# Audience Development **Domain:** Media / Community **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Audience Development** is the patient conversion of transient attention into a recurring community that recognizes the work, understands its value, and has reasons to return and act. ## Mechanism and Practice Follower counts describe access, not relationship. Audience development requires recognizable identity, recurrence, direct usefulness, trust, and routes through which people can participate rather than merely observe. ## Relationships - **Related concepts:** [[wiki/Social Capital|Social Capital]] · [[wiki/Relationship Marketing|Relationship Marketing]] · [[wiki/Platform Strategy|Platform Strategy]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “A follower count becomes an audience when people recognize the work, understand its value, and possess a reason to act. Recurrence and trust turn a passing crowd into a community capable of cooperation.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Social Media Success Through Trust, Platform Control, and Organic Reach - Livestream (Sep 2015)* [[reminders/Reputation/Trust Turns a Passing Crowd Into a Community by Bryant McGill|Trust Turns a Passing Crowd Into a Community by Bryant McGill]]