, as far as actually creating Instagram Reels that get traction goes:

Things don’t have to be nearly as complicated as you might think. (Or as gurus selling the course on creating them make it sound.)

Especially if you have at least some content ideas ready. Then, you can simply take your phone out, keep it vertical, and record yourself talking about them. 

Yes, that content will be raw. But that’s absolutely fine if you use a handy tool like Descript. 

Descript is a super user-friendly video editing software that helps you create a fully-fledged Reel out of raw footage from your phone…

Even with just its free version.

Sign up and take a shot — you’ll get the hang of things fast. And make creating top-notch Instagram Reels a lot quicker even if you don’t know the first thing about video editing. 

Conclusion

If building a high-quality audience fast is your goal, starting with Instagram Reels is probably your best bet. 

But don’t be hasty when choosing your content marketing strategy and platform. 

Sit down and analyze your priorities and situation first. The solution will depend on your current positioning, the type of course you offer, and a host of other unique circumstances.

Also, relying on a single platform isn’t sustainable in the long run. So, be ready to adjust your course. 

And always keep the big picture in mind. Don’t just go for speed and compromise on everything else. Especially not on prospect quality.

Here’s to building that engaged audience quickly and frictionlessly.

I'm rooting for you.

-Jacques