Lisa had an amazing story to tell prospective clients in the jewelry appraisal industry. So, she wrote on her website about exotic finds and interesting collections she discovered. Then, she waited for people to show up. Months went by, and it was all crickets. She understood storytelling but didn’t have a sharing strategy.
Samit owned a tech firm. He had a beautiful website, and they invested significant dollars in making the user experience easy. Unfortunately, his IT team forgot about sharing since without pushing content out, it was like creating a store without a front door in the middle of the woods. They didn’t have any traffic or a plan to get them to come and visit. They didn’t have a sharing strategy.
Ray wanted to use content marketing to get clients for his fractional CFO business. He wrote great case studies that he put in a book that no one ever read. He thought it would attract interested clients, but he never marketed the book. Once again, no sharing strategy.
Marketing and Sharing
When you have done all the important work to create useful content, but aren’t regularly sharing the information to prospects, you aren’t going to attract leads.
Marketing hinges on spreading the news, getting the word out, and providing helpful information to a specific audience. And it is an ongoing activity – not a once and a while activity.
Not Sharing Your Story Enough?
- Be a thought leader. As you share your ideas to the people you serve, your status and their awareness of you grows. People start associating you with your content. But the key is pushing it out – posting it in places where they already go like LinkedIn or Facebook groups on a specific topic. Question: Where can you go to talk about your ideas to the community you want to serve?
- Be seen. Keeping content locked up on your website doesn’t get you any exposure. Spread your stories through social media or create a campaign of email to disseminate small snippets. Maybe consider texting with permission as a tool to reach your audience. Get on other’s radar. Do it often and persistently. Question: Can you do videos of your ideas and share them in outbound emails, posts online, or through local events? Get your ideas out in front of the people you want to reach.
- Be engaged. Engagement begins with sharing. So many connections I have made over the last few years started through conversations about the content I wrote, or someone shared. New business comes to my practice because I have a sharing strategy to create helpful content and get it in front of people who care and want to learn. Question: Are you commenting and engaging with new people you meet in the market you want to serve? Sometimes engagement starts by asking thoughtful questions about the social media other people post.
Be Helpful and Give a Little Push
- Be helpful by sharing the content of value to your tribe. Don’t keep your best ideas for paying customers – spread your expertise and share it. People want to buy from experts, so demonstrate your expertise with words (or audio or video). Then plug it into an amplifier to cast the message outward. Question: Do you feel you don’t want to give away your best ideas for free? If so, you are missing the boat on being helpful.
- Push it out. Don’t expect prospects to find you. It helps to keep your message out in front of people regularly. Think of a magazine you enjoy reading. The publication could be beautiful, but if they didn’t send you a hard copy or a link to the newest online edition, you probably get busy and won’t remember to go back and look. Question: How are you sharing your content and regularly keeping it in front of your target audience?
What’s your sharing strategy?
Need help in creating a sharing strategy?
Do you have a consultant working with you who is a professional listener? Does your business need a marketing coach, guide, or sherpa? Are you generating enough leads? Is your marketing underperforming? I can help.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conversation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com Let’s explore working together today.
Photo by Pop & Zebra on Unsplash
