In a recent Clubhouse room, I overheard a sentence and it really struck a chord with me. The sentence was 'people associate familiarity with expertise' and yes - yes they do.
In order to become familiar though, you need to keep showing up for them consistently. Whether this be an exercise and effort in the space of building your personal brand or raising awareness and marketing your business, in order to strengthen and grow, you'll need to be visible and present online. That consistency builds confidence and trust in your brand and that breeds familiarity.
Familiarity takes time. One viral post is not going to make you an overnight success especially in the world of social media. The best brands and personalities online are the ones that are consistently creating 'valuable' content for their fans, followers, audiences and communities.
The two V's that you want to achieve are not vanity and virality but value and visibility.
Value NOT Vanity
Yes, tons of likes and followers sounds amazing BUT these don't necessarily translate to brand loyalty, sales and an engaged community. Vanity metrics are great on paper because they give off the impression that the account is popular BUT that might not be the case. Say you decide on a particular influencer who you have selected specifically because they have millions of followers and their posts usually get thousands of likes SO natural deduction is that if they are seen using your product, this will lead to a TON of sales and bookings right?
I'm sorry to burst your bubble BUT not necessarily. It's never a guarantee. It depends on their engagement level and their level of actual 'influence' with their followers. Their engagement rate is a clear indication of how engaged they are with their online community. That needs to be supported consistently with producing and creating content that their followers value so that their audience takes the action they want i.e. book, buy and 'check out'.
Value is in the eye of the follower. There are many types of value you can deliver through content and the top ones are educational, entertainment and inspirational. These have mainly to do with there being a 'transformation'. Your audience should have learnt something, been emotionally impacted and reacted or been inspired enough to motivate them to do something because of it. If your content can consistently take them on little transformative journeys, that hits the jackpot.
Value-led content means that you are focusing on your audience and serving them on your platforms. Vanity-led content is usually content is very 'it's all about me' and you can spot the difference very clearly. As a consumer, I'm more likely to engage with content that 'speaks' to me and resonates with me than content that I can't relate with. I can relate to aspirational content that makes me think 'one day I will achieve that' as opposed to 'there's no way I'll be able to achieve that.'
Value-led content also turns followers into fans because you are consistently delivering content that they want and has 'transformed' them either through learning, entertainment or inspiration so they keep coming back for more. They become familiar with your key messages and they come to expect specific type of content from you. A fan is what we want. A fan might not always buy what you are selling but they're not definitely going to be a brand advocate and recommend you to others and digital word of mouth is as powerful as real word of mouth.
Visibility NOT Virality
It shouldn't be about going viral. When you go viral, that's great but it's a short term 'burst' of online brand awareness. In order to really grow and sustain that growth, you need organic growth which can only be achieved with posting the right content mix of relevant valuable content consistently.
There are a few key words here - relevant, valuable and consistent. These three things will get you visibility online. Visibility is built through consistency because consistency breeds familiarity and people equate familiarity to expertise. See what I did there? Does it seem like I mentioned that sentence before? Visibility comes from being present and active across different online and offline channels. You need to be omni-present.
If you are an expert in organising incentive travel then your content both offline and online need to be consistent on this very area of expertise. From your real event experiences to tips and hacks when it comes to planning and managing to sharing articles and relevant news on the topic consistently will position you as one of the go-to's on incentive travel. That doesn't happen through viral content. That happens through being consistently visible and delivering valuable relevant content to your audience who will become fans and your community.
Are you struggling with online visibility? Do you lack consistency when it comes to your content and engagement? Join The Get Visible Collective - an online group for service-based businesses who want to learn about and level up on social media and content in order to optimise and maximise your brand's online awareness, engagement and growth.
And if you're on Instagram - find me here and follow me be part of my online community!
xoxo
Your Social Media Hype Girl,
Sabrina M.
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