Ok so further to my discussion on aligning to values is this one on meeting clients where they are. This is all about marketing and the psychology and human behaviour of the tool you use in your marketing. You see, I asked in my business group about emails and they solidly said that they don’t read weekly emails. There isn’t enough time. They build up to the point where they delete them all and unsubscribe. Totally my fear as an owner of a list and my behaviour as the owner of multiple email addresses.
Let’s face it, I should be all over this as it’s about influencing human behaviour through marketing. You see, getting someone to do something they don’t enjoy is compliance and not a good place from which to make them take the next step of connecting/purchasing/booking (essentially moving up your sales chain). It’s a big jump from complying to committing. I know you can do it through smaller acts, even things offers such as free + shipping, but it’s still an act of commitment.
So why do we do it?
Like a lot of marketing tools, we’ve been told we should. It’s the best thing. It’s the latest thing. It’s made me $X and it will for you. What a load of crock. My Dad would say ‘if your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?’ Well would you?
Our success is not predicated by the success of others. Their business, personality, & clients are different. You can’t expect the same result.
A lot of the time we do it because of FOMO. But what if they’re right? What if I don’t send that email and I miss out on a sale? What if I don’t do that post on my profile and I miss out? What if… Check your stats and look at how many sales you get via the different marketing methods you use, that’s a pretty good indicator of where you need to be. But it’s only a start.
Why does it matter?
You can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to do. More so, you will struggle to get them to do anything after you’ve forced them to do something.
We have different styles of learning and communicating. And yes that means we have to ensure that we cater, in some way, to truly interact and leverage our relationships with our online marketing.
We have a preferred method. This includes a place too. Some of us like email, some like Twitter, some like Facebook, some like Instagram. It depends on our learning style and lifestyle.
Here’s an example:
– I like to learn through reading and watching and examples
– I spend my private social media time (ie non-working) on my phone
– I like Facebook and Pinterest for social media
Because I spend my time on my phone for my own pleasure, I don’t like reading email. It’s difficult to read on a phone, not impossible but difficult. If I see your email come in, I might read the subject line and if you’re lucky I will go back and read it on my laptop. Thing is, laptop time = work time and your email is competing for time I could be billing clients.
So for me, I will ingest crucial information best through Facebook or Pinterest. If you have a video which is less than 5, and preferably 2, minutes long then you’ve got me. My time is precious, billable, and in demand by my competing priorities. If I’m your ideal client, then you need to match it.
What’s the answer?
Look at your stats on where your fans hang out, where you get the best interaction, where they enjoy being with you. It’s no point being somewhere where they aren’t. It’s like having a billboard in a country town when the freeway bypasses the town altogether.
Ask them! If you’re noticing a downturn in a particular area then directly ask using a different platform. That means don’t ask the about Facebook on Facebook. Go to your best one and ask there.
Look at the stats with the results of the ask and consider the following:
– am I doing the best I can to meet them?
– is there an issue with the platform I can overcome?
– can I still use the platform in another way? (I’m moving to monthly)
– am I able and better off outsourcing it to someone who is good at this platform?
Test! Change! Test Again! Yes it’s time consuming but it’s rare to stumble over the magic formula straight up. Ask for feedback on how you’re going. This online marketing needs to be of use to the person you are trying to influence.
I think that’s the key, too often we use marketing to please ourselves rather than to please our audience. This is why we get caught up in online marketing ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts’. It’s why when they fail we lose heart, self-doubt, and give up. Thing is, it’s not you it’s them and if you don’t keep them happy they’ll leave. You need to meet them where they live.