I’ve been noticing some things on Facebook and because I know that a lot of my followers are using Facebook to attract business, I thought I’d share my observations with you! These are the things you are doing WRONG if you are using Facebook to attract business!
99.9% of my business comes through social media, mainly Facebook, but also Instagram.
Last year, I invested a lot of time and money into understanding these platforms better, so that I could better coach my clients. I work very specifically with helping Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs to leverage their personal story to generate more income and impact, and social media is a great vehicle for connecting your story to those who would benefit from hearing it.
Are you doing these following wrongs and in turn, unknowingly affecting how you are attracting your ideal client to your content?
The most important thing to know about using social media is that it is an Algorithm, so it’s just like doing maths! You have to think about social media like working the numbers to your benefit. The Algorithm is based on engagement (clue was in the “social” media) and so Facebook and Instagram are looking for you to engage and for people to engage with you. If the Algorithm doesn’t see these things, it is not going to see you as a great user of the platform and in turn, not show your content to people.
For example, on Instagram, for the first 5 minutes that you post your content Instagram will show it to as many people as possible. After 5 minutes the reach of your post will depend on how many people have engaged in it. If nobody engages in the first 5 minutes, the reach drops off. So get as many likes and comments in the first 5 minutes as you can and you are sweet!
On Facebook it’s slightly different in terms of how your post gets shown, but the principle of engagement is the same. So the first thing you may be doing wrong is just jumping onto Facebook and posting your content without pre-engaging first! In order for your post to be shown to as many people as possible, pre-engage for 5 minutes and post-engage for 5 minutes too.
Try this out for yourself to see how it works. Have a look at the average engagement in your posts then compare to when you pre-engage. You might specifically notice that the people that you engaged with straight away like your post, jump on your live or like a previous piece of your content! You are showing the Facebook Algorithm that you are ‘a person of interest’.
You might be engaging already, but your comments may be superficial.
You may have heard about the rule to pre-engage and are dropping little comments like, “nice hair!” What I have noticed is that meaningful comments work much better. If you are looking to build relationships with people, really sell through your comments who you are and how you can help people. Answer their questions, solve their problems, give them advice. Don’t sell to them in a comment, but help them to see who you are and how you can help them. People will always be thinking as you engage with them on Facebook, “who is this person and why should I listen to them?“, so meaningful comments are a great way for people to get to know you.
Be strategic about how you engage though (talk to me about an effective ‘DMO’ Method of Operation) If you are using Facebook for business, it should be a good use of your time. I have learnt from the best; Ray Higdon. He helped me to set an hour and know how to fill it effectively.
The next thing I have observed is people ‘talking to the masses’ in their videos. Media Guru Hank Norman taught me that we should always address one person in our videos, the person who needs to hear the message you are sharing. Start your video with, “Hey you!“, not “you guys” and then speak directly to their problem.
Another thing I am seeing (and hating) is the cookie cutter crap strewn all over my Facebook newsfeed.
People sharing the same posts, asking the same question and using the same style of posting. What about your style? What about what you stand up for? Who are you? How are you using social media to make a bond with people and use it as a vehicle to share your message? To share your mission! To make people feel intimately involved with what you have and what you do and how you can help them. It is powerful to use social media to stand out. And this means going against the grain and saying things that some people might not want to hear.
Ask powerful questions, say meaningful things and share really vulnerable stories that help your audience to understand that you’ve been where they are and you have a path forward for them to take to get to where they want to be.
The final thing is another Ray Higdon tip. He taught me to always aim to take conversations off the Facebook feed to Messenger because that is where you can really talk to somebody and establish if/how you can help them. It is where somebody will open up more to you about where they are really at.
What I do in my signature u_UNLEASHED coaching programme is help you really understand how you help people; that one specific result that working with you creates. Then we create a free tool that really shows the person on the other side of the conversation your value. Every conversation should be a value exchange.
If you would like to talk more with me about your online marketing strategy, reach out!
I hope these tips have been helpful.
Clare Williamson 