All brands want attention. All brands want awareness. And many brands do a lot of work to gain these, and then they stop.
Fans, followers, email lists are the customer giving you permission to talk to them. They are saying "I am aware. I like what I see yet I still need reasons to buy from you and the chance to actually buy from you'
They are not a sale. They are not money. They don't pay the bills.
That is the bad news.
The good news is that like debtors on your balance sheet....
Fans/followers are assets that can be turned into money IF
- You consistently deliver reasons that relate to their life, their problems and their needs. They are giving permission but the permission can be withdrawn if you don't continue to deliver value through your content.
- You sell to their heart as well as their head. In order to move from awareness to purchase we need to satisfy our rational and our emotional brain.
- Give them a way of rewarding you. Paying is a reward, a reward for providing value. When we go after more fans we may provide great value but we forget the call to action that will reward our efforts.
So to convert more fans into customers ask yourself
- Does the content relate to their emotional and rational needs?
- If yes, give them away to satisfy those needs - a call to action.
We are often so desperate to improve the quantity of fans/followers that we forget to convert the quantity into the quality of actual customers. We have to realise that customers need a way of converting their interest into an actual purchase. It needs to be obvious, simple and action orientated.
Don't be ashamed. Don't be embarrassed about wanting a reward.
It is not selfish, it is not self serving ....it is the reward that maintains the business that continues to fulfil the customer needs. A reward is a two way exchange of value - indeed it would be selfish not to change the customer's life for the better!
People don't want free...they want value. If they only want what you give away for free - there are two reasons...either you are targeting the wrong people or the wrong need..or they don't value your content.
To grow your business, you need to dig deeper and understand more about why are not converting....it can lead to hard feedback but feedback that can take your business forward.