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The Anatomy of Direct-Response social media marketing program - Part 2 of 6
Don't make delaying a desirable option OR feel like everything MUST be perfect before you start.
written by john c ashworth
Reach, Likes, Thruplays, Shares. All great stuff on some level, but they mean almost nothing if you can't get people to take action on your social media marketing campaigns. Yes. You might be able to show me some vague association between your reach and popularity on social media and how that has brought you new business and new customers, but remember, direct-response marketing is about the stuff you can actually measure directly so that you know exactly your return on investment.
For example, as I write this, I have almost 1,000 LIKES on the ash flash home page. And if you haven't already done so, I would love to get your stamp of approval on that page too. This kind of loose response does help build credibility when you land on my home page, and it does start to give you a sense that yes, others have been here before you and they have at the very least taken a brief moment in time to stamp my work here with their tacit approval.
Look a little further down the page, however, and on this day I have only 28 blog subscribers. That's not that many. And that's OK for me right now, because I'm only ramping this stuff up and have not actually put a lot of time and attention into gaining more subscribers more quickly. Remember, I work full time for Frazer Consultants as an inside salesman and account executive and I only have so much time right now outside of that primary effort. I focus that time right now on producing killer content for the ash flash; and on my writing because I have a much larger plan for all of this, and fur us. OK? I thought a little context here might be important, and helpful.
Now, I am in fact working every day to craft facebook ads and campaigns that bring me more subscribers, but as you likely already know, it's not that easy. You have to have something of REAL and lasting value to get people to opt-in; and it has to be relevant to their current needs. And there MUST be a deadline after which the thing you're offering can no longer be obtained. Deadlines drive results every time. You'll see this very clearly the next time you run a campaign with a clear deadline and with a sequence of steps in the campaign. You always see a rush of response at the end.
Also, the thing you offer in order to get people to subscribe to your list(s) must be so good that someone would actually be willing to pay for it even it wasn't free. If you're trying to build a list, this is the very first thing you need to focus on right now.
The point I want you to take away from this post today is that you should NOT be doing anymore social media marketing that does not include as one of it's goals and missions to gain subscribers or make sales; and you MUST find a way to make more than one offer to get people to take some kind of action. And this offer MUST have a deadline.
Liking your business page is a start, but that's not enough. You need to find the people who will take the additional step of visiting your website, and giving your thei contact information in exchange for something valuable so that you can continue to communicate with them directly via email, text message and direct-mail. Because these are the people who will actually buy from you.
I was having this discussion with a colleague the other day. We were discussing the potential of livestreaming as a means of attracting new prospects during the covid-19 outbreak in March of 2020. He was saying that in the past they had experimented (Once!) with a LIVE! webinar on facebook that only attracted a small number of people. Our conversation centered around the idea that with such a small turnout, the image this presents is potentially bad for our brand. That might be true, but here is how I think about this...
First, I believe that perspective is the exact opposite of how you should think about this kind of social media marketing. Especially when you're first getting started and still learning how to be effective in creating content that resonates with your audience and getting them excited about attending your live events. Because you have to start somewhere and even when you only have a small number of people attending, there are ways to hide this number from your viewers on various platforms, and those that are in attendance most likely represent some of the best prospects you have at that moment. Focusing like a laser on these people can lead to sales, and better intelligence about how to more effectively find more of them and produce larger attendance numbers for your live events.
Second, trying ANYTHING once, and in one way and then determining it does not work is a very perilous life and business strategy. When was the last time you achieved something of great importance in one try? It is also important to point out that for your LIVE! stuff to be effective, you have to be able to promote it effectively too. If you fail during that step, yes, your live events will not produce the results you are looking for. In addition, building a real audience takes real time, real effort, and real focus.
Third, and as I mentioned above, those 15 or so people that were on that webinar that day mostly likely represented a highly interested group of people that at that moment were probably MORE likely to buy from our company than any other 15 people on the planet. And even if just one of them would have done so, this entire production would have been a great success.
Now, I realize that for you, that 1 buyer might not be enough in a situation like this to be a smashing success, but I also know that most small business owners do not have a real firm grasp on the lifetime value of their customers and as such, have no way of accurately predicting whether or not 1 buyer in this situation produces a strong enough return. We'll discuss lifetime customer value another time. It's a very important consideration, especially in light of our now impending recession.
Lastly, this webinar lacked what I am promoting you MUST have in ALL of your social media marketing campaigns. You absolutely MUST make an irresistible offer to either purchase something or opt-in to your mailing list EVERY single time you run and ad on facebook, and at regular intervals inside your daily and weekly facebook posts. If you don't do this, you're wasting your effort. That's a fact. And if you're running ads without doing this, you're wasting a lot of money.
Outside of opting-in to your mailing list, many of you will now be wondering if you can in fact actually sell directly to cold traffic on facebook or instagram or any other social media platform. The answer is YES! Personally, I've purchased a few things this way myself.
The right ad.
The right product.
The right timing; and a great sales pitch have motivated me to buy on the spot more than once.
To do this, however, you must make an offer your viewer can't find anywhere else, including inside your own business through your normal purchasing channels. The offer you make MUST be exclusive to their purchase through your ad on social media. Otherwise, why BUY NOW? I can always come back later.
OK, it's time to get to work on your next set of facebook posts and on your next ad on social media. As you do this, please take note of the importance of making an irresistible offer for something you have created or already have available to use for this purpose. If you don't have anything, that's OK, this might just end you all the way back to the drawing board where you can re-make your social media marketing campaign in light of your newfound wisdom:) But I wouldn't run any more ads until you have it figured out.
Good Luck!
-John
PS As I finished this post, I began to feel compelled to come up with an example of what I'm talking about...
Currently, other than my writing, my time is focused solely on my work as a salesman for a fast-growing technology company. If I were to take my expertise out into the marketplace, it would be worth at about $350 an hour as a small business marketing and sales consultant.
Typically, inside one or two 1-hour business and marketing strategy sessions, I'm confident I could teach you at least three extremely profitable and immediately powerful ways to leverage both your customer and prospect lists right now. And other than your investment in my time, these three strategies would require very little additional investment of cash to implement, and would bring your an increase in sales next month of at least 10-15% and in some cases 25-50% depending on the size of your business, the products and services you offer and the specific details of your small business operation and exactly how you serve your customers.
It will only take about an hour or two to get you on the right path toward to REAL results. I'm so confident that I could do this for you that I would be willing to offer you three hours of my time, valued at over $1,000 absolutely FREE!
YOU can click here to claim your own personal small business Kick-Start session right now. Be sure to put the following code into the subject line of the email: Make it Rain. And if I were you, I would NOT delay. I only have two of these spots to offer and there are thousands of small business owners who read my blog every day. Each of them now feeling quite compelled to take advantage of this unique and limited-time offer.
Why am I offering this to you for FREE?
Because I'm extremely confident in my ability to help you and am quite certain that when you see the results, you will have no other choice than to at least consider the idea of either paying me for my services via an Amazon gift card in an amount of your choosing, or hiring me to help you accomplish far more sales and busingess growth than you ever thought possible this year.
OK, remember, this is NOT a real offer. Sorry to disappoint you. I simply don't have the time for this with my focus and attention on my primary responsibilities as a salesman, Dad and husband working to survive the covid-19 pandemic. But if you got this far, and are now feeling disappointed by this, you have just experienced the sheer potential in this kind of direct-response marketing. It's powerful!
I am, however, always interested to hear from you and if you're willing to share your story and how you might be struggling right now inside your small business, click here and send me a note. Who knows, I might just be able to help get you on the right path with a quick email exchange or short phone call. I'm happy to do it if I have the time.
Good luck!
-John
