How To Keep Your Audience Engaged Ten Easy Ways
It’s a no-brainer that for your business to be a success, you need to grow your reach. After all, the more people who see your name, read your blog posts and watch your videos, the more chances that you’ll convert some of them into paid customers or coaching clients.
But your path to growing your audience may be vastly different from another coach’s path. There is no right or wrong here, so long as you work every day to market your business and get new eyes seeing your content, pick and choose which activities will work for your schedule and your target market.
These ten ideas will get your creative juices flowing. Some you have probably heard of before, maybe others you’ve forgotten. Keep what is working so far in your marketing efforts and try something new to shake things up a bit. Let’s get started!
Create a YouTube Channel to Teach Your Audience Something
YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google, but are you using it to drive traffic to your website? Most people search for YouTube by using keywords, so optimizing your channel and every video you post with keywords is essential. Also, include your website URL in the video and within the video description so people can find you easily.
YouTube is great for showcasing tutorials, whereas Facebook and Instagram Lives are mostly known as a way to discuss issues. Want to give a tour of your membership program? Post it on YouTube. Want to show a software tutorial? Post it on YouTube. How often have you searched YouTube for ways to fix things around the house? Well, people will also search for the tutorials you produce, so utilize this platform to grow your reach.
Start Your Own Podcast
We’ve already covered how to look for guest interview opportunities on podcasts, but why not start your own? It’s one more content format that many people who live on-the-go lives love because your content is portable and can be enjoyed in the car or at the gym.
Apple Podcasts is also the go-to place to find new podcasts (think of it as the Amazon of podcasts), plus you have other popular platforms, such as Stitcher, which makes listening to podcasts via your smartphone much more accessible. If you decide to interview guests on your podcast, that’s yet another way to expand your reach because your guests’ audiences will most likely listen in. Again, create high-quality content, and those new followers will be hooked.
Search Out Podcast Interview Opportunities
Don’t look down on podcasts. At last count, Apple Podcasts boasted over 800,000 podcasts, including content in 100+ different languages. Without a doubt, you can find multiple podcasts that serve your audience, and that would love to have you as a guest.
Find shows that serve your target audience and research what topics that show has already produced. Listen to a few episodes so you can get an idea of the host’s personality, and if you think you’d be a good fit, reach out to the host. Hosts will be quicker to accept your offer if it’s clear that you’ve done your homework, and you offer a unique pitch that is beneficial to their audience.
If you’d prefer, you can outsource this task to professionals. Schedule a free consultation, and let us take care of it for you.
Create Events on Facebook (Go Live on Facebook Often)
Social media is about being social, so create an event on Facebook and then promote it. Events can be based on a live video you’ll host, an in-person event, or even a book launch party. Anything that should be celebrated can be celebrated on Facebook.
With these types of events, your followers will see notifications in their feed with an Interested and Going button. You can post frequent updates to the event page itself while also encouraging your followers to share the event, too. Organic sharing of social posts is equivalent to word-of-mouth advertising, and it doesn’t get much more authentic or inexpensive than that.
Create an Evergreen Webinar
Webinars, in general, are another great way to incorporate video into your marketing plans. You have the live option, where you present in front of a live audience and take questions, or you have the pre-recorded option, also known as on-demand webinars. These on-demand webinars are replays of a live webinar, but viewers have their choice of date and time to watch.
Both recorded and live webinars allow you to grow your reach AND your sales. When people register, they are giving you their email address, thereby increasing your reach. If they purchase your offer at the end of the webinar, that is growing your sales. Creating evergreen webinars based on topics that don’t get outdated allows you to produce the webinar once but yield sales for years to come. Plus, you still have email access to those who still need some time before purchasing.
Expand Your Library of Products
While you always want to have a steady stream of new prospects discovering you, your current clients and customers still want access to your knowledge. One way to satisfy your existing customers AND increase your income is by producing more products and programs.
Whatever you produce, write down all the steps you took from start to finish. Make as many detailed notes as possible, so the next time you want to create a product, you can pull out your system and use it as a checklist. Trello or Asana are great tools for creating these types of lists, and they’re stored on the cloud, so no fear of your notes getting lost or destroyed. As always, create something you’re proud to promote and then cross-promote on all your channels.
Create VIP Days
For those 1:1 clients who could use some extra special attention, create VIP days where they pay for access to you for an entire day. You can schedule this online or meet in person, but you are at that client’s beck and call to focus solely on their issues.
Whether you reserve an entire 8-hour day or a shorter 4-hour half-day, the client is expecting significant help, either in the form of serious coaching or using your dream team to help them achieve results. Depending on what you’re offering your clients, the charge should be more than your regular coaching calls. Consider if you’re traveling to meet in person; if you need a hotel room, if you need to order lunch, the cost to pay your team to perform specific tasks at a moment’s notice. All these fees should be included in the VIP fee.
Plan an Exclusive Retreat for VIP Clients
Retreats are all the rage, and they range from a quiet weekend at a beach bungalow to five days at an exotic location. Choose the length of time and the setting based on your audience and who will be invited to this retreat.
If you’re not used to setting up live events, hire an event planner to handle the details. Retreats generally have an itinerary, goals, speakers, and networking opportunities. During your downtime, you can plan excursions or just let people relax in peace. Like VIP days, retreats will cost significantly more because the attendees will be paying for access to you, lodging, and food.
Subscribe to HARO
Getting your name and business quoted in the media is another way to grow your reach, but the key is to act quickly. Journalists are known to have very tight deadlines, so the one who answers their request the fastest usually wins.
HARO is a way for journalists, bloggers, and sources of all kinds to connect and share information. While there are subscription options, there’s also a free email list you can join. They will send emails three times a day. You read through the requests and submit your answers or pitch to the masked email address provided. If the journalist likes what you say – and you can meet their deadline – they will contact you directly.
Write a Book
Amazon is where it’s at when it comes to selling books and what better way to become an instant expert than with a published book. Whether you go the Kindle route or self-publish a physical book, having that Amazon author title boosts your credibility tremendously.
Your Amazon Author’s Page should also be highly optimized, so new followers will know how to connect with you. Include your website and all your social platforms. Include your Amazon Author title on all your social profiles and in your email signature. Not everyone can write a book, and if you reach that Bestseller threshold, then shout that for all to hear!
As you can see, you have multiple ways to increase your reach and your income. Tweak your current marketing campaigns by adding a few of these ideas and track your results. Whatever works, keep in your plan. Whatever doesn’t work, save those notes and try something else.
In the end, the most important point to remember is that marketing is proactive and should be done seven days a week. Engagement with your audience on all your platforms is another must, and don’t be afraid to ask for help from a VA or social media manager if your days get filled with marketing tasks. All your efforts will pay off if you stay consistent.
