How to get your business through a global pandemic
My top 5 ways — tried+tested — to create a community that’s going to make you ££ no matter what your business is
(no matter the state of the rest of the world).
In times like these, when the old purse strings are a little tighter for most, it’s not the end of the line. There’s a ton of negative press around small businesses and people who have taken the brave leap to turn their passion or hobby into something more than that (me included).
It’s going to hit us hard financially, but there are steps we can take to give us the best chance of survival for when this all blows over.
The main goal in business is to get a following of regular customers that hang on your every word.
I know I keep going on about it, but getting people to invest in you emotionally (or you might want to call it a commitment, allegiance or loyalty) is the key to creating a profitable, sustainable business.
COMMUNICATION ⇒ TRUST ⇒ LOYALTY ⇒ FINANCIAL INVESTMENT ⇒
A THRIVING BUSINESS
Are there people on your Facebook who comment on absolutely everything you post? Can you think of any individuals who bring their friends to visit you year after year? Is it always the same account that is tagging you in all their pictures on Instagram?
These people are fully invested, keep your business ticking over, they’ll always recommend you, even to a stranger. They are the first to buy your next new product, and send you emails out of the blue just to check-in and share their appreciation for what you do.
If you’ve got people like this already, congrats! Let’s get you some more.
If this sounds like an unattainable dream for your business, we’re going to get you there, I promise.
So how do you get people to this stage of complete and total adoration?
How can we prime and nurture those people that have just heard your name bandied about once or twice, develop your relationship with them, consistently hold their attention to get them to start engaging, commenting, sharing, and eventually turn them into die-hard fans?
There may be a few of you out there who think this might sound a bit over the top, this idea of wanting to get a community of followers that abide by our every word - no one is that keen, right?! Wrong.
For a lot of us, we’ve chosen this life to be by the sea, in the mountains, or where we’ve prioritised quality of life over material possessions. Tons of people out there are jealous of us, are stuck in crappy jobs sitting in a stuffy office with their shirt damp under the armpits, living vicariously through the individuals and brands who post photos of tropical islands and epic powder on Facebook.
Their lifestyle may be starkly different from our own, but we need to show we care about them, that we are relatable, we share the same values. In doing so, you’re creating a community. And communication is key to starting this two-way exchange.
Here I’ve picked the most powerful copywriting and digital marketing ideas in which you can build and sustain this community of super-fans, so that you can rely on a steady income and you’ve got customers returning by the bucket-load.
#1 Be a problem solver.
The WHY:
Your aim is to become THE go-to place within your industry. So you need to consider the things holding your perfect client back from committing/purchasing/booking.
What is a problem or challenge that they might face?
Now you’ve defined why passive scrollers aren’t transforming into paying clients, and what’s stopping those conversions in their tracks. The next step is to solve their problems to destroy that barrier to action.
By showing your potential clients you’ve been in their shoes, and you’ve had the same struggles, it’s now so much easier to assure them that choosing you (instead of one of your competitors) is going to give them a unique and unparalleled experience.
The HOW:
Through the copy of your website, keep referring back to what might be holding someone back from engaging with you.
You’ll almost be able to hear that big sigh of relief, because they’ve been looking for a solution for so long and have almost given up hope.
Or you could write a blog post about how your new product or service has been designed and developed to help a particular segment of your current market, to expand their understanding, increase their ability to do something or save them time/stress/money/frustration.
#2 Tell stories & show character.
The WHY:
Would you rather: read a story or a fact-sheet? Learn through allegory or statistics?
It’s in human nature to engage with a narrative. And if done well, it can spark a variety of neurotransmitter chemicals in the brain, which in turn make us feel particular emotions. Initiating a human response in your reader is going to have a much bigger (and lasting) impression, rather than purely being factual and formal.
For more on developing a message that your brand consistently upholds (in order to strengthen the relationship between potential clients and your company) have a read of THIS blog post).
The HOW:
You could tell a story about a problem that you or a client had, the process and outcome, overcoming whatever was standing in our/their way. You’re showing you are relatable to your customers.
Try creating a space that the people on your website or social media see themselves in, envisage they’re in the same situation, with common interests and similar difficulties.
Empathy is an incredible driver for action.
And you can become so much more relatable when you show your face.
Jump onto an Instagram Live or Facebook Story to show there is a living, breathing human behind your brand, with motivations and quirks, a personable personality that people want to engage with.
This is one big advantage you’ve got over the big faceless brands.
#3 Sharing is caring: user-generated content.
The WHY:
Sharing other people’s photos of your product/service, testimonials and tags on social media say “Don’t just take our word for it! Just look at all the other people who love what we do and are loyal customers!”
This is magic for creating trust in browsers and shoppers who haven’t made their mind up yet.
If you needed a new tent, would you purely look at descriptions online of the features included, or would you go off a recommendation from a friend?
Sharing authentic content from the real world has a power of its own, above and beyond that of you selling yourself.
For the people who created the content in the first place, you are showing you care what they’re up to, are interested in their feedback on products and that you endeavour to take their feedback seriously to ensure you’re always producing the most customer-friendly service and product.
The HOW:
Check who has tagged you on social media, tagged your company name or service. Then share it with the world on your own account to show your appreciation that they believe in you.
Encourage engagement with your very own hashtag, asking people who have visited you or who have bought your products to share the love.
Or you could ask old clients for feedback on their experience, to sprinkle throughout your website.
Make sure to ask leading questions, such as their interaction with your customer service team, how your service or product made their life easier, how you helped them achieve something or overcome a particular problem, and whether they thought it was a good financial investment.
#4 Giving: secretly encouraging engagement by being super generous.
The WHY:
Friends do stuff for each other.
They don’t ask for a thank you, or recognition, or a mention on Instagram or some kind of financial reimbursement (well most of the time anyway).
They just help because they care. In the business world, if we can show we want to take the time to look after and educate a client or potential customer, they feel they have been invested in.
Free content makes people feel empowered. They'll remember that it was you that helped them feel that sense of accomplishment, and achieve something they once thought impossible without spending money or an entire training course.
That feeling is going to be the thing that they remember every time they hear your company name in conversation.
The HOW:
The easiest way to do this is through an email list. Say you’ve got 5000 people on Instagram and 50 people on your email list.
It’s much easier to sell to a group of people who have already shown an interest in what you’ve got to offer (those people who have made the effort to sign up to your mailing list).
Your conversion rates are always going to be a lot higher with your email subscribers than selling with a post on Instagram.
A post to your feed might just go unnoticed on social media, where your audience is a lot broader too.
Most people don’t want another newsletter pinging into their inbox every week/month. So don’t call it a newsletter - instead incentivise it.
In return for people handing over their email address, send them a freebie, tutorial or crazy story.
Now, later down the line, when you have nurtured your email list, worked on developing the trust factor to an even deeper level, selling to them is going to be a doddle.
#5 Rewarding loyalty: Say thank you, showing your appreciation for people sticking around.
The WHY:
Make sure to tell your audience that you wouldn’t be here without them. It’s true really.
Without those fanatical individuals, excitable engagers and attentive followers, life as a business (however big or small) would be a hellova lot harder.
Do you ever get that warm, squiggly feeling in your belly when you see an email pop up on your screen affirming you’ve just made a big sale, you’ve secured a really critical client, or your quarterly figures confirm you’ve had a record season? I know I do!
Stroke the egos of the people who have supported you to give them that little smug feeling that they’ve made a difference.
The HOW:
It might be something extra for past customers, people who share your content, a discount code for their second/third purchase, or a freebie if they spend over a certain amount a year.
It could even be a collaboration with a business-mate of yours, inviting them on a free webinar or one-off event where you guys are planning on joining forces for something extra special.
Even if you are promoting someone else in the process, it shows the reader that you — first and foremost — care about the customer, more than caring about profit margins and the number of ‘likes’ you get on a post.
If your aim is to be numero uno in your industry or niche, creating a community around your brand is paramount.
Communicate clearly with your audience, through your digital marketing and when copywriting for your website, to cultivate that connection you’ve sparked, and show them that their time spent on you is all totally worth it.
You can’t get something for nothing. So take care of your customers. In return, they give you their time and trust.
They’ll spread the word to tell everyone how great, experienced and knowledgeable their new best friend is.
So you’ve built trust with your audience. Congrats!
But you’re not quite ready to convert them into paying customers…
It’s quite likely that once someone arrives on your website, they aren’t staying more than a couple of seconds. But why?
Download the free checklist that shows you three key reasons why you might be struggling to convert scrollers into paying customers…
