You’ve been producing clever content that you’re truly proud of. It looks good, the feedback’s complimentary, and you invested time and money into it. True, it took you a long time, you’ve not got a concrete social media strategy in place, and you only post every so often – but it’s really good content! Perfect, even.
But there’s one big problem – it isn’t having the impact on your business that you expected. So, what’s going on?
Think back to the last advertisement you saw, whether it be for a service or a product. Did you buy into it? How many times had you seen it before then? When, if at all, were you tempted to click on it and follow through with a free trial or a purchase?
For our hypothetical consumer, they might take a cursory glance over the tailored, algorithm-led ad that seems quite appealing, but depending on her mood the chances are she’ll scroll right past. It’s not until a few sightings later, when the allure of that boozy painting class has settled on her mind a few times, that she’s truly tempted to click and take a proper look at the prices and times on the website…
There it is: The F word. Frequency. Our hypothetical consumer is likely to be sitting on a stool in front of a canvas avec prosecco next weekend because she saw that ad numerous times and eventually it made it to the front seat of her brain. It didn’t necessarily have tons of key information or look expensively produced, it was just… there, whenever she was scrolling.
You need to start thinking of your social media content as a journey, and your consumers as the passengers. Let’s say the classic ‘Rule of Seven’ approach is in force here – that a consumer needs to see an ad at least seven times before they indulge in a purchase. Surely then, your focus needs to shift to the perilous journey in between, rather than the destination.
Yes, you want the content to be smart. You’d like it to be attractive, witty, memorable, relevant. It can still be all of those things, but the key here is ensuring its visibility. Depending on your product or service, you can find out the frequency and time slots needed to truly make an impact on your audience. Whilst you’re spending hours and hours developing content, your potential customers are consuming someone else’s content, because they’re seeing it five times more often.
Unless you’re a philosopher by trade, stop overthinking. Map out your intentions, produce in advance and schedule frequent posts. Your consumers will be on their journey to you in no time.
Thank you to our guest Blogger Chantelle Davison – Choice Words By Chantelle