Talk about it!

Always assume no one knows anything.

We naturally have a bad tendency to assume that just because we said something, posted something  or even thought something, everyone knows. The reality is for the most part, nobody knows. Even when you know you told someone directly, there is still a chance they don’t know.

When I ask people why they aren’t talking more about whatever they are trying to promote the usual response is that they think they’ve already done enough and that they don’t want to risk annoying people with talking too much about whatever they’re promoting.  I completely understand why they might feel that way. I know I’ve felt that way myself. But I also know there has been a handful of times where I thought I had over promoted something and then talked to people within my network who didn’t even know I was doing it. This blog is a great example. I'd like to think I tell enough people about it, but it never fails someone I thought I told about it is shocked when they hear I have a blog.

Facebook is partially to blame. Facebook made it too easy for us to reach a lot of people or at least that’s what we thought. More and more evidence is coming out on how ineffective facebook promotion can really be. Major brands like Nike, Harley Davidson and Louie Votton have all reported a 2% or less return on their facebook activities. We know “liking” something doesn’t really mean anything and ‘click farms’ (groups who accept payment in exchange for providing additional “Likes” but for the most part these “likes” are coming from fake accounts) still exist, even thought Facebook claims to have things in place to detect and block them. But even though we know all this, I still talk to people who still focus all their promotional activities on facebook, most likely because it’s still easy and as I mentioned at the start, we tend to assume that as soon as we post it, everyone will see it….sooner or later.

So how do we get past this? How can we reach more people. Simple….assume no one actually knows anything about what you’re promoting. Even if they did hear the message and are aware of whatever you are promoting, hearing about it again isn’t annoying. It helps reinforce the message.

Is there a point where you can over promote something? Yes, but I think that factors in more with the message you’re delivering. If you keep saying the same thing over, and over again, it will annoy the people who saw it the first time. The simple solution to that…don’t be lazy. Change up your posts still keeping the goal of promoting whatever you’re promoting in mind.

That being said as well, don’t rely on one source to promote something. Facebook restricts how many people you can reach without paying (and paying doesn’t guarantee you will reach whatever number they promise). Use a blended marketing approach using as many channels as you have at your disposal, especially the one we all have…our own voice. Talk to people about it. Have conversation about it. Engage your target audience.

In the end, don’t be afraid to talk about whatever it is that you’re promoting. The only real way to know someone is aware of whatever you are promoting is to tell them about it.