Itâs always an exciting feeling to see new likes, comments and shares when you post your content on social media.
But what if in your accountancy firm those numbers are a little bit on the low side?
What if you donât have a huge audience?
What if youâre struggling to get more people engaging with your content?
You could start to ask yourself âis posting and sharing content really worth it?â
Now I could create an article here with tips and tricks on how to get more engagement⊠but what Iâd rather do is talk about this topic from a completely different angle.
Everyoneâs talking about how to get more engagement.
But have you ever stopped to think about those who are seeing your content and NOT engaging?
Online we sometimes call these people the lurkers.
There are always more lurkers than people who engage with your content.
(And Iâll be the first to admit, I can sometimes be a bit of a lurker too.)
I consume a lot of content, but I donât always share, like or leave a comment. But I do usually remember the content and who created it.
In fact, maybe youâre one of those people reading this article right now and you have never engaged with my content before (by liking, sharing or leaving a comment)… yet youâre still here, reading this content.
The truth is everyone does it. Some more than others.
So next time you create a blog post and you donât see it suddenly go viral, donât worry. You never know who’s actually reading it.
Can you still find out who is consuming your content?
Even though not everyone will engage with your content, it would still be useful to know if people are actually reading your blogs or watching your videos, right?
One of the ways you can find out if potential clients have been consuming your content is on the calls you have with prospects when they reach out to work with you
Some of the questions I normally ask on consultations with potential clients are âWhat motivated you to take the time out of your schedule to speak to me todayâ? and âThere are lots of marketing agencies out there, so what made you decide to want to work with us?â
This usually reveals the real reason why theyâre on the call and that allows me to see how I can best help them.
Whatâs interesting from asking these question is that most people say something like
- âWell, I was watching some of your videosâŠâ
- âI enjoyed the webinar you did on using LinkedInâŠ.â
- âI was reading this blog you wrote on âhow to generate leadsâ andâŠâ
They have all been consuming content!
Some even mentioned that theyâve been consuming content and following my posts on social media for years before actually reaching out.
Whatâs interesting about all of these comments is that not one of those people have ever left a comment, share or like on the content they were consuming.
Yet, I know they were still consuming the content, because they told me!
So in your accountancy firm, when your speaking to potential clients, ask them questions like âOut of all the other accountancy firms, what made you decide to speak to us?â
A lot of the time youâll find it has something to do with your website and how your content really resonated and helped them.
Track people who consume your content
Sometimes people donât actually tell you on the call that they have been consuming your content, even though they have. People can forget.
I sometimes get people on calls say something like âOh I think I saw you on Facebook or Google or somewhere but I canât really rememberâŠâ
But, not all is lost even if they donât remember!
There are two awesome free tools you can use to track exactly how much people are consuming your content even if they never engage or tell you directly.
Tool #1: Google Analytics
If you donât do anything else, make sure you at least install Google Analytics on your website.
Although you can do a lot of things inside Google Analytics, Iâm going to focus on just one of itâs features that allows you to see how often someone is consuming your content.
In Google Analytics, if you log in and go to Behaviour > All pages:
Google Analytics will give you break down of the most popular pages on your website.
If you have a blog, youâll also notice how most of the popular pages on your website are actually blog posts youâve written. Some might even be blog posts youâve written years ago that are still getting lots of traction even today!
You may be surprised to learn how many people are actually reading your content every day (even if they donât engage with it).
Tool #2: Hubspot Marketing
If you click here you can install Hubspotâs Free Marketing Tools on your website. The main tool I use from Hubspot is the âCollected Formsâ tool.
What this does is it track anyone who submits a form on your website (such as your contact form) and then it tells you what pages on your website they viewed before and after they submitted the form.
Why is this useful?
You can actually see what content / blog posts someone was reading before they decided to reach out to you.
So even if someone didnât engage with your content, you know they were still consuming it and you can learn what type of content led them to reach out to you.
Marcus Sheridan, the author of the book âThey Ask, You Answerâ also uses Hubspot to track people who fill in forms on his website and he found that the more content and pages of a website someone views before the sales call, the more likely they will be to sign up as a client.
Content never sleeps
I came off a call with a potential client last week and he admitted that he saw one of my videos from a Facebook ad at 1am in the morning. He said that the content inside the video really resonated with him and although it was late, he just had to finish watching the whole 25-minute video I recorded.
Iâve heard the saying that âcontent never sleepsâ before, but when you actually see the power of it first-hand, it really hits you.
I was fast asleep at 1am. Yet, here there was someone consuming content at that time.
Keep that in mind when youâre creating, publishing and sharing your content. You never know when content youâve created for your accountancy firm could be viewed. People can find, watch and read your content at any time and any day.
Track who views your content on social media
After sharing your content on social media, if you have a small audience and youâre not doing any paid ads, you may see very little engagement.
But again, remember everything weâve discussed above. There are always more people that will consume your content without engaging with you.
So depending on which social media platforms youâre posting on, have a look at that platforms analytics. For example, on LinkedIn you can see how many views you have for every post you publish individually (just by clicking on the post, it will tell you your views). And on Twitter you can go to analytics.twitter.com to see how many people are seeing your Tweets every day.
Youâll notice, even if you have little engagement, there are still a lot more people consuming the content you share.
And you never know who they are and when they will reach out to you.
Keep posting content consistently
By now youâve learned that a lot of people read and watch your content even if they donât actually engage with it.
So my last tip on this topic is to keep creating content that solves your potential clients problems consistently.
It could be weeks, months or years before you build up enough trust for someone to reach out and work with you. But it will happen eventually. So if you stop creating content or sharing that content on social media, people might forget about you.
Instead, make sure people always remember who you are, what you do and how you can help them by creating, posting and sharing content as often as you can.
About the Author
Ashley Davis is the Social Media Director at The Profitable Firm and also works with small to medium sized businesses at Skyline Social.