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Build Your Online Audience

This podcast ended in April 2021. Follow my NEW PODCAST: the Courageous Content podcast on Apple podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/courageous-content-with-janet-murray/id1569783857 Or on your favourite podcast app here:  https://courageous-content.captivate.fm/
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Now displaying: September, 2019
Sep 27, 2019

If you want to sell your products or services online you need to build a following. More social media followers, more website visitors and more email subscribers. So when you do have something to sell you have an 'audience' of people who already know, like and trust you - which means they're far more likely to buy. But building an engaged audience takes time, With that in mind, here's the answers to the most common questions I get on asked on building an online audience. 

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode.}

1.What exactly is an online audience? 

Your ‘audience’ is the people who engage with your online content e.g. social media, blog/vlog/podcast, email marketing.

2. Why do I need to build an online audience? 

You don’t NEED to have an online audience. You can choose to market your business completely offline if you wish. But if you want to to do business online, you do need an online audience - otherwise who are you going to sell your products/services to? 

3. When's the best time to start building myonline audience?

If you want to sell online, the ideal time to start building your audience is way before your product/service goes on sale. That way, you'll already have built relationships with prospective customers/clients - which means you're far more likely to make sales.

4. What size does your online audience need to be?

This depends on your sales goals. The average conversion rate for online sales is 1-2%.

Which means for every 100 people on your email list, only a small number will actually buy from you.

If you’re a coach selling 1-2-1 coaching and need 20 clients a year, you may only need a thousand or so on your email list. If you sell lower-priced products or online courses/memberships you’ll almost certainly need to shoot for 10k or beyond. So whatever it is you’re selling…you almost certainly need a much bigger audience than you think.

To find out what size your audience needs to be right now, check out my audience calculator   

5. What is the best way to measure your audience numbers?

Some people think your audience is the number of social media followers, readers of your blog or listeners to your podcast. But while you may make the odd sale on social media - or from your blog/podcast/Youtube channel - the majority of sales will happen in your inbox. PLUS it’s almost impossible to reliably predict and track income from sales on social media. 

This is why building your email list is the single most important thing you can do in your business. Which means the number of engaged email subscribers you have on your list is the most reliable measure of audience size.  

In order to build your email list, you need an audience of people who engage with your content (otherwise how are you going to get people to join your email list?). This is why I recommend starting by building your audience on social media, then moving on to content (e.g.blog, podcast./Youtube) before tackling email marketing. And that’s exactly what I cover in my Build Your Online Audience Programme

6. How do I find out where my ideal audience is hanging out online? (so I can find more people like them) 

 Just ask them. Find 10 of your ideal clients/customers and ask them where they spend time online. Then start sharing some content on that platform and test and tweak accordingly (see the next question). 

7. How do I find out what kind of content my audience would like me to share? 

Just ask them. Find 10 of your ideal clients/customers and ask them what they would like to hear about. But don’t just leave it at that. People sometimes tell you what they think you want to hear. Which means you’ll need to test and tweak different types of content until you figure out what works best (i.e. what gets the most engagement). And do remember that it’s not about numbers of followers/likes. Your best measure of success is comments and conversations. 

Bonus tip: Making a list of your most frequently asked questions is an easy way to generate content ideas for your audience.  This can be turned into ten blog posts/podcast episodes/Youtube videos and/or social media posts. Also look at your competitors - those who are have a bigger audience than you.  What the more you understand about the type of content that captures your ideal clients’ attention, the better placed you’ll be to create your own engaging content. 

8. I want to launch an online course/membership programme or a live event. Do I need to build my audience before I launch? 

Ideally yes. Otherwise who are you going to sell to? People often think they can use cold ads. But ask yourself this: when’s the last time you invested in an online course/membership or live event after seeing an ad? While there are always exceptions, most of us need to get to know, like and trust someone before we hand over our hard-earned cash. Which is why it’s generally best to start building your audience organically before you start using advertising. If you have the budget to hire a strategist and/or a testing budget for ads, a Facebook ad campaign can work, but you’ll still need to ‘warm up’ your audience before they’ll buy from you with content. 

Find out: how to build an audience for an online course/membership. 

9. Do I need to be active on every social media platform to make online sales? 

While it’s tempting to think you need to be active on every single platform, it’s much better to start with one or two. Once you’ve mastered those, and understand what works, you can replicate your strategy on other platforms. Spread yourself too thin, and could wind up being ineffective on multiple social media platforms (and wasting time and money in the process).

Podcast shownotes

  • About this podcast (2:47)
  • What is an ’online audience’ (and why it needs to be bigger than you think) (3:11)
  • Why an email list is essential if you want to make a regular profit in your business (8:10)
  • Why you need more than social media to build an engaged online audience (09:05)
  • How to build your online audience without overwhelming yourself (10:10)
  • How to find out where your online audience is (13:34)
  • Why finding out your audiences problems will help you create content that will engage your audience (15:22)
  • Why sharing  personal content will engage your online audience (22:20)
  • How to create engaging content for a product based business without being selly (24:15)
  • Why you should think about building your online audience as early as possible in your business (26:01)
  • Why you should start with one social media platform to build an engaged audience and then think about other platforms (29:45)

Resources

[333] 39 Surprisingly easy ways to increase your email subscribers (podcast)
[334] How to build a large audience without paid advertising with Callie Willows (podcast)
[335] How to create a high-converting lead magnet (podcast)
[337] The tools I am using to build my online audience (podcast)
[339] How to build an audience for an online course or membership (podcast)
[358] 13 Ideas for engaging social media posts (podcast)
[363] Five ways to bust through an audience growth plateau (podcast)

Audience Calculator

Build Your Audience Programme

Buy your ticket for Build Your Audience Live

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Sep 22, 2019

Want to improve your Facebook page engagement? 

Creating a strategy that sets out what you’re going to post, when and where will help a lot. 

This doesn’t need to be complicated. You just need to decide on the following 

  • How regularly you are going to post on your Facebook page 
  • What days and times you are going to post
  • What kind of content you are going to share 

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode.}

Remember that creating a strategy is just the first step. You’ll need to post consistently. And you’ll need to experiment - tweaking and testing your content to improve your results. You may also wish to start experimenting with other things e.g. best days and times to post your content and tweak accordingly. 

Do this one thing

Write down the answers to the following questions (what gets written down gets done).

  1. How regularly are you going to post on your Facebook page  (I’d recommend at least 3-5 times a week)
  2. What days and times are you going to post? (you can always change this)
  3. What kind of content are you going to share?

Personally I would recommend scheduling on Facebook or posting organically rather than using a scheduling tool. 

For accountability, share your answers to these three questions in the Facebook group (we have a dedicated thread for this).

Take part in my 7 day Facebook challenge here

Join the Facebook Challenge group 

Podcast shownotes

  • How to take part in the Facebook page engagement challenge when it has finished (01:15)

 

Previous Facebook Challenge Podcasts

  1. I need to know this [367]
  2. I know about that [368]
  3. This is what I think [369]
  4. I know how that feels  [370]

[365] Day 1 Why your Facebook page isn’t getting enough engagement (and what to do about it) (podcast)
[366] Day 2 What to post on your Facebook page to get more engagement(podcast)
[367] Day 3 Why 'value' posts are not enough to get engagement on your Facebook page (podcast)
[368] Day 4 How asking questions can help you get you engagement on your Facebook page (podcast)
[369] Day 5 Why opinionated content works well for your Facebook page (and how to do it well)  (podcast)
[370] Day 6 How sharing personal experiences can boost engagement on your Facebook page(podcast)

Resources

[329] What’s working on Facebook right now with Liz Melville (podcast)
[334] How to build a large audience without paid advertising with Callie Willows (podcast)
[352] How to sell in a Facebook Group without annoying your members (podcast)
[357] How to transform your Facebook group from ghost town to garden party(podcast)
[358] 13 Ideas for engaging social media posts (podcast)
[361] 15 post ideas for your Facebook group (podcast)

Build Your Audience Programme

Buy your ticket for Build Your Audience Live

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Sep 21, 2019

Over the past few days, I’ve shared with you the  four types of post that will attract engagement on your Facebook page. These are: 

  1. I need to know this
  2. I know about that 
  3. This is what I think 
  4. I know how that feels 

Over the past few days you’ve tackled the first three types of content.  Today I want to go a bit deeper on the fourth kind of content and get you to publish an engaging ‘I know how that feels’ post.

However there is an art to getting engagement on this kind of content and in this podcast episode I’ll show you how.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode.}

People also love to share their experiences/advice, which is why more vulnerable, personal content works well. This is why posts on my training for the London Marathon (including injuries and setbacks) tend to get more engagement than any of my business posts.

When you share personal content, over time, you build up a narrative and take people on a journey with you - something that  can be very powerful.

 

Marathon photo

 

Remember this does not mean you have to share your deepest, darkest secrets - one of the most popular ‘I know how that feels’ posts I created was round-up of my most embarrassing headshots (we all know how it feels to look at an embarrassing old photo of ourselves). 

But people like to do business with people. If you’re willing to share a little of the person behind the business you’ll get much better engagement on your page. And when people feel connected to you through a shared experience - or just being able to relate to your feelings - they’re far more likely to want to be your customer.  

Do this one thing

Create a short ‘I know how that feels’ style Facebook post which encourages people to share their thoughts/experiences.  Ideally, choose a topic you can people will actually care about and make it easy for people to respond (as shown in the example above). 

Many of the engagement strategies I share above (e.g. asking questions, giving a narrow range of choices) can work for this type of post, but if your post is powerful enough, you may not need to use them at all. Experiment and see what works. 

Tip:Photographs, video and images are all great for engagement. 

Next, chivvy up your Facebook Engagement Tribe and get them commenting on your post. While no one truly knows how the algorithm works, many believe that comments made in the first 15 minutes of posting have the biggest impact (and that’s certainly been my experience) so get to work! 

Finally, share your post in the Facebook group to get feedback from myself and others in the group (we have a dedicated thread for each day).

Take part in my 7 day Facebook challenge here

Join the Facebook Challenge group 

Podcast shownotes

Previous Facebook Challenge Podcasts

  1. I need to know this [367]
  2. I know about that [368]
  3. This is what I think [369] 
  4. I know how that feels  [370] 

[365] Day 1 Why your Facebook page isn’t getting enough engagement (and what to do about it) (podcast)
[366] Day 2 What to post on your Facebook page to get more engagement(podcast)
[367] Day 3 Why 'value' posts are not enough to get engagement on your Facebook page (podcast)
[368] Day 4 How asking questions can help you get you engagement on your Facebook page (podcast)
[369] Day 5 Why opinionated content works well for your Facebook page (and how to do it well)  (podcast)

Resources

[329] What’s working on Facebook right now with Liz Melville (podcast)
[334] How to build a large audience without paid advertising with Callie Willows (podcast)
[352] How to sell in a Facebook Group without annoying your members (podcast)
[357] How to transform your Facebook group from ghost town to garden party(podcast)
[358] 13 Ideas for engaging social media posts (podcast)
[361] 15 post ideas for your Facebook group (podcast)

Build Your Audience Programme

Buy your ticket for Build Your Audience Live

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Sep 20, 2019

People love to share their ideas - particularly on divisive topics. That’s why content that asks people to state their opinions generally works well on your Facebook page. 

I generally refer to this as ‘This is what I think’ content. 

This is one of four types of content that generate lots of engagement. 

 

  1. I need to know this
  2. I know about that 
  3. This is what I think 
  4. I know how that feels 

However there is an art to getting engagement on this kind of content and in this podcast episode I’ll show you how. 

 

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode.

 

People love to share their opinions, but they’re also busy, so the trick to getting engagement on this kind of content is to make it as easy as possible for people to comment by giving them a narrow set of choices, as in this example where Rosie asked her followers where they stood on using reins with toddlers.. If you can’t see it, click here. 

bag

 

The crucial thing is to pick subjects people actually care about and avoid sitting on the fence. Making a bold statement like ‘Reins for toddlers. Essential or evil?’ commands attention. 

 

teddy

 

Do this one thing

 

Create a short ‘This is what I think’ style Facebook post which encourages people to share their  opinion on something. Choose a topic people will actually care about and make it easy for people to respond (as shown in the example above). 


Don’t forget a single call for action. 

Next, chivvy up your Facebook Engagement Tribe and get them commenting on your post. While no one truly knows how the algorithm works, many believe that comments made in the first 15 minutes of posting have the biggest impact (and that’s certainly been my experience) so get to work! 

 

Finally, share your post in the Facebook group to get feedback from myself and others in the group (we have a dedicated thread for each day).

 

Take part in my 7 day Facebook challenge here

Join the Facebook Challenge group 

Podcast shownotes

  • How to take part in the Facebook page engagement challenge when it has finished (01:04
  • How to create a ‘This is what I think content’ post for your Facebook page (2:35)
  • Why you need to make it easy for people to engage with your Facebook post (2:58)
  • How to choose a topic for a ‘This is what I think content’ Facebook post (4:14)
  • Why making it simple for people to respond will increase engagement on your Facebook page (4:21)
  • How being bold in your opinion can really help you get good engagement. (4:40)
  • How to link your content topic back to your product or service  (6:02)
  • What you need to do for the challenge for this podcast (7:01)

 

Previous Facebook Challenge Podcasts
[365] Day 1 Why your Facebook page isn’t getting enough engagement (and what to do about it)(podcast)
[366] Day 2 What to post on your Facebook page to get more engagement(podcast)
[367] Day 3 Why 'value' posts are not enough to get engagement on your Facebook page(podcast)
[368] Day 4 How asking questions can help you get you engagement on your Facebook page(podcast)

Resources

[329] What’s working on Facebook right now with Liz Melville (podcast)
[334] How to build a large audience without paid advertising with Callie Willows (podcast)
[352] How to sell in a Facebook Group without annoying your members(podcast)
[357] How to transform your Facebook group from ghost town to garden party(podcast)
[358]13 Ideas for engaging social media posts(podcast)
[361] 15 post ideas for your Facebook group(podcast)

Build Your Audience Programme

Buy your ticket for Build Your Audience Live

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

 

Sep 19, 2019

Asking questions can be a great way to get engagement on your Facebook  page.

People love to share their ideas, so content that asks people to state their preferences generally works a treat.  This can be anything from asking people which version of your new logo they prefer, to whether you should stock the blue or red handbag in your Etsy shop to whether they like to have an iron provided when they stay in a holiday cottage.

I generally refer to this as ‘I know about this’ content. 

This is one of four types of content that generate lots of engagement. 

 

  1. I need to know this
  2. I know about that 
  3. This is what I think 
  4. I know how that feels 

 

However there is an art to getting engagement on this kind of content and in this podcast episode I’ll show you how.

 

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode.}

 

If you want people to respond to ‘I know about this’ posts, you have to give them clear choices 

e.g. A, B, C or D, yes/no, agree/disagree - or even ask them to respond with emojis.I generally refer to these as short/two tap answer posts. 

 

Here is an example of a post I shared which attracted 115 comments (can’t see the image, click here). All respondents had to do was state whether they were interested in getting a copy of my social media engagement playbook when it was ready (with a ‘Y’ or ‘N’). 

post

 In this example, I asked for feedback on the artwork for an upcoming masterclass (which was available for members to buy) stating a preference of 1, 2, 3 or 4. 

 

post

 

Not only do short/two tap answer posts make it super quick for people to engage, they don’t have to think too hard about what to say - which means they’re far more likely to respond.

Occasionally someone warns me that the Facebook/LinkedIn algorithm penalises content like this i.e. content that encourages short/two tap answers. I have no idea if this is true, but I actually think it’s pretty irrelevant. Once someone has responded to you, you can - and should - go back and ask them an additional question/encourage them to give you more information e.g ‘Interesting…why does that one appeal the most (if you don’t mind me asking’).

So it’s easy to turn a short/two tap answer posts into a conversation. And conversations are exactly what you should be aiming for with all your social media content. 

I wouldn’t advise you to use short/two tap answer postsall the time -it’s definitely important to vary your content - but they can be a great tool to encourage engagement, particularly when you’re trying to boost the engagement in your page. 

 

Do this one thing

 

Create a short ‘I know about this’ style Facebook post where you share a useful piece of content which encourages people to share their opinion on something.

 

Next, chivvy up your Facebook Engagement Tribe and get them commenting on your post. While no one truly knows how the algorithm works, many believe that comments made in the first 15 minutes of posting have the biggest impact (and that’s certainly been my experience) so get to work!

Finally, share your post in the Facebook group to get feedback from myself and others in the group (we have a dedicated thread for each day).

Take part in my 7 day Facebook challenge here
Join the Facebook Challenge group 

 

Podcast shownotes

  • How to take part in the Facebook page engagement challenge when it has finished (1:04).
  • Why asking questions is a great way to get engagement on your Facebook page (2:37)
  • How to create I know about that content for your Facebook page (3:10)
  • How to create posts with short or two tap answers for your Facebook page (3:40)
  • Why you should make it easy for people to respond to your Facebook posts (4:30)
  • How to get engagement with your audience by using quick short tap answers (5:05)
  • How to use short quick tap answer posts to create a buzz around a new product or service (5:55)

 

Previous Facebook Challenge Podcasts

[365] Day 1 Why your Facebook page isn’t getting enough engagement (and what to do about it) (podcast)
[366] Day 2 What to post on your Facebook page to get more engagement (podcast)
[367] Day 3 Why 'value' posts are not enough to get engagement on your Facebook page(podcast)

 

Resources

[329] What’s working on Facebook right now with Liz Melville (podcast)
[334] How to build a large audience without paid advertising with Callie Willows (podcast)
[352] How to sell in a Facebook Group without annoying your members (podcast)
[357] How to transform your Facebook group from ghost town to garden party (podcast)
[358] 13 Ideas for engaging social media posts (podcast)
[361] 15 post ideas for your Facebook group (podcast)

Build Your Audience Programme

Buy your ticket for Build Your Audience Live

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

 

Sep 17, 2019

Creating content that solves a problem for people is a great way to get engagement on your Facebook  page.

This can be anything from a vlog on how to pitch yourself as a podcast guest, an important piece of industry news,an amusing cat video  (making people laugh is definitely solving a problem). 

I generally refer to this as ‘I need to know this’ content. 

This is one of four types of content that generate lots of engagement. 

  1. I need to know this
  2. I know about that 
  3. This is what I think 
  4. I know how that feels 

However there is an art to getting engagement on this kind of content and in this podcast episode I’ll show you how. 

 

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

 

Sharing content that solves your customers’ problems - or just makes their day easier - can be a great way to get engagement on your Facebook page. 

But it doesn’t matter how useful your new blog post is or how funny your cat video is, if you don’t create curiosity you’ll be lucky to get a few likes, shares and/or comments.

One really easy way to create curiosity is to ask a question that relates to the content you want to share. So, for example, I published a really podcast episode entitled 15 post ideas for your Facebook group.

Although this is a useful episode, when I just post a link to the episode I don’t get very much engagement. If I ask a question that relates to the subject of the podcast episode, I get far more engagement. I can still share the link to the episodes in the comments.

Other ideas for generating curiosity. 

  • Share a short clip from your podcast/vlog (rather than the whole episode) and ask people to predict what happens next 
  • Share a divisive quote from your blog post and ask people if they agree/disagree
  • Share a blooper from your vlog
  • Share a still/photograph and invite people to write a caption 
  • Summarise a piece of industry news and ask people if they agree/disagree

 

Do this one thing

 

Create a short ‘I need to know this’ style Facebook post where you share a useful piece of content that helps solve a problem for your audience (remember that entertaining people can be solving a problem). Instead of just posting a link, think about how you can create curiosity about your post using some of the strategies I’ve shared above (sure you will also have loads of your own - can’t wait to see them!).

Don’t forget to include a call-to-action

Next, chivvy up your Facebook Engagement Tribe and get them commenting on your post. While no one truly knows how the algorithm works, many believe that comments made in the first 15 minutes of posting have the biggest impact (and that’s certainly been my experience) so get to work! 

Finally, share your post in the Facebook group to get feedback from myself and others in the group (we have a dedicated thread for each day). 

 

Take part in my 7 day Facebook challenge here

Join the Facebook Challenge group 

Podcast shownotes

  • How to take part in the Facebook page engagement challenge when it has finished (01:06)
  • How to create engaging content for your Facebook page that adds value and solves a problem (2:40)
  • How to turn your Facebook post into a conversation and create curiosity so that people engage (3:10)
  • Ways that you can create curiosity and start a conversation on your Facebook posts (5:20)
  • What you need to do for the Facebook challenge for this podcast (07:27)
  • Why you should just include one Call to Action at the end of your Facebook post (07:59)
  • Why you need to get engagement in the first 15 minutes of a Facebook post (08:40)

 

Previous Facebook Challenge Podcasts
[365] Day 1 Why your Facebook page isn’t getting enough engagement (and what to do about it)(podcast)
[366] Day 2 What to post on your Facebook page to get more engagement(podcast)

 

Resources

[329] What’s working on Facebook right now with Liz Melville (podcast)
[334] How to build a large audience without paid advertising with Callie Willows (podcast)
[352] How to sell in a Facebook Group without annoying your members(podcast)
[357] How to transform your Facebook group from ghost town to garden party(podcast)
[358]13 Ideas for engaging social media posts(podcast)
[361] 15 post ideas for your Facebook group(podcast)

Build Your Audience Programme

Buy your ticket for Build Your Audience Live

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

 

 

Sep 17, 2019

 If you’re struggling to get engagement on your Facebook page, you may be confused about what kind of content you should be posting. 

In this episode I share four types of Facebook page posts that generate lots of engagement. 

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

Having tested hundreds of different types of content - on both my own account and my clients’ I’ve noticed there are four types of post that generally get more engagement.

  1. I need to know this
  2. I know about that 
  3. This is what I think 
  4. I know how that feels 

You may have spotted already that there’s a common theme: relatability. If you want people to engage with your content, it needs to be relatable - something that either solves a problem for them, they have experience of and/or an opinion on. 

Let me break that down for you. 

‘I need to know this’ content 

Creating content that solves a problem for people is a great way to get engagement. This can be anything from a vlog on how to pitch yourself as a podcast guest (link to blog post), an important piece of industry news (link to article on Twitter change of terms) to an amusing cat video (link to amusing cat video) (making people laugh is definitely solving a problem). However there is an art to getting engagement on this kind of content, which I’ll share with you tomorrow. 

‘I know about that’ content

People love to share their ideas, so content that asks people to state their opinions/preferences, generally works a treat.  This can be anything from asking people whether you should stock the handbag in blue or read to whether they like to have an iron in a holiday cottage to what they think of new laws that affect your industry. 

In the example below, I asked my audience which cover they preferred for my media diary:

 

N.B. You do need to be specific to get engagement on this kind of content and I’ll show you how to do that on Day 4 of the challenge. 

‘This is what I think’ content

People love to share their opinions - particularly on topics that are divisive. This is why posts like this one on whether you should put toddlers on reins  tend to perform better than other posts. 

 ‘I know how that feels’ content

People also love to share their experiences/advice, which is why more vulnerable, personal content works well. This post on picking up an injury during my London Marathon got more engagement than any of my business posts (as did many of my other marathon related posts). 

 

It’s worth remembering that Facebook is, primarily,  a ‘friends and family’ platform - which is why personal posts - of the kind you might post on your own Facebook wall - often do better on your Facebook well than business related posts. This is not to say you need to share your deepest, darkest secrets, but people like to do business with people. If you’re willing to share a little of the person behind the business you’ll get much better engagement on your page. 

Do this one thing

Brainstorm at least five ideas for each type of content. 

  1. I need to know this
  2. I know about that 
  3. This is what I think 
  4. I know how that feels 

Be brave and share them in our Facebook group  so you can get feedback from myself and other members of the group  (we have a dedicated thread for your ideas)

Podcast shownotes

  • How to take part in the challenge when it has finished (01:05)
  • The four types of posts that will generate Facebook page engagement (2:55)
  • How to create content for your Facebook page that adds value or solves a problem for your clients or customers (3:11)
  • How to ask people’s opinions to generate content and engagement (4:34)
  • How to create content by getting people’s opinions (especially if they disagree) (5:33)
  • How sharing relatable personal stories will increase engagement on your Facebook page (6:08)
  • Why you’ll get better engagement if your content is personally relatable rather than just about your business (06:58)
  • What you need to do for the challenge for this podcast (08:08)

Resources

Take part in my 7 day Facebook challenge here

Join the Facebook Challenge group 

[365] Day 1 Why your Facebook page isn’t getting enough engagement (and what to do about it)(podcast)

[329] What’s working on Facebook right now with Liz Melville (podcast)
[334] How to build a large audience without paid advertising with Callie Willows (podcast)
[352] How to sell in a Facebook Group without annoying your members(podcast)
[357] How to transform your Facebook group from ghost town to garden party(podcast)
[358]13 Ideas for engaging social media posts(podcast)
[361 15 post ideas for your Facebook group(podcast)

Build Your Audience Programme

Buy your ticket for Build Your Audience Live

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

 

Sep 16, 2019

Are you frustrated by the lack of engagement with your Facebook page? 

You’re posting regularly but your reach is poor. Your posts are only attracting a handful of likes and comments - leaving you wondering if it’s worth having a page at all. 

If this sounds like you, the first thing you need to know is that it’s nothing to do with the Facebook algorithm and everything to do with the kind of content you’re sharing.

Which means there is a lot you can do to improve your engagement (without spending a penny on advertising). 

If this sounds familiar, you’ll love my seven episode podcast series on how to improve your Facebook page engagement.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

This episode is part of a seven episode challenge to help you improve your Facebook page engagement. You can read more about the challenge here. 

Why your Facebook page isn’t getting enough engagement (and what to do about it)

If you’re not getting engagement on your Facebook page, it’s easy to blame the algorithm (i.e. the complicated - and super top secret - mathematical equation Facebook uses to determine how many people your content is shown to). 

The truth is, if you’re engagement stinks, it’s nothing to do with the Facebook algorithm and everything to do with the kind of content you’re sharing (plus how you’re sharing it). 

The good news is, there is a LOT you can do to improve your Facebook page engagement (without spending a penny on advertising). 

But the first thing you need to know is that posting great content is not enough. You also need to ‘train’ the Facebook algorithm to recognise your content as important so it will show it to more people. How do you do that? By getting engagement on your posts in the form of likes and comments. 

If you’re currently struggling to attract likes and comments, this might seem like a ‘chicken and egg’ situation. If you not many people are commenting on your content, others are likely to want to comment either.

But the answer is surprisingly simple; instead of sitting back and hoping someone will comment on your content...you need to go out and find people to comment on your content. 

Do this one thing 

Make a list of 15 people  you can ask to comment on your content for the duration of the challenge (and beyond if you can). This is your Facebook Engagement Tribe.  Ideally these will be your ideal customers, but if this is not possible, just do what you can to get some engagement going on your page. You can even get together with a group of fellow business owners and comment on each others’ posts - that way everyone benefits. 

It may take a while for Facebook to catch on that your posts are valuable and start showing them to more people - which is why it’s important to be patient.

Remember, also, that it’s not just about the algorithm. Your Facebook page is your shop window; if people look you up online and see you’re effectively broadcasting to an audience of none, they will assume (rightly or wrongly) your business is not successful. If they see engagement - in the form of likes and comments (even if they do initially come from your best friend!) they’re much more likely to take you seriously.

Resources

Take part in my 7 day Facebook challenge here

Build Your Audience Programme

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

 

Sep 13, 2019

Do you ever have clients or customers who seem impossible to please? If you’re a coach or consultant, these typically show up as clients who sign up to work with you…and then don’t do the work. But somehow they try to make it feel like it's all your fault. 

If you have a product-based business, these are generally the ones who ask for discounts and refunds - often without justification. These kind of people can be a huge drain on your energy - and your time.

In this episode I share practical strategies for dealing with difficult clients and customers.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

Podcast shownotes

  • How setting the ground rules can help reduce complaints (4:46)
  • Why prevention is better than cure by managing expectations of clients (5:46)
  • How setting boundaries can reduce your workload and manage client expectations (6:45)
  • How to create a fairplay agreement for your guidelines and learn about mine (13:25)
  • How having your FAQs on your sales page can help if a customer is dissatisfied(14:08)
  • How communicating well and monitoring your communications can help protect against unhappy clients (16:48)
  • How creating key blog posts in a membership can improve a client experience (18:10)
  • How anticipating potential problems will help prevent problems with clients (22:39)
  • How to use a discovery call with a potential client to decide if you can work with them (24:45)
  • How to defuse a situation with an unhappy client (28:00)
  • How putting the onus back on the customer can help de escalate a situation (29:38)
  • How to deal with someone who complains by showering them with love (33:17)
  • Why you shouldn’t be afraid to refund people and let them go (36:20)

Resources

Jay Baer Hug your haters

How to get the most out of the Build Your Audience Office Hour

How to get the most out of your Build Your Audience membership 

Take part in my 7 day Facebook challenge here

[202] Behind the scenes of my membership community (podcast)

[219] How to get your ideal clients to fall in love with you with Laura Pearman (podcast)

[281] How to find new clients or customers fast (podcast)

[351] How to get corporate clients (and why you should) with Dylis Guyan (blog post)

Lost your mojo with your membership community? Here's how to get it back. (blog post)

How to add captions to your video using Kapwing and Rev.com (blog post)

Build Your Audience Programme

Order your 2019 Media Diary

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

Sep 6, 2019

If you’re struggling to grow your audience on social media, the temptation is to keep trying more and more new marketing strategies. 

But this can often leave you feeling overwhelmed and overworked. And when you’re spreading yourself too thin - you can end up doing lots of things not very well - which can actually stunt your audience growth. 

If this sounds familiar, you’ll love this podcast episode on how to bust through an audience growth plateau. 

In it, I show you how doing things differently (rather than doing more) can help you kickstart your audience growth.

{Click on the player above to listen to the podcast episode and/or read on for a detailed overview. Scroll down to the bottom to read the show notes including all the links mentioned in this episode}

1. Focus on one platform 

If you’re struggling to build your audience on social media, it may be because you’re spreading yourself too thin. Focusing on growing your audience on one social media platform means you can go deep on all the features of that platform - and experiment with different strategies - rather than ‘dabbling’ with three or four. 

This doesn’t mean you can’t post on other social media platforms at all; you can always repurpose some of the content from your main platform. But putting 90% of your efforts into one platform will almost certainly help you grow quicker. 

For example, the Instagram expert Kat Coroy focuses her social media efforts solely on Instagram - which has allowed her to sell thousands of her online course Instagram Makeover. 

The LinkedIn expert Helen Pritchard focuses solely on LinkedIn - allowing her to attract hundreds of students to her LinkedIn Bootcamp. 

Love and London (an online resource for visitors to London) has over 100,000 subscribers to its YouTube channel. But while its founder Jess Dante has a presence on most social media platforms, her key focus is on Instagram - freeing her up to create high quality content and serve her existing clients.

2. Focus on engagement not numbers 

When you’re building an online audience, it’s tempting to think it’s all about the numbers. Which means focusing on building funnels and automating everything you can, right?

Wrong. 

Numbers are important (the average conversion rate for online sales is just 1-2% which means most people need a much bigger audience than they think). But what you actually need to build is relationships.

So if you’re focusing on building funnels and automation - over having real conversations with your prospective customers/clients - on social media and in your DMs if necessary - your audience growth will almost certainly plateau. 

Building your audience is actually about building relationships. And you build this relationship one at a time.

3. Share more personal content 

People like to do business with people they like. So if you’re hiding away behind your laptop - or in your studio - you’re missing out on the chance to build relationships with prospective (and existing) customers. 

This isn’t about sharing your personal secrets - or airing your dirty laundry in public. It’s about creating connection points when you realise you share common ground with your followers.

For example, fashion illustrator Zoe Georgiou, said she decided to join my Build Your Audience membership programme after she came to one of my meet-ups and found me warm and welcoming (not the ‘hard-nosed businesswoman ‘she’d expected). But what nailed it was when I revealed I also hated tomato ketchup. Finding those areas of commonality and creating those ‘that happened to me too’ moments can be crucial for building your audience. 

And as Marsha Shandur points out in our podcast interview on how to use stories to attract your ideal clients, when you’re willing to be vulnerable and admit your life isn’t perfect, that’s when people often feel they can connect with you.

4. ‘Borrow’ other peoples’ audiences

Creating guest content for other peoples’ audiences e.g. guest blog posts, guest teaching sessions and virtual summits can be a great way to grow your audience - by tapping into other peoples’ audiences. 

There are pros and cons for each, but for me, by far the best way to do this is through podcast guest interviews. 

Being a podcast guest is a great way to get in front of your ideal customers/clients - and build your audience - fast. 

It’s much quicker than writing a guest blog post (most podcast interviews last between 30-60 mins) - which means you can potentially do several a week. 

It’s also a great way to build new relationships quicker. 

There’s something about being in someone’s earbuds that’s much more intimate than the written word. Which means that by the end of a thirty minute interview, people often feel they know, like and trust you enough to visit your website, download your free resources and/or even buy your products/service. 

And the best thing is, every time you appear on someone else’s podcast, you’re getting in front of a brand new audience - an audience you haven’t had to build yourself.

So if you set yourself a target to do three interviews a week, you could potentially build your audience by thousands - in a relatively short space of time.

Here’s how to pitch yourself as a podcast guest. 

5. Show up ‘in person’

Hosting a live event can be a great way to connect with your prospective customer/clients. There is something really powerful about meeting someone in person. You can create a much better rapport - and do it faster - than you can online. 

This doesn’t mean you have to put on a large live event.  A small meet up can be just as effective.

And if that really isn’t possible, you can add a personal touch by sending a voicemail or using a tool like Bonjoro. 

Key takeaway

Building an online audience can be tough and it is perfectly normal to hit a plateau. In fact, this can happen at any stage in your business. But if you can swap your a ‘funnel’ mindset for a ‘feeling’ mindset - using some of the ideas shared in this post - you’ll bust through your audience growth plateau quicker. 

Podcast shownotes

  • Why you need to think differently when you hit an audience growth plateau (2:50)
  • Why focusing on one platform will help you grow quicker  (04:09)
  • Examples of people that use one social media platform media really well  07:03
  • Why focusing on the engagement and not numbers will help grow your audience (10:32)
  • Steps to take on your platforms if you’ve fallen into an audience growth plateau (12:10)
  • Why conversations and engaging on social media can help grow your audience (14:55)
  • How sharing personal stories will help you connect with your audience (15:55)
  • How to choose the content topics that you post about  (19:00)
  • How ‘borrowing’ other people’s audiences can get you in front of a new audience (24:12)
  • How being a podcast guest can help you grow a new audience (and bonus tips) (25:59)
  • Why showing up in person  can help you connect and grow your audience (28:57)

Resources

Download 50 ways to build your online audience

Kat Coroy online course Instagram Makeover.
Kat Coroy Kat Coroy website 
Helen Pritchard  LinkedIn Bootcamp
Jess Dante YouTube  Love and London
Kate Lister florist Instagram
Julia Day The Independent Girls Collective
Voicemail tool Bonjoro

[190] How to pitch yourself as a podcast guest (and why you need to) (podcast)

[196] How to get more engagement on Instagram with Sara Tasker (podcast)

[253] How to land guest appearances on podcasts with Nicole Holland (podcast) 

[341] How to use stories to attract your ideal clients with Marsha Shandur  (podcast)

[348] How to write social media posts that sell (podcast)

[353] How to grow your audience through Instagram Stories with Tyler McCall (podcast)

[358] 13 Ideas for engaging social media posts (for when you’re all out of ideas) (podcast)

[362] How to grow your Instagram following to 27K - fast (podcast)

How to add closed captions to your videos using Rev and Kapwing (blog post)

Buy your ticket to my 2020 Content Planning Masterclass #2020Sorted

Build Your Audience Programme

How to write awesome sales copy

How to create a high converting lead magnet course

Order your special offer 2019 Media Diary 

How to write social media posts that sell (online masterclass) 

Rev.com*

Kapwing

Social Media Video Engagement Playbook 

Social Media Engagement Playbook

LinkedIn Content Strategy Playbook

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

 

 

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