Aba Forson
It’s been awhile since I set my mind to creating a blog post, probably too long. However, I’ve been focused on making sure that my current clients get the best possible service.
If that means tearing down my core products and building them up from scratch so be it.
You see the one thing that was really missing from my products was real day-to-day ENGAGEMENT.
Forget everything you think you know about marketing, real tangible engagement is what will allow you to prosper longterm. It is what will separate you from the “look at my new Lambo” marketers and ensure that you have a loyal following.
Engagement is where potential clients become lifelong clients.
Engagement is where you learn what your customers really want.
Engagement is where you as a marketer can make a difference.
Most of us who decide to become online marketers do it because we want to improve our lives and our families’ lives.
There is nothing wrong with that, in fact that is how it should be when you are starting out.
Once you start to engage with your audience you will realize that maybe the key to success is balancing your customer needs with your own needs.
Where Do You Start?
The first step in determining how, why and if you should focus on engaging with your audience is to define what success is for you.
What will it take for you to consider yourself a successful marketer?
If success for you is defined in concrete terms for example, “I want to generate $xxx,xxx,” then your focus is more sales orientated. In that case you should set targets for subscribers, conversion rates, and sales.
For you, engagement shouldn’t be the main focus.
On the other hand, if your success is measured in peer exchanges, progress through a buying cycle, increased loyalty and customer satisfaction then you’ve got a marketing mindset. You should absolutely start to engage with your audience.
Of course, if you can successfully balance both of these outlooks then you my friend are a superstar.
How to Engage
Getting real engagement can be difficult. You may say, “reply if you have any questions,” in every email you send but it doesn’t mean that people will.
In fact, most won’t so you need to work at ensuring that people know you are approachable. You need to put yourself out there and be where your audience is.
At the moment there is no better way to engage than using Facebook. Love it or hate it Facebook is the best medium you have for engaging directly with your audience.
But what kind of posts should you be making? Live video gets 10X the engagement of any other type of content. Live video gets shown to people who aren’t even fans of your page. Recorded videos will get shown to 50-60% of your followers. It’s simple: people engage more with video.
Facebook’s video features alone should be enough to ensure you are creating content on a regular basis.
However Facebook goes much further than just video and pages. Their tracking and audience tools are constantly being updated.
You’re now able to create an audience based on the people who have engaged with your page or specific posts, which is powerful on its own. However, you can also build a lookalike audience based on that data giving you a whole new audience who are likely to engage.
What (Not) to Post
Posting useful information and tips is another way of getting engagement and standing apart from the cat meme people!
Trust me, posting the latest cat memes isn’t a way to engage unless you are in the cat niche.
Likewise, unless you are in an overtly political niche, keep your politics to yourself. I unsubscribed from a $69 a month membership because the owner kept on posting his political views.
Know why you are on Facebook and stick to it. There are enough people posting irrelevant posts, you don’t need to.
Less noise, more signal!
You should start to use Facebook as the first rungs on your marketing ladder. Provide great value information that your readers can implement.
Take time to move engaged readers from a Facebook page to a Facebook group where you can increase the level of engagement and interaction.
Facebook is adding lots of new features to groups – it’s going to be one of their growth areas in the next 18 months. Even now it’s possible to set up a group to work as a membership site giving access to training courses.
Engage on your Page, educate in your group and expand knowledge with the products you offer or promote.
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