When it comes to reaching people beyond a fraction of those who follow you, organic reach is almost dead on Facebook. And I say almost, because it can be resurrected. And it’s not dead for everyone. So what does it take to get your organic reach moving in a positive direction? It’s about producing content that:
- Engages your audience and prompts them to engage
- Educates your audience and prompts them to want to learn more
- And excites your audience into doing something
Content That Engages
The first kind of content that we’ll look at is the kind that gets people engaging with you. And by engaging, we’re talking about reactions, comments and shares. Now think about it. What kind of content makes you react, comment of share? It’s generally something that you’re interested in, or that someone you know would be interested in. Now think about your business. What happens at your business, or with your product that would be interesting enough for someone to tap on the like, or even comment on what you’ve posted?
Engaging content is only engaging when you know who your target audience is, and what about your products or services, is actually interesting to them. Given that people are largely self-interested, you need to work out what is in it for them. And beyond that, what is the feeling that someone wants from having bought you stuff or engaged your services.
Is it status? Is it a feeling of wellbeing? Do people feel safe when they buy your products? Or does it make them feel more attractive? When you can tap into what feeling someone gets when they buy your products or engage your services, you’re on the way to writing posts that really get noticed.
Content That Educates
There are certain types of businesses that nail this one. Software companies, coaches, personal trainers and food-related businesses really understand that education is the key to sales. This is because showing people how to use your product or how your service makes their life better, are one step closer to buying from you. This is what we could call a “middle of the funnel” activity, because if you’ve already got them engaging with you, then they know who you are and a primed to learn more about you. Which is where the educational post comes in.
When you educate someone further on how your services answer a core problem that they need solved – or how to use your product to make their lives easier, you are putting a picture in their head of how they can bring your business into their life. And if they are already rehearsing their dealings with you in their head, they are only a very short step away from becoming your customer.
Educational content can be a how-to video, or an infographic that shows how your service lead to a desirable outcome in their life, It could be a photo showing an example of how your thing can be used, or even a step by step written post on the many things that your training or coaching brings into their life. Again, the whole point of listing all this good stuff is to create a picture in their head of them using your product or service. Because the brain can’t tell the difference between imagination or reality, you’re laying down a new neural pathway that is ready to be reinforced with more of your educational posts down the track.
Content that Excites
Exciting content isn’t exciting because it makes someone go “wow!” It’s about the original definition of excitement, which is about prompting someone to take action. And in your case, that action is usually booking a call with you or buying something from you. But excitement can also be used to do other things, like take action for a cause you are promoting. Or take action to check in in a neighbour over the holidays. In fact, it pays ti vary around your calls to action so that you’re not always saying the same thing. When your call to action is always “Book me!” Or “Shop Now” the excitement is harder to replicate because calls to action, when repeated, get ignored. If you’ve ever read the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, then you’ll know what I’m saying here. Eventually your high-impact statements are not so high impact. In much the same way that we all now know that Harvey Norman isn’t really having a different sale every weekend. You can do most of the same deals with their staff any weekend of the year.
Content that excites action can be a sale, a new product, a new way to use your product, a promotion, or a community cause that you’e raising funds or attention for. The key to excitement is that you’re brining something NEW to the mix when you post. Not just repeating the same “exciting” opportunity to book a free discovery call with you.
A Consistent Approach Wins Over Time
Now that you know what to post, the hardest part to get right is the consistency. Anyone who has built a big community of followers knows that when they don’t keep up the regular content that engages, educates or excites, the engagement and sales drop right off. So you’ll need to stick at this for a while. And I’m not just talking about a month here. I’m talking 3-6 months minimum, but 12 months is ideal. It takes time for you to build up a habit. But it takes your followers even longer to build up a habit of engaging with you.
Want to know more, hit the Learn tab at Clickstarter.com.au and start on the road to helping your Aussie business to get known, get found and stay known.
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