One of the greatest features of operating a frequent blog on your website is the pleasure you get out of real customer engagement. Not only are they exchanging conversation with you, but they are actually interested in your product.
Business owners fifty years ago could have only dreamed of being able to literally chat with the lady who was thinking of spending six grand next week on their one-of-a-kind services. Blogging is such a powerful way to stand out from the competition and to really connect and build an authentic story. But what happens if your blog is a little less magical?
Are you speaking your customers’ language?
What readers want out of your blog and what bloggers think they need to write are often two very different things. Sometimes, it matters less what you say, and more how you say it. This old adage couldn’t be truer in the blogging world.
We like to promote content, good content. But we also know that you have to write something that people want to read, and you can’t spend weeks crafting a good piece.
In order to meet your own needs and give your readers what they want, you are going to need to write about something that you’re sure they are interested in. This is at least half the battle — getting them to click the article.
Fill it with good content and a unique spin on the topic, and you’ve probably got yourself a great piece that will result in more customer engagement.
Customer Engagement, not content, is king
After you’ve written your amazing content, you need to come up with a clever way of getting your audience to respond. If you get great traction from fans in your email follow-ups, or you successfully spark conversations on FaceBook or LinkedIn, use those same techniques to get traction for your blog site.
And, don’t forget to follow up from time to time directly with your readers. It shows your engaged and in tune with your audience.
Be direct
Address comments head-on and openly. Don’t just write ‘Thanks for sharing!’. You won’t gain much traction with your readers, and they certainly won’t want to comment further.
The goal here is to take five to ten minutes per day and respond to your first few commenters, so that you can start turning your readers into engaged and active conversations. This is how a community is formed.
Give something to get something
People love to get free stuff. Offer up something to entice your readers to engage with you. Try a prize drawing for a free service, or a simple gift card around the holidays for a random commenter. This is sure to get people to leave you a note.
By offering your potential customers something of value, you’re positioning your business as an expert, building brand affinity, and driving future sales.
Tweet, Tweet, Tweet!
Finally, website traffic and customer engagement are pivotal in winning in social media. Don’t be afraid to hit up your social media channels for comments — but be careful not to look like your begging for likes or retweets. If you want to test out a new idea, service, or product, offer something of value (or a free service) to get the person on board.
Get feedback
If you want to know what people are thinking, the most powerful way to find out is to simply ask.
Even on this page, you’ll notice a pop-up that asks our audience the type of content they want to receive. Our readers have asked for more on content marketing, and website design posts, so this is what we’re crafting more of. Try something similar to get the conversation going with your audience.
What are you doing to engage with your audience? What techniques have worked for you to get more feedback and interaction on your blog or social media channels? Share your experience with us!