Focus on what they want

Engagement gets tougher as there’s just so much content on every social platform that it would be a full-time job to try and keep up with it all.  People flick and scroll too quickly to stop and like, share or comment.

That doesn’t mean that they’re not reading your posts – but they have to have some value for them to bother to check what the latest message is about.

The ideal situation for social media is to build a tribe of people who are potential customers and then give them something they really love.  That is not usually:

• A testimonial from another customer – although that may be reassuring
• A promotion of whatever you do or sell – they don’t care, unless it’s exactly what they’re looking for right now
• A biography of a member of your team, unless they already know them or, at least, have dealt with them at some point
• You or someone in your organisation talking to the camera about your business
• An infographic that tells them how many widgets you’ve sold this month.

So, that’s a bunch of options kicked out of the ball park.  What’s left?

• Tips
• Useful advice
• Knowledge based articles or links to blog items with valuable content
• Your opinion on something relevant
• Sharing your knowledge on your area of expertise direct to camera
• A how to video or infographic
• Curated content from other people that’s allied to your specialism and is interesting or entertaining
• Cute cats! (just kidding unless you’re selling pet food or toys)

There are other things that engage people, but you need to know your potential customers really well to work out what they’re looking for.

One of my clients says he gets lots of engagement and likes when he includes his dogs in the photo he posts on his social media, but usually from people he already knows and not people who fit his customer profile.

What would impress a potential customer?

What would help them? 

What would get them to come back for more?

Why you?

The most valuable information your clients can give you is how whatever you do for them makes a difference.  This is one of the reasons I give people a 3-question formula for getting testimonials.  It’s:

1. What did we do for you?
2. What was it like working with us?
3. What were the measurable outcomes as a result of what we did?

The first is important if you sell a wide range of services or products to provide the background.  The second is what most people want to tell you; the first thing that people complain about is the attitude of a member of staff!  

However, the gold is in the answer to question three.  

One of my clients asked their customer why they used their products and not a competitor’s.  They found it hard to pin it down, but eventually came up with ‘They’re not you!’

People buy people.  It doesn’t matter how big the organisation – it’s the relationships that make the difference.  

It’s the representative who realises that the customer has an emergency and is willing to do whatever it takes, regardless of whether it’s 9am on Monday or 5pm on Friday.

It’s the order clerk who remembers that the customer has had a recent big event and asks how it went.

It’s the business owner who is happy to drive 30 miles to fix a problem that has the customer tearing their hair out.

People make the difference – and we’re all people.  Even if you’re dealing with a huge corporation you’re talking to one person (sometimes two or three), but you can’t have a conversation with an organisation – only with a human being!

Good relationships go with the people involved, so, if your contact changes jobs, they’ll probably be in touch in their new role.  The downside is that if your contact leaves, you have to start over with someone new.  My hot tip is to ensure your current contact introduces you to one or two of their team, so you have more than one connection.

Your reputation is what creates repeat business, referrals, recommendations and positive feedback.  Don’t miss out on the gold.

How long should a blog post be?

This is a question lots of my clients and people I meet at business events ask.  Sorry to disappoint you, but there’s no definitive answer!

Seth Godin writes every day, but sometimes it is as little as 70 words and sometimes it’s 700 (and occasionally even more).

The secret is to write what you want to say – and then stop writing.  If that’s after 200 words, don’t worry about length – it’s the value that matters.  It might take you 400 words to get your message across, it may take a lot more or far fewer, but it doesn’t matter if the message is clear and useful.

Common beliefs about blogs

Nobody reads much these days

People tend to scan, especially when reading on a smartphone, but if you have a good headline and interesting content (to them) they’ll read some, if not all of it.

Long content works

If you’re an expert and are sharing valuable information, people will read it.

You need at least 300 words for SEO

This is not really true.  Any fresh content on your website helps with keeping your visibility high with the search spiders.  They’re very sophisticated these days and, as long as your content is relevant to the main subject of your website, it will help your rankings and expert reputation.

It doesn’t matter what you write as long as your keywords are in there

That’s no longer the case.  The search spiders are well up with AI and read content pretty much the same way we do (except much, much faster!) Keyword stuffing is more likely to figure as a negative than a positive.  If you write a load of rubbish with lots of keywords, nobody will read it.

Get ChatGPT to write your blogs

This is an easy way to generate content – but with the best will in the world, it won’t sound like you.  At best it reads like a bland, middle-of-the-road AI content generator!!  My advice is to either create your own GPT and teach it how to replicate your style or use ChatGPT for ideas, then put your unique spin on the content.

Top tips

1. Know what your key message is for each post and ensure everything is taking you towards that outcome.
2. Plan your blog – title, subheadings, points.  It will make writing much easier and keep you focused.
3. Leave it for a day or two and then re-read it and check for sense, spelling/typos, punctuation, etc.  Or get someone who is fussy about English to do that for you.
4. Be ruthless and edit out anything that doesn’t contribute to the core message.  Waffle turns readers off!
5. Find a good image that will attract reader attention.

Happy blogging!