“Why aren’t my audience buying anything from me?” is something a lot of small business owners struggle with. They create more and more content but it feels like it’s pointless because no one is buying anything. They feel disheartened, their confidence takes a heavy blow and they start to wonder what’s wrong with them or what they’re doing wrong? If it’s not nipped in the bud it can turn into “I’m no good at what I do” “I can’t sell anything” and “Maybe I should just get a job”. There are a few ways to fix content that’s not selling, so grab a pen ‘cos you’re gonna want to take some notes.
Step 1 – Give your content a job.
Not everyone in your audience is ready to buy and not every offer is going to appeal to every person. Give your content a job so that you can measure what’s going on. Using data rather than your gut feeling will give you information that you can actually use.
- Blogs are normally for building trust, authority and driving traffic. It is unlikely many blogs will lead directly to a sale but they play an important part in your overall strategy. Blogs are the door to your house as it were.
- Social media posts are for audience building, promoting your lead magnets and sometimes direct selling.
- Lead magnets are for growing your email list and for getting people over the threshold and into your house.
- Email marketing – for direct selling to a group of people who have demonstrated that they have the problem you solve and want to know more about your services. Potentially your email list can generate a significant proportion of your sales.
- Podcasts whether they’re your own or you’re a guest on someone else’s are a brilliant way to leverage that person’s audience and grow your own. They also increase your brand authority as an expert on the topic you’ve been invited to speak on.
- Direct messaging – don’t get your knickers in a knot I’m not talking about sending cold messages. What I’m talking about is when you’ve asked for someone to raise their hand on your social media content for example “DM to book a call” or “comment bananas if you want a copy of my new freebie” following up with those people and having conversations in the DM’s are a powerful way of understanding more about what’s going on for your audience and if/how you can help them. Not following up with these people is where you can lose a lot of potential sales.
Your content should include 3 main functions in your business – to grow your audience, to nurture your audience and to sell your offers. Some content will have more than one job but one piece of content can’t do everything. Decide which content you’re going to create and what its job is.
Step 2 – Monitor and track your data
Unless you track and monitor your data you have no idea what’s going on. You should be able to answer simple questions like – where do the most of my leads come from, where is my audience growing the fastest, what content does my audience respond to the best?
What data should you be tracking? To begin with (and if none of your content is paid for eg. ads) I’d recommend keeping it simple. Track your page followers, your Linkedin connections and followers, the size of your email list, how many discovery or sales calls you book each month, where your leads are coming from and where you get the most inquiries. Use this information to plan your activities and target your time and efforts in the right places.
Step 3 – Qualify your audience with your content
I could write the best content the world has ever seen but I’ll struggle to make a sale if I’m trying to flog cat food to a room full of dog lovers. Be clear about the type of people you want to work with, the problems that you solve and the promise that you’re making. Why do they need you? How are you going to rock their world? Your audience aren’t mind readers and you won’t make a sale if you don’t tell people what they can buy. Similarly don’t be afraid to p*ss people off with your content, people buy from people they really believe and trust can solve their problems. If you’re half hearted or vanilla no one will be enthusiastic about handing over their cash. We’re going for “f*ck yeah” on our offers not “hmmmm maybe”.
Step 4 – Accept the limitations of organic social media marketing
Marketing is a pay to play game. Organic reach has never been brilliant on social media and it’s changing constantly. Bitching and moaning about how many people are seeing your social media posts is the biggest waste of time and energy since the time I strapped on a slender tone and hoped it would give me a six pack. Do not depend on social media for all your business, that’s a dangerous game. A successful strategy includes a combination of marketing techniques including social media, blogging, email marketing, podcasting and good old fashioned in person networking and all the other ways that are too numerous to list.
Do yourself a big favour…….stop comparing the results of your organic marketing to the results of people who are paying for theirs. If you want bigger, better and faster results you will need to invest time and money. Organic social media is great but it has its limitations so keep your expectations realistic.
Step 5 – Tell people what to do
If you want to help people over the line you have to give them clear and obvious instructions. Don’t overthink your calls to action and don’t leave them out. How do people buy from you? Do they book a call, click a link, get a free trial? What’s the process? If you get to the end of your post, blog or email and you haven’t given your reader a next step you’ve taken them down a dead end. Give them a next step.
My name is Clair Stevenson and I’m a writing coach. I help coaches, consultants and freelancers find their voice online. I provide content and social media marketing coaching and training for service based businesses who want to know how to write great copy and content. I’m not a “shock-jock” when it comes to writing for business but I do know that bland content doesn’t sell services. If you want people to work with you your content has to be compelling. If you’re struggling to find the right words or the confidence to market your business get in touch with me at clair@upwriteonline.co.uk.