As the title suggests, I'm trying to expand who my writing is getting to. Right now I market myself on all forms of social media, but as far as I know it's only getting out to my family and friends.

This is a predicament.

Everything I've noticed about writing currently is that gaining an audience is just as important as the act of writing frequently and well itself. And with the increasing quickness of social media interaction--browsing on your phone on an elevator ride, in the bathroom, checking your outlets before going off to work--how does a writer pique an audience's interest in one of those thirty second interactions?

I've thought of taking one of (what you feel) your best quotes from whatever you're writing and putting it at the top as a preview in big, bold letters so that people glancing can see them easily. I've thought of trying to incorporate more pictures because they speak easier to eyes than words do at a glance. I've thought of doing self-help posts, or posting modicum segments about feelings and philosophies that can be read in a little less than a minute or two.

How important is it to cater for an audience? Will the audience come with time, or is it something that has to be worked for?

It's a worry of mine, and something I'd really like to discuss. So while I pose questions in here, I'd really love for this to be a large, general discussion about audiences.

tl;dr Audience: Why? How?