you don’t need more views.
Visibility Lesson #1
Get your notepad and pen out; Visibility class is in session.
And there’s a reason I’ve chosen this topic for the first ever Visibility Lesson. It’s the number one most important thing you can do as a small business owner trying to promote your business.
Stop asking, “How do I get more views?” and start asking, “Who am I actually trying to reach?”
One of the biggest mistakes I see small businesses make all the time is they’re focused on how many views and they don’t know who is viewing their content. I need you to step away from the teeny fluffy microphone, and don’t make another reel until you’ve answered this question:
Where does my ideal customer spend time online, and what are they doing when they’re there?
I’m going to share 3 ways you can get to know your audience better, so you can create content that a) gets pushed into their feed and b) gets them to take action when they see it.
Tip #1 - Listen to the questions you’re already being asked
If you’re a hairdresser, I know your clients are sitting in that chair asking you 17 different questions about what products they should be using, how they can blow-dry better at home and what they need to do to keep their colour.
Gardeners - your clients love to tell you the biggest problem they’re facing with keeping their garden looking healthy.
Cafe owners, which product do you get asked about one hundred times a day?
Use your social media to answer all those questions and - here’s the clever part - next time your client asks, direct them to your socials. If it’s helpful, they’ll save it. And what happens when people save your content? It gets shown to more people who have the same interests.
Tip #2 - Visit the (online) places your customers already hang out
Have a little social stalk of the customers who already follow you. Who else are they following? What are they sharing? Whose comments section are they in? Chances are, people with similar interests to your customers are also in those places.
Yes, you can leave comments in those places and start conversations with new people that way - just make sure you’re being genuine. But that’s not my tip. Instead, I want you to search those Facebook groups, Instagram comment sections or LinkedIn conversations for some patterns. You’re looking for the answers to these questions:
What are people frustrated by?
What questions keep coming up?
What excites them?
Those insights are incredibly important, especially if your business can solve their frustrations, answer their questions and get them excited. Create content that shows how valuable you are to those people who are similar to your current customers.
Tip #3 - Match your content to where your ideal audience actually spends time
One of the biggest myths in marketing is that every business needs to be on every platform. You’ll run yourself into the ground trying to make content for every single social media platform out there, because their algorithms all want different things.
The best platform for you is the one your customers already use. If you’re not sure what that is, you can ask them outright or find them online and see where they’re most active. Another solution is to choose 3-5 businesses that serve a similar audience to you, and see where they get the most engagement with their content.
It’s also important to think about what your business sells, as different platforms suits different customer behaviour.
If you sell visual products or services, you’re a lifestyle brand or a local business, Instagram is a great place to be. You can show clear before and after visuals of your work and you can have fun creating behind the scenes reels to showcase the products and the people behind the products.
If your audience is family-focused, you’re a tradesperson or you put on events, then I highly recommend you being active on Facebook. Believe it or not, Facebook is still the most-used social media platform and it’s the best one for community conversations.
If you’re a consultant, a coach or you cater to other businesses, you need to be on LinkedIn. This is a great place for UGC content creators, too. You can connect with the people you want to work with over topics of interest, so that when you reach out via email you’re not a complete stranger to them.
If you’re in the business of weddings, fashion, home decor, DIY, crafts or other services that give more long-term inspiration, and you expect customers to spend more time considering their options before reaching out to you, Pinterest is a brilliant place to post as a secondary platform alongside your main choice.
YouTube is often overlooked as a form of social media, but it’s the second largest search engine behind Google. You can post tutorials, product demonstrations or in-depth advice on there and share it to your other socials. It’s a fantastic way to build trust with your customer and show that you’re the expert in your particular field.
So grab a notepad or open up your notes app on your phone, and start jotting down notes when you speak to your customers.
What questions do they have? What social media platforms are they on? What content are they watching?
I hope this helps, and I’d love to hear your thoughts, too. You can email me at hello@hannahkiddmarketing.co.uk.
Don’t forget to check the weekly Visibility Plan for content ideas every single Monday, and join my newsletter, The Visibility Club, to be the first to know when a new blog drops.
With love,
Hannah xo