Building your tribe

You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘the money is in the list’.  The concept is that people who have already signed up to hear from you are at least ‘warm’ contacts and have, effectively, said ‘I’m interested’.

Most professional marketers invest a fair bit of time and effort in building their lists.  The success of their business is in building a tribe of people who are actively following you and are ready to hear from you.

Think of all the big retailers – once you’ve bought something you’re probably on their list and they regularly contact you with offers they think you’re interested in.  With smart software they target the kind of things you’ve bought before – so your local supermarket will give you offers on the products you buy regularly.  Your local DIY store will send you offers and promotions for home improvements if you’ve bought a kitchen or bathroom from them, etc. etc.

Get your list targeted

One of the most popular ways to build a list is to offer a free download in exchange for a name and email address.  This works well – providing you have the right freebie.

Obviously it has to have value for people to be willing to part with their contact details in order to get it, BUT there’s more to it.  The freebie needs to be highly targeted to your ideal client to ensure the list you build has maximum value.  

A general item that is useful to a wide range of people will just build you a list with a lot of people who aren’t really interested.  This will result in low open rates and lots of unsubscribes.

If you get your offer right, you’ll build a list full of people who are keen to hear whatever you have to say and are potential buyers for your products and services.

Make your contacts into VIPs

It’s harder to get people to sign up to lists – we’ve all got dozens of free documents we’ve never read on our computers.  However, we do engage with content online, so it may be useful to offer your subscribers VIP access to a group or membership platform.

This means you can share more value with them in a dedicated group or offer a subscription option to gain access to even more value – like ecourses and live Q&A sessions or a monthly webinar.

Be creative, but also be consistent.  If you make a commitment to your tribe you need to keep it.

Your media profile

Once upon a time the best way to get into the print media was to issue a press release.  Then everyone jumped on the bandwagon and editors across the world had to deal with more and more ‘press releases’.  

The editor’s criteria when assessing content for publication is ‘Will my readers be interested in this?’  If the answer is ‘No’, your press release will be ‘spiked’ (journalist’s jargon for dumped!)

With the best will in the world, most companies find it challenging to come up with a news item once a month.  What a company owner or MD finds exciting is almost certainly not of much interest to the general public.

So how do you carve out a high profile in the media?

Pick your publication carefully

Choose the publications that you know your target audience actually reads.  If you’re trying to influence accountants, getting an article into Accountancy Age will be much more effective than an article in your local weekly newspaper or even one of the national dailies.

A publication where almost all the readers are the people you want to reach, even with a relatively low distribution, will always work better than a publication where the demographic of the readers is very broad, even if the distribution figures are phenomenal.

Stop thinking ‘news’

Fabricating news stories probably means that you have a very small chance of getting published.  Instead think about becoming a thought-leader and sharing your take on your area of specialism or asking your chosen publication’s editor if a profile might be interesting to their readers.

With this kind of approach you’ll need to create a headline and a one line summary for the article and find out if it would be of interest.  While that’s more time-consuming than just writing a one-page press release, it will give you a much higher chance of getting published, as, once the editor has agreed, they’ll almost certainly publish what you send in.

Don’t forget broadcast media

People often overlook the broadcast media – local radio, digital TV channels and the rapidly growing numbers of podcasts.   Then there are the YouTube influencers too.  Don’t stop at the print media (most of which are online too these days).

Local radio stations are often looking for guests so get in touch with the producer of the show and find out if there’s a good fit.

The right podcasts are a great way to get in touch with a highly focused audience.  Be clear about what the podcast host is looking for, before you agree to be a guest.

Find YouTube channels that feature guests and are aimed at the audience you want to reach and get in touch.

As the saying goes – if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

Most media will expect you to share the article/broadcast on your social media so make sure you do that and they’ll be happy to have you again.

It’s good news week!

When an email lands in your inbox what makes you want to open it?

Let’s be honest – we get loads of rubbish emails that evade the spam filter and are greeted with a quick click of the delete button.  But there are emails that you actively want to open – why?

My guess is that it is for one of these reasons:

• They’re from a client and contain important information
• They’re from a supplier who you trust or are currently dealing with
• They’re from someone you know and you want to find out what they’re emailing about
• They’re from someone whose emails usually contain really good, useful, interesting information
• You know that the sender is usually entertaining
• The subject line was intriguing

Now it’s time to turn this around and look at your own email communications from the recipient’s perspective.  Do your email communications tick one of those boxes?

If you’re putting the time and effort into a regular newsletter are you sure it’s worth it?

If people just delete your email, it’s all a bit of a waste of space.

Newsletter strategies for improving your open rates

Firstly, get really good at creating engaging subject lines.  If you can grab your recipient’s attention right away, there’s a better chance of them actually opening your communication.

Write in an active, punchy style that is easy and interesting to read.  Spelling and punctuation is important (it shows your attention to detail), but it doesn’t have to be formal prose, aim for a more conversational style.

Ensure you are delivering great value – for your audience.  It has to be something that they want or need to qualify as valuable; it doesn’t matter if you think it’s valuable or not – it’s all about the reader.

The secret of creating a newsletter that people open is to do your research first.

Check out your audience

Your list is where the gold dust is to be found.  However, it’s not about quantity, it’s about focus.

You may have a list running into thousands, but, unless they are all contacts who are potential clients, you’ll struggle to keep them engaged.

It’s better to have a small list that is highly focused consisting of people who are actively interested in what you have to offer, than a list of random contacts who don’t have more than a passing interest.  Part of this is down to how you build your list – but that’s another blog.

If you are using one of the online email marketing platforms – Mailerlite, AWeber, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, etc. – you’ll be able to test different headlines, different content, etc. and see what gets the best open rates.  

Seeing how people behave is much more accurate than simply carrying out a survey.  People often say they want something, but, in practice, they don’t actually read what they say they wanted!  Seeing open rates is a live demonstration of what gets engagement.

5 social media questions answered

As we manage many of our clients’ social media content generation and distribution we get asked lots of questions about social media.  While we’re not the guru of all social media, these are our take on social media.

1: How often do I need to post?

That’s a bit of a ‘how long is a piece of string?’ question!  Typically, 2-3 posts a week work well on most platforms – as long as they offer valuable content.  If every post is a sales pitch or promo, people will disengage with you altogether.  However, if you post useful tips, ideas, advice and guidance people will follow you.

On Twitter people tend to post more frequently.  I have had some people who think daily is too often, but they forget that, while they know how many posts are going out, most of the people who see the posts don’t see all of them and a few minutes after you’ve posted they’re so far down the feed that they’ve disappeared.  

If people tell you you’re posting too often – they’re probably stalking you, as it takes some effort to see all your posts in one place – particularly on platforms like LinkedIn!

2: Which are the best platforms to post on?

That depends on who you’re trying to reach.  If your audience is business people, then LinkedIn, if you’re aiming to reach consumers who are looking for gifts, fitness, health, wedding services, etc. Facebook is still a good place to be.  There are pros and cons for all the platforms, but if you are clear about who you want to engage with you, it’s a lot easier.

In fact, if you really know your target audience well, you may even be able to focus on people who are in specific groups, as long as you stick to the group rules and don’t post sales posts, if they’re not allowed.  Being helpful and knowledgeable and offering advice is a great way to engage with your ideal clients – and impress them.

3: How long should a post be?

As long as it needs to be to get your message across.  That means you need to get good at saying a lot with just a few words.

LinkedIn users seem to engage with longer posts, as long as there is an interesting image or video to grab their attention and the first few words make the reader want to know more.

Instagram is more image-based, so text content is secondary.  That doesn’t mean you need to confine yourself to what goes on the image, but that image and opening copy need to be pretty compelling to get the viewer to expand the post and read more.  Remember there are no live links within Instagram posts, so if you want to include a link you’ll need to post as a story – and then there is only a small text area.

Facebook sits somewhere between LinkedIn and Instagram.  Your posts on your page can be as long as you want them to be, but need to start with a good reason for the reader to take the time to explore.

Videos on TikTok need to be short.  90 seconds is a good target – so you need to be able to get your message across in an entertaining way in a very short time frame.  Think about how TV ads for luxury products work – they’re a mini-film with a story.

4: Should I outsource social media?

You can outsource content generation, but you can’t abdicate all responsibility for your social media feeds.  No outsourced service can be you – no matter how well they know you, even the best social media agencies can’t think the way you do, nor do they have your years of knowledge and experience.  That means you need to be ready to respond when people comment on your posts.

Get into the habit of keeping an eye on your feeds at least daily.  It doesn’t have to be time-consuming.  I find that attaching a new habit to an existing one is the easiest way to remember – so when you’ve finished checking your email inbox, take a quick tour of your social media.  Of course, most platforms allow you to get an email notification when someone comments or likes your post too, which can help.

5: What else should I do to improve my social media performance?

Don’t be a one-way street.  Nobody likes people who just broadcast, broadcast, broadcast, but don’t engage with others.  

If you want to improve your engagement then you have to be an engager.  That doesn’t mean randomly liking posts, but instead choose the people you think are worth engaging with.  This might include:

• Influencers in your industry, so you stay in touch with what’s new
• People in the businesses that are your target audience
• People who are geographically local – if that’s where you operate
• Your peers to give them support
• Anyone you would give a testimonial to

That’s just a few.  Spend a few minutes every day looking at their posts and commenting.  Not just ‘great post’, say something thoughtful or thought-provoking.  It all contributes to your reputation.  

And finally …

Remember that social media is part of your marketing activity, so don’t begrudge the time you spend on it.  It helps maintain your visibility and influence your reputation.