Back to: Take Your Poetry Marketing to the Next Level
Welcome to Lesson 4!
Your poetry has a voice—but how do you know if it’s truly resonating with your audience? The best way to grow as a poet and a marketer is to listen to your readers. In this lesson, we’ll explore how to gather, analyze, and use audience feedback to refine your messaging, engagement strategy, and overall presence as a poet.
By the end of this lesson, you’ll have a clear understanding of what your audience connects with most, how to adjust your strategy accordingly, and how to build a stronger relationship with your readers.
What You’ll Learn in This Lesson
✅ How to gather and analyze audience feedback effectively
✅ Why engagement is more important than follower count
✅ How to adjust your content and messaging based on feedback
1. Gathering & Analyzing Audience Feedback
Feedback comes in many forms—not just direct comments or messages, but also likes, shares, saves, and silent engagement. Understanding these different types of feedback will help you fine-tune your strategy.
A. Ways to Collect Feedback from Your Audience
📌 Direct Feedback Methods (Where readers tell you what they think):
- Polls & Surveys – Ask specific questions via Instagram Stories, Twitter polls, or email.
- Comment Prompts – Encourage responses with open-ended questions.
- DMs & Replies – Notice when readers personally reach out.
- Email Replies – If you have an email list, ask subscribers for their thoughts.
📌 Indirect Feedback Methods (Where engagement tells the story):
- Likes & Shares – Which poems or topics get the most engagement?
- Saves & Bookmarks – Indicates deeper emotional connection.
- Time Spent on a Post – Look at Instagram insights to see if people linger.
- Most Popular Themes – What topics do people respond to the most?
B. Real-World Example: How Poets Use Audience Feedback
📖 Rupi Kaur’s Instagram Strategy
Rupi Kaur pays close attention to which posts receive the most saves and shares. If a poem goes viral, she’ll create more in that style or expand on its theme. This approach has helped her refine her voice and publish books that deeply resonate with her audience.
📖 Morgan Harper Nichols’ Personal Responses
Morgan Harper Nichols invites her audience to share their personal stories and crafts poetry in response. This creates a direct emotional connection with her readers and makes them feel seen.
📌 Takeaway: The more you listen to your audience, the better you can serve them.
2. Why Engagement Matters More Than Numbers
Many poets worry about follower count, but a small, engaged audience is more powerful than a large, silent one.
🔹 Example: Would you rather have 10,000 followers with no engagement or 500 followers who actively comment, share, and buy your books?
A. Signs of a Strong, Engaged Audience
✔️ Readers comment on how your poems make them feel
✔️ You receive DMs or emails about your work
✔️ People save and share your poems
✔️ You get responses to questions or polls
B. Real-World Example: How Engagement Fuels Success
📖 Nayyirah Waheed has a relatively small social media presence compared to mainstream authors, but her engaged audience consistently shares her poetry, leading to strong book sales through word-of-mouth marketing.
📌 Takeaway: Focus on meaningful engagement over vanity metrics.
3. Adjusting Your Approach Based on Feedback
Once you gather feedback, it’s time to make strategic adjustments.
A. Experiment with Different Types of Content
Try varying your approach and see what resonates best.
📌 Real-World Example: Amanda Lovelace’s Content Experimentation
Amanda Lovelace noticed that her short, impactful poems performed better than long-form pieces on Instagram. She adjusted her strategy to focus on bite-sized poetry while reserving longer works for her books.
B. Common Adjustments Poets Make Based on Feedback
- If longer poems get lower engagement → Try shorter, more shareable pieces.
- If personal stories get more responses → Include more storytelling in your posts.
- If engagement is low overall → Experiment with different posting times or formats (e.g., carousel posts, videos).
- If readers love a certain theme → Write more poetry in that theme.
📌 Your Actionable Step: Identify one adjustment you can make this week based on audience feedback.
Actionable Steps for Lesson 4
✅ Step 1: Create a Short Poll or Ask a Question
📌 Examples of Poll Questions:
- “What do you love most about my poetry?” (Options: Emotion, imagery, themes, brevity, storytelling)
- “Which themes speak to you the most?” (Options: Love, loss, healing, identity, empowerment)
📌 Examples of Engagement Questions:
- “What’s one poem that has stuck with you? Why?”
- “How do my poems make you feel?”
✅ Step 2: Experiment with Different Poetry Styles & Track Engagement
Post two different types of poetry and compare the responses.
📌 Example Approach:
- Day 1: Post a short, minimalist poem with an emotional theme.
- Day 3: Post a longer storytelling-style poem.
- Day 5: Analyze which one got the most engagement.
📝 Final Assignment: Reflection & Adjustments
- Write a reflection on what type of feedback you received.
- What did your readers respond to the most?
- Did any themes or styles get higher engagement?
- Did readers ask for more of something specific?
- Outline 2-3 adjustments you’ll make to better connect with your audience.
- Will you post more in a certain style?
- Will you ask more questions in your captions?
- Will you experiment with new formats (videos, reels, quotes, etc.)?
📌 Example Reflection:
“After posting two different styles of poetry, I noticed that my short, raw poems got more saves and shares, while my longer storytelling poems got more comments. I also received messages about how my poetry on healing resonated deeply. Moving forward, I’ll focus more on short, impactful poems and invite more discussion in my captions.”
Conclusion of Lesson 4
This lesson marks the final step in Module 1! 🎉 By now, you should have:
✅ A clear understanding of how to gather & analyze audience feedback
✅ A focus on engagement over numbers
✅ A strategy for adjusting your approach based on real reader responses
💡 Next Up: Module 2 – Crafting an Irresistible Poet Brand!