Many businesses fall into the trap of talking to themselves or about themselves, online. For most of us, this is a big turn-off. Paul Clegg explains why, and how to stop.
How often do you say something inspirational, wishing people would have only listened to you. From your kids, to your staff and colleagues, even – dare I say – your partner! I know over the years, I’ve come out with some absolute gems, which seem to fall to the ground unnoticed.
Within each of us, is a desire to be heard. This goes for business, as much as it does, personally. Yet, all too often, businesses and their prospective customers, seem to be at odds with one another, when it comes to online engagement. The holy grail of marketing through social media is increased engagement. So why do so many businesses fail to engage with their audiences? Here’s what I think:
- You don’t know who you’re talking to
- You’ve stopped speaking their language
- You’re too much into your own messaging to hear what they’re saying
- You ignore your target when they do engage with you
- You have no clear goals for your social media content
- You don’t actually have any followers!
Do any of these resonate?
At Coconut, we constantly talk about the need to identify your target audience. This is because we see many franchises missing the mark, and wasting money and energy on social media content which doesn’t achieving anything. This then builds frustration within the company, and a leak of your followers.
The power, for any platform, primarily lies with your audiences. If they like you, they’ll follow you. If they don’t they won’t. If they’re half-hearted about it, they’ll turn-off notifications, and go onto your page when you come to mind and it suits them. Re-engaging this group can be hard work – especially for those brands who insist on talking to themselves, about themselves, constantly. We wouldn’t IRL, so why online?
So, how can you stop talking to yourself online?
By identifying who you actually plan to talk to, listening to them, and speaking their language. Conversationally.
When you are networking, one-sided conversations are hard-work, and energy-consuming. We quickly learn who we want to avoid, when we recognise they’re not actually interested in anything we have to say. This is even more evident, online.
Tell your audience what they actually want to know
You’re reading this to either a) be nosey about what I have to say, or b) because the topic is of interest, and you’re hoping it will answer a question you have. We need to stop being precious about our content, and realise what people are really needing from you.
How do you achieve this? By listening to your target first. What are their concerns and fears? What are their goals and ambitions? What kind of future are they hoping to build? What kind of life are they trying to live? By answering each of these questions, and working out how to use the resources available within your franchise, you’ll find people start to respond to you again.
Don’t ignore them, when they do engage with you!
One of the biggest frustrations we have, is when we’re trying to talk to someone, and they are not listening to you. It’s one of the biggest bug-bears for customers who need to make contact with a company to resolve an issue, especially.
I’ve seen too many franchise churning out content, even asking questions, but then not replying or reacting when someone responds. This is a sure-fire way to be unfollowed! Like, share, or reply to your engaged audiences will demonstrate to those lurking, how you genuinely care about your customers, or potential franchisees.
What do I mean by lurkers?
They’re the people who silently observe who you are online, they read, they click through, they’re watching – but you have no idea who they are because they leave no mark. And they won’t until they’re ready to reveal themselves to you. A click-through doesn’t show up in your analytics, whereas a reaction or comment does with the person’s profile.
That’s because they’re in control. Not you.
Have a clear POA*
The other problem I see from within the franchise sector, are brands which aren’t clear about their goal for their social media platforms. Content is a bit ad-hoc, nothing seems to flow, and the branding is all over the place. This gives your target audience a negative image of who you are…. a bit ad-hoc and all over the place. Not very confidence-building if you’re trying to win over someone.
We would shy away from people who one minute seem to be in conversation with us, and next minute have wandered off without a trace.
So, plan out your social media – at least to have some clear idea of the kind of content you want to use. It should be relevant to your target. EG: Industry news on a Tuesday, product information on a Wednesday, Customer testimonial on a Thursday, and something fun on a Friday. And it should be consistent, so your target knows what to expect, when. Build a *Plan of Action you know you and your team can stick to.
And don’t be afraid to show-off your personality.
There’s nothing worse than feeling trapped over a working lunch with someone who is like a wet blanket. We’re definitely not going to engage their services – so why would you expect your target audience to work with you, if you refuse to show them who you are.
People tend to use social media to take a break from the world – help them achieve this goal – it helps you appear more human, and more likeable.
If you don’t have any followers, I’ll be looking at this next time. But, in the meantime, if I, or my team, can help you identify how to stop speaking to yourself, we would love to help. So, feel free to book in one of our online health checks.
