Are Social Media Mistakes Killing Your Reach?
Social media mistakes cost you. Whether you spend money on ads or not you are spending money paying someone or doing it yourself when your skills are elsewhere. You’re missing out on the ability to reach people who are on social media. You can correct it pretty quickly. I know you’re thinking, but I’m so far behind I don’t even know where to start. I keep hearing social media is dead. Facebook got harder. There’s never a better time than now to start. Because to adapt to future changes you need to get some groundwork and foundational knowledge. You’re still ahead of anyone not using it yet. Fitness is going to grow, more trainers, more gyms are going to use it in the future. Start now. You can gain traction from being there before others. And you might just be better than someone who was there first.
1) You try something once or twice and stop
Lisa (name change to protect the innocent) was coaching with me. We discussed her growing her social media following while we were working on the nuts and bolts of her website and creating offers. I wanted her to start nurturing an audience and learn what they liked and wanted.
She reported two weeks later that it just didn’t really work for her so she stopped. She’d posted once, maybe twice.
Whether you stop because it’s not working, or because it is (I’ve seen both ways), stopping gets you no where. Consistently posting for reasons consistent with your business services gets results. Never does hard work (in the right direction) not pay off. It doesn’t happen on your timeline though.
If you think social media is a short quick game, you’re going to be disappointed. It is a long game. Yet, certain markets, especially niches where no one is willing to talk about one problem and only one problem over and over again, will do extremely well.
Examples
Take my friend Dr. Jolene Brighten. She wrote a book, Beyond the Pill. She’s talking about all the negative consequences from being on the pill. She’s talking about that one thing every day. Every quote, every image, every Facebook live and Instagram live is about that. She’s attracting all the women who were on the pill and can’t get pregnant, have terrible PMS, PCOS, menopause issues, and skin problems after taking the pill. All day, all night, be willing to talk about your business and mission in a way you’ll never get tired of it. Take health coach, Bridgit Danner, detox expert or Emotional Eating Coaching expert Tricia Greaves. They each talk all day every day about that one thing. They get behind the microphone, in front of the camera, and write about it every day. They share rich content (see #2 for more). Consistently. At regular intervals. This should ring a bell, right? Consistent habits with regular frequency are what get results. If they’re not, you tweak them and keep going. You don’t quit exercising if you don’t get results right away do you?2) You start with social media.
In presentations this past year at ICAA, ABC, and SCW , and most recently Fitness Fest shared social media strategies and always emphasize this:Most people using social media, thinking it’s not working, get this backwards. You need both. You must start with great content. Even before you go live on a platform, you want to have a script, a topic, a reason you’re going on. Build content around most frequently asked questions. Why? Because that’s why people are searching online. That’s how they’ll find you.Content is the bus. Social media is the wheels on the bus.
3) You don’t have a funnel.
You don’t have steps to create a better, stronger relationship with people who see your posts. You’re potentially talking to “strangers” online. Until, at least they choose you. They’ll do that by opting in to your email list. That’s a step in a funnel. They won’t take that however if there’s nothing exciting and juicy to exchange their email address for at first. Guess what? Your “newsletter” is not juicy or exiting. Not unless you’re Kim Kardashian, or their equivalent of celebrity. That juicy “freebie” is a step in a funnel. They won’t stay long if you don’t have follow up emails that nurture that interest they show. You need to have a few emails – maybe more if you have a high priced item – that come right away. These should be automated so when you grow that email list you are talking to new people more frequently. The new people always have more questions right? Make them feel at home. That email series is a step in a funnel.
4) You don’t have any call to action.
Look, if you’re going to pay attention to #3, or already have, then you have to tell the reader/viewer/listener exactly what to do next.
- Click here!
- Subscribe to the channel!
- Enter your best email address now!
- Comment below and tell me your biggest challenge with ____.
5) You’re asking strangers to buy from you.
Stop posting posts that share your program starts, your sales, you click on the post image and go right to your store. You are not giving valuable content when you do that. Social media got harder because of people who do that. Social media is trying to create a better user experience. Facebook thinks that people don’t come to Facebook to see businesses they come to see friends. So if you only share “buy me” posts, you’ll get less and less visibility in front of the people you want to see your posts. Remember funnels? Step one starts at the back. Social is one of the last. If you post to a shopping cart you’ve missed a few steps. And you’re going to miss a few sales and a few dollars and the chance to change lives.6) You’re not using key word search and Google adwords to decide what titles, tags, and descriptions to use.
You think you know? You don’t know. Not really. Crazy stupid word phrases sometimes will get you better results than the obvious. If you use “fitness” or “fitness motivation” as your key word you’re going to target such a big and broad topic it won’t get you found. Target motivation to exercise with pain or something related to your topic and audience drilled down and specific. Motivation to exercise for weight loss. [disclaimer: I’ve not searched those words – do your homework!] (So…Are you guilty of not using any key words or wondering what in the heck that is! Comment below if a post explaining how to do it would be helpful? I can do a video showing what this looks like… OR you could Google).7) You’re not starting with the questions a customer asks before they become a client or customer.
This should potentially be #1 on the list. If you don’t start with this you’re crazy! And here’s why: this is the fastest and best way to add value for people. Value is what attracts. Unless you’re a celebrity no one wants a post of you sharing your breakfast.
The content for your social posts should be this. Beyond tired messages and memes that everyone else is posting you connect with someone when you solve a problem for which they’re looking for an answer.
Sure, they may share that message you and anyone else in fitness can share. But they’ll forget who shared it.
If you solve a visitor’s problem and give them hope they will remember you. They will take a next step with you. But you do have to tell them what to do. (see #4)
8) You’re not making it personal
No one is YOU. Your brand, your business, your mission… they’re all different from anyone else. You need to use your voice and get in front of the camera. Talk to your audience. Let them get to know you too. Tell your story. People like to buy from people not from businesses. The influencer way of marketing has exploded based on this concept. Even when we know some celebrity isn’t the company we like a company and begin to trust a company because… say Jennifer Garner talks about how there are no blackout dates for using miles. Because a woman just like us is using a skin care product, we’re far more likely to buy it. Companies are paying millions today to find a perfect spokesperson. (There’s opportunity there, by the way.) I scored a $5k bed and a sweet stipend for repping a company. I regularly get things in the mail that companies want me to trial and pay me for using. So for sure if you believe in your own product or service and you are your avatar, tell your own story. Describe how it’s worked for you! Personal trainer? Have you always been fit? Has it always been easy? Were you injured and discovered a new method of rehabbing to avoid setbacks? Tell your own story.This is not an all-inclusive list
There are more mistakes you want to correct. For instance, if your titles suck, so too will the traffic on any piece of content you create. If you’re posting something negative it won’t get many likes or shares. This trap is easy to fall into! In fact you might say, Debra, didn’t you do that with this post? But the difference is I used the title to compel you to open if you’re not getting good results from social media. Then I gave you some insight into why it’s not working and how to fix it. Still, you may not like, comment, or share it. This isn’t something you want to share with anyone publicly potentially right? Your customers might see it. Your forward facing self has more customers than colleagues or team members. So I put calls to action here.The logical next steps to better social media results:
1) get help from the tips here: implement don’t just read! 2) take another step: get my 5-minute blog ideas 3) or reach out for a consult if you want to grow not just your social media but your customers and clients from social media. When you know who you want to help, what they want, what you want them to do (and it’s a logical next step for your ideal client) social media works so well. And it’s here to stay.
Other posts you may like:
Are Your Blogs Getting Shared?
Positive Fitness Marketing Makeover
Fitness Marketing Truths Today