Key Audience-Building Secrets From the Phenomenal Success of Broad City
March 27, 2015
Broad City is the little show that it seems like everyone's talking about. The comedy starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson and featuring the comedic hijinks of two single women in New York City actually started as a web series and was later picked up by Comedy Central. Now the popular show is being covered by many popular newspapers and blogs and has a large social media following. But what's the key to the show's seemingly overnight success? A lot of behind the scenes work, it seems -- and critical lessons that can help anyone seeking to grow a grass-roots intiative.
And it turns out that there was a lot of strategy at work in the show's popularity. "We had both worked these different jobs that dealt with dealing with the Internet and using social media," Jacobson told NPR last year of working at jobs that eventually informed the show's success.
What follows are some tips from Broad City on building a hit out of your product.
One of the key reasons for the success of Broad City is that viewers find it so true to life. That's no surprise, as Jacobson and Glazer modeled it on their own lives as struggling performers in the city.
Aspiring content moguls would do well to live by the maxim "start with what you know." Everyone's an expert on something, and translating what you know into a course or book may eventually pay off for you.
The Broad City creators thought long and hard about how the subject of their show might intersect with publication priorities. Any business can learn from their example. Speaking to NPR, they said:
Also important to the show were social networks, especially Facebook:
To start building that kind of community, you can start with an "influence map." An "influence map" is a planning document that helps you identify and track the audience that will make the most impact on your business.
Broad City is also testament to the new reality that in television, niche is everything.
Many entrepreneurs think that selling to the widest possible market is the likeliest path to success. They are afraid to pursue a market niche because they fear they'll lose business by turning away customers. But this 'take all comers' approach is not very effective. It's hard to stand out when you market your business without a distinctive set of prospects in mind.
Occupying a niche means you won't be competing with a lot of similar businesses solely on price. And because you will be selling products and services that are customized to the specific needs and predispositions of a select group of people, you can often charge more.
When you are an upstart or "little guy" in the land of big fish, the prospect of trying to get attention, especially on a tiny budget, can seem insurmountable. But don't forget that everyone loves an underdog story.
And that's finally what all entrepreneurs can learn from Broad City: stick with what you love and have fun with it.
Just consider Eva's Play Pups, where, in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania, Eva Armstrong has created a doggie paradise for her boarding clients replete with large open fields, a pond for swimming and plenty of sunny napping spots. The videos of joyful romping dogs she posts to Facebook would make humans chained to their desks green with envy.
But to Armstrong, the joyful nature of the dogs she works with is consistent with her own approach to business. "I am outside in nature all day long with packs of dogs, I feel healthy and happy, I learn new things about dogs and pack dynamics every day," she reports. "I feel this job will never become stale and boring.”
Broad City is the little show that it seems like everyone's talking about. The comedy starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson and featuring the comedic hijinks of two single women in New York City actually started as a web series and was later picked up by Comedy Central. Now the popular show is being covered by many popular newspapers and blogs and has a large social media following. But what's the key to the show's seemingly overnight success? A lot of behind the scenes work, it seems -- and critical lessons that can help anyone seeking to grow a grass-roots intiative.
And it turns out that there was a lot of strategy at work in the show's popularity. "We had both worked these different jobs that dealt with dealing with the Internet and using social media," Jacobson told NPR last year of working at jobs that eventually informed the show's success.
What follows are some tips from Broad City on building a hit out of your product.
1. Start with What You Know
One of the key reasons for the success of Broad City is that viewers find it so true to life. That's no surprise, as Jacobson and Glazer modeled it on their own lives as struggling performers in the city.
Aspiring content moguls would do well to live by the maxim "start with what you know." Everyone's an expert on something, and translating what you know into a course or book may eventually pay off for you.
2. Court the Press
The Broad City creators thought long and hard about how the subject of their show might intersect with publication priorities. Any business can learn from their example. Speaking to NPR, they said:
JACOBSON: And so we thought about our Web series that we thought, well, what different types of places would be interested in this? OK, it's about two women. OK, it's about New York City. OK, it's about Jews. It's about stoners.
GLAZER: Broke people.
JACOBSON: Yeah.
GLAZER: So you like, go to those subsets and look for those kinds of blogs or Twitter.
JACOBSON: And you do research. And we made a spreadsheet of all these different sites. And then you have to research and find the editors or the writers and different contacts. And you just start emailing them and you'll hope that some people will write some articles and post - when we release a video, they're going to post a video that's about - oh, they're in Washington Square Park and it's about them selling - or, buying weed.
3. Brainstorm about Micronetworks
Also important to the show were social networks, especially Facebook:
And I have to say because we came out of this amazing community, like, Facebook built our show.
GLAZER: Yeah, I was just going to say that was like, the main vehicle for the show. That was where, like, we like, counted those likes more than YouTube views.
To start building that kind of community, you can start with an "influence map." An "influence map" is a planning document that helps you identify and track the audience that will make the most impact on your business.
4. Go Niche or Go Home
Broad City is also testament to the new reality that in television, niche is everything.
Many entrepreneurs think that selling to the widest possible market is the likeliest path to success. They are afraid to pursue a market niche because they fear they'll lose business by turning away customers. But this 'take all comers' approach is not very effective. It's hard to stand out when you market your business without a distinctive set of prospects in mind.
Occupying a niche means you won't be competing with a lot of similar businesses solely on price. And because you will be selling products and services that are customized to the specific needs and predispositions of a select group of people, you can often charge more.
5. Have Fun with It
When you are an upstart or "little guy" in the land of big fish, the prospect of trying to get attention, especially on a tiny budget, can seem insurmountable. But don't forget that everyone loves an underdog story.
And that's finally what all entrepreneurs can learn from Broad City: stick with what you love and have fun with it.
Just consider Eva's Play Pups, where, in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania, Eva Armstrong has created a doggie paradise for her boarding clients replete with large open fields, a pond for swimming and plenty of sunny napping spots. The videos of joyful romping dogs she posts to Facebook would make humans chained to their desks green with envy.
But to Armstrong, the joyful nature of the dogs she works with is consistent with her own approach to business. "I am outside in nature all day long with packs of dogs, I feel healthy and happy, I learn new things about dogs and pack dynamics every day," she reports. "I feel this job will never become stale and boring.”