It’s not about the numbers

 

I caught someone talking on Instagram recently and, while there was a good bit of swearing, he had a strong point.  Winning at social media isn’t about going viral, it isn’t about thousands (or even millions) of connections.  But that seems to be what everyone is chasing.

What is it that works?

Being authentic.

Being transparent.

And most importantly, being the expert that people immediately think of in your genre, in other words, an Authority.

Being successful isn’t about being everywhere and all things to all people.  You need to decide who you really want to talk to and then find out where they hang out and get involved.

Choose a platform, the one where your ideal clients are most active, and then be present, be visible and engage.

Social media isn’t a one way street and commenting genuinely on other people’s posts often gets you more noticed than your own posts!  Most platforms will tell you what time of day your followers are most active, so make some time in your diary to be live on the platform at that time and be visible.

This isn’t an opportunity to sales pitch everyone.  That’s the fastest way to turn people off.  You just need to be visible, helpful and engaged. 

Being interested is more important than being interesting.  There’s an old cliché, ‘People are interested in people who are interested in them’, and, while it is a cliché, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true!  So be interested - visibly.

What to post

Share you wisdom, but be you.  What are the biggest challenges your ideal clients face?  How could you help with that?  Share your wisdom and, if you have clients you’ve helped with the exact same problem, use their testimonial and results to underline what’s possible.

Personally, I hate making videos, but I find they get good engagement and they don’t have to be very long.  I often tell stories about how I learned key lessons in my skill area as well as sharing ‘how to’ information.

By all means be quirky – it attracts eyes.  On a recent LinkedIn masterclass (run by The HoLT, thank you Alex Thompson) the suggestion was to kick off with what you don’t do – the overall message was something like ‘Don’t ask me to fix your car, but I can fix your copy’, but in a longer form. 

There’s no rule that can be reliably applied, but try some different approaches.  Next week the algorithms will probably have changed again, but quality and authenticity will win out.

Is your marketing built on rock or sand!

 

Every business needs to do marketing to survive.  No marketing = no customers!

However, there are many different marketing strategies and one size definitely does not fit all.

A few networking meetings and random social media posts may fall into the category of ‘marketing’, but they are not a strategy.  Effectively, an occasional ‘when I have time’ approach is not going to work.  That qualifies as marketing built on sand.

OK, you may not have a dedicated marketing person in your business, or you may have outsourced some or all of your marketing activities, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to have a marketing strategy and a plan to follow.

Marketing focus

There are a number of elements that you’ll need to incorporate into your marketing strategy. 

Brand

How strong is your brand?  Where does it appear?  Is it consistent?  Do the people in your team know your brand colours and fonts – and use them accurately and consistently?

Ideal client

A detailed description of your ideal client is the foundation for everything else you do.  What business are they in?  What are they worried about (that you can help with)? What do the like doing?  What don’t they like doing?  What are their business challenges (that you can help with)?  What is their personal style, age, gender, position?

Marketing tools

There are dozens of marketing tools; which ones are you using?  Are they right ones?  Have you explored other options?  Which are the best to reach your ideal client?

Website audit

Is your website up to date?  Is the message on target?  Does the copy grab the ideal client’s attention and keep them engaged?  Is it what they are looking for?  Are there clear calls to action on every page with an easy route to do what you’ve asked?  Are all the links working?

Social media review

Which platforms are you active on?  Are they where your ideal clients are active?  What is your posting policy?  How do you deliver consistent value?  What is your strategy to open conversations with potential clients?

Blog

Adding valuable content to your website regularly is a good plan, but is it the right content?  Your blog is your opportunity to show off your expertise and position yourself as a specialist.  Do you have a content planner to keep your blog fresh with regular new material?

Email list

How do you get people to sign up for email list?  When was the last time you updated your lead magnet?  How do you nurture the people on your list?  Are you making sales through the list?

Networking

Do you attend regular networking meetings, either live or online?  What is the return-on-investment?  It does take time, but continuing to attend a group that doesn’t generate business, either directly or through referrals, is not a good plan.

These are the core elements, but there are others.  It’s a good place to start.

If you’d like to book a Marketing Focus Strategy session, check this page and contact us to book your appointment.

Repurpose your content

I hear a lot of business people say “I don’t have time to write a newsletter – besides I don’t know what to write.”

Newsletters that are a list of what’s going on in your business are boring.  So what makes a good newsletter – and one that people stay subscribed to?

Answer: VALUE!

If you don’t have time to write a newsletter, think about your potential readers.  How much are they prepared to invest in reading your newsletter?

Let’s look at this from the other end – which newsletters do you actually read?  Why?  And which ones to delete without even opening them – or maybe even get around to unsubscribing from?

My guess is that the reasons you read newsletters is because:

• They have value for you
• They are entertaining and easy to read

I’m a believer in repurposing content – I’m busy too.  It’s not lazy; it’s practical.

The audience that sees your social media posts are not the same people as those who find your blog on your website and, mostly, not the recipients of your newsletter.

Even if you’re connected to the people you want to impress with your knowledge and expertise on social media, there’s no guarantee they’ll see your posts.  Firstly, they may simply not be looking at the time your post goes live and it can be way down the feed by the time they are looking – and how far do most people scroll?  Not that far.

Secondly, people who find your blog on your website are those who you probably don’t know, and who have searched on some terms that have brought up your blog.

Finally, the people who get your newsletter are those who have provided their email address and actively said ‘I’m interested’.

That means your newsletter is reaching people who have already expressed interest.

The cheat sheet for newsletters

If you write a regular blog post, this is how it works:

1. Publish the blog post
2. Break the blog down into shorter stand alone posts for social media, you could even do a series of short videos around individual points.
3. Use the blog as the value lead for your newsletter, followed by your current offer or promotion.

If I’m writing short blog articles for a specialist audience I send the whole article in a newsletter.  But for a more general audience, I’ll lead with the first 2-3 paragraphs of the article with a ‘read more’ button that takes the reader to the full article on my website.  Then continue with an offer or promotion. 

If more than one blog article has been published between newsletters, then I will follow the promotion with more links to the remaining articles – adding even more value.

So – the only time you need is to write the original article for the blog, and then repurpose it (which can be done by an admin assistant or VA to save you time).

In fact, if you don’t want to write the article – give me a call; we do this for clients all the time!