Tag: marketing

The most powerful way to encourage attendance

July 8, 2011 / / 1 Comment

I recently got an invitation to attend a lunch with other like-minded leaders in Nashville. I was invited by the organizer of the event, because apparently “this is an event you’ll like.”

And I said, “I’ll be there.”

Was the exact same DM (that’s twitter shorthand for a message sent directly to you) sent to (probably) hundreds of other guys?  Yep.

Was it really just a way of getting a bunch of leaders in the same room to promote what they wanted to talk about?  Yeah. (I know, I know…you told us it wasn’t…but be honest)

If I’d gotten the exact same DM from the sponsoring company, would I have gone? Not a chance. *(this is an important marketing tip for churches and businesses.  If I receive an invitation from your corporate account, 99 times out of 100 I’ll ignore it.  Send it from  your personal account and it’ll get at least a second look)

But do you know why I went?

Because I got a personal invite from a real person.

I felt needed. I felt valued.  I felt that this event would be worth my time and effort to attend.

If the parent company had sent the DM, it would’ve felt pushy.  But coming from the person, it felt…personal.

The takeaway

Instead of sending out fliers for your next church event, encourage people to personally ask their friends.

Instead of buying a spot on a billboard to promote your event, encourage word-of-mouth.

Instead of blasting a mass email, encourage people to invite a few of their closest friends on Facebook.

“Personal” is a stronger, more meaningful “ask” than the mass appeal.

Question: Would you be more likely to attend an event if personally invited by someone you trust?

 

 

Promoting quality content

March 7, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Do you believe that your content is worth promoting?  Worth rising above the noise?

No?

Then why are you creating that content?!?

Yes?

Then why not figure out the best way to promote it?

*Hint: the answer is not in yelling louder, and more often, about your content.  Just in real life, if you yell often about how awesome you are, people don’t like it.

Here’s a principle you can take to the bank:

You have to capture your audience and engage them in your promotional content if you ever expect them to click through.

The words you use to promote your content are just as important in driving traffic to your blog as the actual content.  Let me explain by example.

Unhelpful update:

New blog. Check it out! http://lame.twitter.update.com (fake link)

Helpful update:

Ever wondered how to write a successful blog? New post: http://engaging.twitter.update.com (fake link)

Your content is battling an increasing amount of noise every day.  If you don’t engage your potential readers at the level of Twitter and Facebook, piquing their interest, you can forget them ever clicking through.

I’ve written posts I thought were paradigm-shifting.  I’ve written others where I poured my heart out.  I’ve written others that I could barely finish because I was laughing so hard.

And in each of those instances, I’ve had posts that never got off the ground.

The more people that engage social media, the louder, more chaotic the noise that we all create.  And if you’re adding multiple voices (Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc.), then you’re adding an exponential amount of noise, hoping that your noise produces more noise (through ReTweets, Facebook Shares, StumbleUpon “thumbs up”, and Diggs)…right?

I assume you’re crafting substantial, helpful content on your site.  Don’t let your status updates and promotions of your site fall flat.  They should start reflecting the quality and effort you’re putting into your blog.

Do you publish content to a blog?


Have you found success in promoting it?


How are you measuring that success?

 

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