Especially if focusing on growing your audience leads to superficial goals, such as clicks and views … from people who are not the right fit for your business and will never buy from you. I think you should get better at converting the interested prospects who are already paying attention to your content. Interested prospects are curious about what you offer because they think they might benefit from it, but you still have to persuade them. She really likes these mystery novels she discovered from a self-published author on Amazon and sent the author an email to let her know how much she appreciates her books. When the author wrote my friend back, she guided her to sign up for her email list (her “fan club”) to be the first to find out when she releases the next installment in the series. This author provided content to her mailing list that kept my friend excited about the books, and that type of nurturing led to an instant sale as soon as you could pre-order the book. I quickly learned that they swing dance together, and what I immediately loved about them is that they didn’t ramble on and on about it. And once they learned I was an “interested prospect,” they provided a lot of helpful information that inspired me to look into taking classes. Educate “I’m thinking about renewing my museum membership, but I’m not sure if I’ll frequently use it.” Several years ago, I cancelled a membership that I had to a local art museum because I wasn’t going there as frequently as I once did. Deepen your appreciation for your existing audience Even though you want more people to check out your content, you don’t need that huge, “ideal” audience to do great things with your business.
You shouldn’t think about growing your audience.
Actually, let me rephrase that: You shouldn’t focus on growing your audience.
Especially if focusing on growing your audience leads to superficial goals, such as clicks and views … from people who are not the right fit for your business and will never buy from you.
I think you should get better at converting the interested prospects who are already paying attention to your content.
It can be a liberating notion that ties up the age-old content marketing challenge of how to serve your existing followers while attracting new people.
Because serving your loyal folks will naturally draw more like-minded people to your content, rather than just anyone.
Interested prospects are curious about what you offer because they think they might benefit from it, but you still have to persuade them.
What do interested prospects actually look like and how do you create the right content for them?
You can start by thinking in terms of TIE: Thrill, Inspire, or Educate.
Thrill
“I’m so glad I signed up for the author’s fan club! I pre-ordered the new book already!”
The quote above is an actual text message I recently received from a friend, along with a screenshot of a book cover.
She really likes these mystery novels she discovered from a self-published author on Amazon and sent the author an email to let her know how much she appreciates her books.
When the author wrote my friend back, she guided her to sign up for her email list (her “fan club”) to be the first to find out when she releases the next installment in the series.
Now, it’s not always this easy, but don’t underestimate the people just waiting to buy from you —…
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