Are your blog views plummeting? Are you feeling a little neglected on Facebook? If you are struggling to form a relationship with your customer base, rest assured, it's not them. It's you.
Of course, that may come with little consolation, and that's okay. It's actually good, because chances are you aren't doing enough to grab the attention of your customers and your leads. This would be a much sadder tale if you were doing everything you could, and STILL weren't making headway.
If you find that you are treading water with your inbound marketing program, take a good hard look at your efforts (or better yet, have a third party do it--they aren't as sentimental, have more analytical tools, and are probably twice as caffeinated).
As you are looking, consider these five common stumbling blocks and how to correct them.
1. You talk more than you listen.
There's a reason why it's called "social media" and not "look-at-me-I'm-awesome media", and it's not because it's shorter (and the other one is implied, obviously). Your friends, your clients, and your prospects are constantly giving you feedback about your product and your content, either by engaging--or not. Capitalize on their questions, their likes, their motivations, their goals. By addressing their needs, you start to associate your business with their positive view about life. And that's what you want.
2. You write the same kind of post over and over.
Variety is the spice of life. Here are a few ways you can bring more information about you, your business, and your products or services to the table in fun, engaging ways.
- Try a "Day in the Life" post about you or one of your employees (or, for a unique twist, one of your products).
- Research unique ways people have used your product or service.
- Once in a while, write about something completely off topic, but about something you are passionate about.
- If you find that your customers keep asking you the same questions over and over...it's a sign. Start tailoring a post (or several of them) to help folks out.
- Highlight success stories. We all love real-life anecdotes, and if they make your product or service out to be the hero (indirectly), then win-win.
- Share someone else's content. If someone else's writing resonates with you and your company profile, by all means share it! Write an introductory blurb, and start the good karma flowing.
3. You don't do it often enough.
We're not saying you need to write a daily blog post or Facebook update, but you need to do something socially engaging on a regular basis. This means responding to emails, engaging on an established update thread, and putting yourself out there. All. The. Time. If you can't post very often, then work on your consistency as well as your relevancy. You won't get results as quickly, but your leads will be more qualified. This is where an editorial calendar can be extremely helpful.
4. You think SEO practices are a waste of time.
5. You don't ask for help.
Encourage your readers to submit ideas. Sometimes you need to come out and ask your customers and prospects what they need from you to make them successful. Don't ever be afraid to start that conversation. You will always come out ahead. The answers aren't always what you want, but they are usually what you need. If your readers are still low in number, or shy, there are people out there (ahem) who specialize in coming up with workable solutions.
When you are ready to take that next step, so are we. We'll put a fresh pot of coffee on and get your business moving in the right direction.
