Opening night. A restless crowd hums with anticipation, waiting for the artist to take the stage. Jackie Augustus watches from the wings, feeling just as much a part of the audience as she does the artist’s team.
She’s worked behind the scenes with global names like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, helping shape the digital strategies that turn passive fans into devoted communities. Her job isn’t about chasing virality; it’s about building something deeper. “I always try to keep the fan inside me alive,” she says. And that intention—connecting with an audience from a place of authenticity—has guided her every step.
So, do the experts agree that this is how to connect to your audience? Turns out, Augustus isn’t alone in this approach. Experts across public relations, branding, and live events agree: the key to engaging your audience today isn’t performance—it’s connection. Below, we break down five audience engagement strategies they swear by.
1. Lead with Relatability and Realness
The fastest way to connect with your audience is to stop trying to impress them. Jillian Sanders is a veteran publicist and branding strategist who has helped shape the voices of bestselling authors, lifestyle experts and household-name personalities. She’s seen firsthand that audiences don’t respond to perfection—they respond to people who sound like them. For her, authenticity means “dropping the performative polish” and “speaking like a human, not a highlight reel.”
Jennifer S. Moxley wholeheartedly agrees. As founder of Sunshine Media Network and a TEDx speaker on brand storytelling, she has helped celebrities, professional athletes and politicians build their audiences. She explains that your early audience should feel like insiders: “Treat every single person in your community as special.” Creating that sense of belonging can be as simple as leaning into nostalgia or sharing something personal that your audience will recognize in themselves.
Augustus channels this principle in every client campaign. She pays attention to the quirks that make someone’s voice feel personal, even asking artists questions like “Do you always write in lowercase?” These small signals of consistency help make the audience connection feel natural, not staged.
2. Build Trust Through Clarity and Consistency
Once you’ve earned attention and are connecting with your audience, maintaining trust requires repetition and alignment. Heather Adams, founder and CEO of Choice Media & Communications, has helped build the brands of household names like President Jimmy Carter, Johnny Cash and family and HGTV’s Jenny and Dave Marrs. For her, clarity is what keeps audiences coming back: “Connection doesn’t come from cleverness. It comes from clarity. You want your audience to feel known, understood and served.”
That clarity is especially important as your community grows. And the larger your community, the more important it is to stay clear and confident in your message and how it’s delivered. As your community expands, you’ll reach more people while making sure those who believed in you early on still feel seen.
Moxley warns against overlooking early adopters. “People tend to take their first hundred followers for granted,” she says. “Overlooking the people in the beginning is a quick way to lose them.” Moxley’s tip to engage your audience is to treat each member of your audience like they matter, because they do.
3. Use Storytelling to Create Shared Identity
When considering how to connect to your audience, storytelling is your strongest asset. Augustus taps into nostalgia by re-sharing old videos or references that only longtime fans would recognize—what she calls “inside jokes with meaning.” These moments create emotional stickiness.
Moxley suggests a more structured approach to connecting with audience members: “Identify 5 to 7 things about yourself that you always lead with.” These identifiers—like being from a specific place or holding a specific value—allow your audience to feel seen in your brand.
Sanders agrees that storytelling doesn’t have to be refined to work; it just has to be honest. In her campaigns, authenticity has outshone production value time and time again, and she advises clients to “drop the performative polish.”
4. Match the Message to the Platform
Not all platforms function the same, and neither should your content. Augustus describes Instagram as a résumé: clean, curated, aspirational. Platforms like X/Twitter, on the other hand, are where personality shines through. “It’s less polished, more ‘on the fly,’” she says.
Instead of trying to grow across every channel at once, she recommends focusing on where your audience already spends time. This not only reduces burnout but also leads to stronger, more consistent engagement.
Moxley encourages creators to start with a niche. “You are not going to be for everybody and you shouldn’t want to be,” she says. “When someone sees themselves in you, they more likely want to be in your community.”
5. Stay Flexible and Keep Listening
If you’re wondering how to connect to your audience once they’re paying attention, the answer is to adapt by listening to feedback. Feedback is a signal that someone is invested. Whether it comes through comments, analytics or real-world conversations, paying attention to your audience’s responses can reveal what’s resonating and where you might be missing the mark.
That responsiveness doesn’t mean chasing trends or shifting your voice to match every passing moment. It means staying grounded in your message while remaining open to how your audience wants to connect. When something isn’t landing, you adjust. When something sparks engagement, you go deeper.
That’s why conviction matters. Laura Ries, a world-famous positioning strategist, bestselling author and chairwoman of RIES, encourages bold positioning. “Pick a side,” she says. “Take a stand on something that matters to you and your audience.” Shared values give people something to rally around and keep them coming back.
Build Real Connection, Not Just Reach
Jackie Augustus has helped some of the world’s biggest artists build online audiences, but what she’s learned applies to anyone trying to make a lasting impact. Whether you’re managing a brand, building a platform, or just trying to grow your presence, the rules stay the same: be real, be consistent, and listen to the people you’re trying to reach.
Want to increase audience engagement and make sure that your audience sticks around? Make sure they feel seen.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2021 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
Feature image © Catherine Powell
