Feeling disheartened that all your time and effort was wasted you stopped posting, not completely but not as often.
This was me, and not that long ago to be honest. So here’s what I’ve learnt and hopefully it can help you.
- You need a strategy
Yep, ‘fraid so. Posting willy nilly won’t really get you anywhere. There needs to be a purpose behind your posting. What are you promoting? Is it time sensitive? Can you create FOMO around it (Fear of Missing Out)? Is it a blog post? What pain point are you answering? How will your target reader benefit from your post?If you spend some time really thinking about your activity, it’s purpose and how it’s serving others and providing value then you will see an increase but it might not be overnight, which brings me onto my next point. - Be consistent
You be feeling a bit deflated that you’ve built it and they didn’t come (how very dare they!) but have you been consistent with your posting? Have you set a timetable for what you will post, when? Unfortunately it does take time to build a loyal following. When I started Herding Cats in 2017 I was starting from scratch – zero connections, zero website and zero social activity. I still don’t have thousands of followers / fans but the ones I do have are loyal and know what i do and how I can help them.A particular client that I did some work for had zero social media presence, and within the space of 6 months we took her Linkedin profile from 0 to over 800 profile views per month, with one 3 minute video generating over 20k views. This happened because we were consistent with content and we were laser focused on the target audience. OH, and that leads nicely into… - Know your target audience & BFF
Do you know who your ideal customer is? I mean really know them, like FBI Profiler Skill know them? If you’re not sure or your answer is very general such as; male, drives, eats, married, sleeps then that’s nowhere near enough info.This is mine;
Small to medium business owner, self employed, excellent at what they do but struggles with marketing. Has some tech knowledge but needs help, willing to learn and put the time in. Works from home, maybe has young children and this is a side hustle. Looking for ways to make their online efforts easier, looking to reduce the stress, anxiety and frustration.I could go further but i think you get the idea. - Be nosey!
Don’t be afraid of asking questions of your followers / fans. This is a great way to find out what content they would value. Instagram have a fabulous little survey tool, and there are polls within Facebook that you can utilise. Or maybe go all out and create a short survey. Google Forms is free, and very easy to use. Think of several blog ideas and ask which they prefer. You can use it to create the blog posts in the order of popularity. - Add Value
It can’t all be about you – sorry about that! It has to be about them – what are you creating that will really add value? It could be a free download, an in depth blog post, a short video or podcast but something that addresses their frustrations, that they will really appreciate. This will set you apart from others and keep them loyal and coming back for more.
This is just a snapshot really, if you’d like to delve really deep then download the free workbook that goes with this post, which includes a 7 Day Social Media Strategy plan that you can use over and over again to boost your social media engagement.
Just remember, it does take time but follow the points above and over time you’ll see a difference.
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