It can feel super frustrating posting, posting, posting with content and seeing zero traction – no engagement and no clients!
In this episode,
>> I’ll be revealing the key metric that you should be focusing on vs likes and comments to measure your content success
>> What you need to be doing with your content to gain more clients, build credibility and get more visibility.
>>How to create challenging content from the heart that impacts WITHOUT feeling judged by your nearest and dearest
AND the three big mistakes that a lot of entrepreneurs make that is causing their content downfall.
Listen on the player above or read the blog below.
Content isn’t gaining traction
Content is a huge part of online marketing. Sometimes, we can get caught up with not seeing enough engagement, traction and getting the wrong attention. We want to see fruits from our efforts. I also see people posting, getting engagement but not getting sales. The metric you need to be tracking is the sales for your efforts.
It’s great getting out there and making an impact. If you’re happy with that, it’s great. We don’t always make a social media post to make money. We sometimes have something to say. When it comes to your business, you need to think about what you’re posting and the impact it will have on your business. Focus on this side.
Personal content
It’s great to see the personal aspects of your life and your personal opinions, this will draw people to your business and make them more likely to see the business posts. Everyone is subject to the algorithm. I am often asked: ‘do I have to share my personal life?’ No, you don’t.
People share their personal life because they get attention around these posts. It gets you more coverage as you’re working with an algorithm that seeks out popular content. It also favours content that it wants to see more of, such as live streams. Anything new that is brought out will be boosted as they want that functionality to be popular.
If you are putting out content that resonates, it pushes you out on the algorithm. So when you need to do a business post, more people will see it.
Social media platforms
You don’t have to do this. However, you do need to think about how you will drive traffic to the content that you want people to see. It may well be that social media is not the place for you. I do think you should have a social media presence. It is a shop window. But perhaps that is not where you get your traffic. Think about paid traffic or alternative platforms. It is not the same for everyone.
Look at the type of business and whether you are on the right platform for your business. Understand where your audience is hanging out. You may need to test things out to see what gets traction. Think strategically and create a balance. For example, you may not like LinkedIn but your clients are there.
We need to look at everything objectively. You may dislike a platform because you are unfamiliar with it, or that there are a lot of toxic people on there. If this is the case, you need to get familiar and curate your news feed. Social media shows you more of what you engage with and talk about. Sometimes we need to jumpstart the system so you can be happy on the platform. You can unfollow people and snooze them. But if you don’t show up, you are not going to be visible in your business. We need to find a happy medium.
Find a new tribe
Curate your friends’ list on Facebook so some people see things and others don’t. Then you don’t need to worry about judgement. We are quite resilient to people we don’t know. We feel most judged by the people we do know. If you start changing your views and opinions, it is a primal feeling to feel you are going to get chucked out of your friendship group. These are primal feelings. Which is why when you are adjusting to the new you, it’s good to hide things from them.
In order for me to come out of my shell, I’ve needed to protect myself. This has meant creating new circles. It doesn’t mean losing touch with people. And many would not understand why you need to hide your posts from them. But you may need to build a cocoon until you feel comfortable. Surround yourself with people who are of the same mindset.
This is why Elevate programme is important. You surround yourself with people who are in different industries but on the same path as you. They want to move out of feeling like a small business and believing they can be more than just a one-man band. They know the have the potential and nuture this. Surrounding yourself with people who have these belief systems can help you build this safety.
You need to have a group that creates psychological safety so you can grow.
I may need to do this again in the future but right now, I am past worrying about what others think. Yet, I have seen people unfriend me on Facebook. The people who matter, stand by me.
Start posting
The thought is always worse than the reality. It becomes normal, the more you do it. One you get over the uncomfortable stage, people will look up to you and respect the leadership skills you demonstrate.
If you feel judged, question yourself as to why that it and what you need to do to make an impact.
Getting traction
I had a chat with someone who said they were not getting the traction on their LinkedIn posts. He was getting engagement from start ups but is looking to work with people much further along in their journey. There are a couple of things going on here. The more engagement, the better.
To get more engagement, you need to spark emotion in your readers to help them connect. Usefulness can be a driver. Emotion drives the engagement. For example, allowing people to demonstrate their own knowledge by asking for engagement. They also love to give opinions. Are you asking questions? Are you asking for engagement? If you’re not, then it’s unlikely that people will engage.
Equally, if I’m putting out a podcast, it’s a one-way system. I don’t expect a reaction back. It’s great when I do and I’ll get emails letting me know that a particular episode made a difference. I respond to all of those emails. You need to make a profound impact to get that kind of response. Think about where you are putting content and is it designed to have interaction.
For example, you’ll see super successful entrepreneurs posting about their life and getting hundreds of comments. Then you see them put out a sales post, they rarely get engaged. People are fearful if they engage they will get pitched at. It will still be seen, but not engaging. Or they will engage in another way. They will consider their options. Bear in mind the types of content you’re putting out.
Don’t expect comments on your sales posts.
Drive traffic
You’ll also see engagement from pods. People are still watching and listening regardless of whether they are engaging. So don’t feel like your content is pointless. As long as you’ve put the effort in to ensuring that it’s gold. Focus on the content and the value it provides. And if you drive traffic to somewhere that’s valuable to you as a business.
Your call-to-action doesn’t need to go to a sales page. It can go to a freebie to go onto your list. What call-to-action are you putting on your post? If you are just posting on the surface and not driving them deeper into your journey then you can’t expect to get clients out of it.
You can have engagement for visibility but you need content that helps you build your business. Remind your audience what to do and where to go. You can also take them deeper by taking them to a blog or podcast. What do you want them to do that allows you to build your business?
Let go of vanity metrics
Unless you are trying to drive specific engagement content. In which case, something is off. One of the biggest I see people do is writing marketing copy on their posts. That kind of copy has its place, but even on sales pages there is emotionally connecting content. There is a story that describes pains and goals.
We need to think about what will hit your audience between the eyeballs. If we think in this way, it means every piece of content we create is going to innovative, fresh and cut through the noise. The worst thing you can do is blend into the background. As soon as you start sounding market-y, people tune out. If all your content is bland sales posts, you won’t get clients through the door. You need to resonate and empathise.
What is the message of your content? And how is this going to hit people between the eyeballs? This is key.
You need engaging and valuable content with calls-to-action that leads people through that content journey.
Problem one – attracting the wrong audience
Going back to my client with the content problem. Startups have more time on their hands. And more established businesses have more money but less time to engage with content. I am far more likely to read and pay attention to something with a link. I am too busy to like and comment. Plus, I am interested in what is going to add to the bottom line of my life. What will add value to my life? Time is precious so I will consume content but not necessarily engage.
It is not something to push away having startups engaging as it will help get your message out there. We do need to check the messaging to make sure it is establishing with the right person you want to attract. We need to measure the types of calls, seeing traction in sales. If you are, then there’s nothing wrong.
Problem two – only relying on content
Are you taking people through a journey? Is your client generating strategy just posting on social media? If it is, then you are missing out on a big part of what makes a great marketing campaign. It is about what goes on underneath that content and what you do alongside this.
In our example, my client is B2B sector. They main strategy was posting on social media. Those people are on LinkedIn but not scrolling through feeds. They need someone to connect with them directly. They had no proactive outreach campaign. You need to think about your client, how they behave and consume. Personal outreach will work if they have got the articulation of their message correct. Then they will look at the content you’ve been posting on Linkedin.
They are looking to see if your credible. It doesn’t matter if they have no engagement on those posts because their clients are not looking at these posts. A different strategy is needed.
Stop just relying on your content to get your clients. You need to think about a more intelligent way of marketing to get them into your pipeline. And people think if they keep pumping out content constantly, hopefully something will stick. Being consistent with the same strategy that doesn’t actually work, isn’t going to get you anywhere.
Consistency with a strategy that works is great. But don’t continue with a strategy that isn’t working. And if it’s not working it can be because of a variety of things. You need to look at each of these to understand what isn’t working. You need to be smarter than just focusing on posting. This is why people don’t get traction from their content.
You have to do more than something. It’s not enough, you need to be smarter.
Useful links:
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Send your emails to jen@jen-hall.com
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