THE BACK TO SCHOOL METHOD FOR GETTING YOUR MESSAGE HEARD
One question I get all.the.time is, “How on earth, in this constant social media stream, do I get my message heard?”
It reminds me of trying to get my kids out the door in the morning to school. Which, no matter how many years I’ve been doing it, I still find challenging!
I hear myself saying the same thing over and over again.
“Pick up your shoes!”
“Get your socks on!”
“Did you put your lunch in your bag?”
“Do you have your hat?”
It’s just the same thing, time and time again.
And when we try to market our business on social media, it’s just the same. We just keep repeating ourselves a heck of a lot in order to be heard.
MULTI-TASKING IS THE ENEMY
The issue is that our audience is just like our kids. They have their heads and minds somewhere else.
My son is totally busy thinking about what’s going to happen when he gets to school, who he’ll talk to, and he’s trying to set up his Spotify while he’s putting on his shoes.
Meanwhile, my daughter’s trying to make a charm to hang off her bag like 5 minutes before we have to leave!
Just like our audience - their minds are somewhere else.
They might be watching Facebook lives, scrolling through articles, catching up on a group chat thread, and running around their house or office doing something else - all at the same time.
Our minds are scattered and our attention is being pulled in a million different directions.
HOW TO CUT THROUGH THE NOISE
To cut through all the noise online, we have to repeat ourselves. Constantly.
And I totally get that it feels kind of awkward. I have felt that myself with my marketing, like I’m just saying the same thing, talking about building your brand, and being clear with your message. I’m beating my drum and saying the same thing over and over.
But this repetition is important (regardless of how you feel about it).
4 REASONS REPETITION IS IMPORTANT
It may feel annoying, but there are actually 3 good reasons why we do need to talk about the same thing repeatedly.
#1: To become known and cement our brand positioning, our audience needs to hear our message many times.
#2: We humans need to hear things in different ways and at different times for it to connect with us.
#3: Because it is so VERY noisy. We are competing for attention with lots of other things in the world. So, we need to say the same thing many times with clarity for your ideal customers to hear.
#4 New people are coming into your online sphere all the time and they haven't heard your message yet. They know very little about you and are waiting to hear from you.
CUT THROUGH THE NOISE WITH CLARITY AND CONFIDENCE
If you feel like you're not cutting through, even with repetition, there are two areas you’re probably struggling with.
Message Clarity - Is your message super clear? Have you nailed your brand positioning and brand story?
Confidence - Can you describe what your business does in a really succinct, powerful statement?
CLARITY OF MESSAGING
It’s important to convey your message the same way every time.
Now, the stories you tell to get that message across may be somewhat different. Obviously, today I’m talking to you about how my kids don’t listen and I’m relating that back to connecting with your audience.
You may have different stories you tell that cement your message. But the core message - the piece you want to get across to people - needs to stay the same.
REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT
So, yes. Repeat, repeat, repeat, until you're almost sick of saying it yourself! Because that’s how people will hear it.
The key is saying the same message through different stories, on different mediums, in different kinds of ways.
It might be sharing your message through:
Facebook/Instagram lives
Story-based posts
Customer testimonials
Through teaching
In images
Via Interviews
In articles
There are many different ways to share your story and your brand message so don't be shy and don't think you have to reinvent the wheel and come up with something brand new all the time. Because you don't.
When you keep communicating the same message, people will hook onto that and remember you for it.
That’s how they know what you do and why you’re the one they want to work with.
When you start talking about one thing and then switch to something different and then switch back... That does nothing but confuse people about what you do. Connection and conversion then drop and it’s hard to get any traction.
Repetition is the key to clear brand positioning and cutting through the noise.
If you’re unsure about your brand message - or how to create engaging content that shares your brand message - check out Stories That Sell.
Inside Stories That Sell are two frameworks in there to help you nail your messaging: the Brand Story and the Brand Bio. There is also swipe files, templates, and everything you need to make creating content and attracting clients super easy.