Written by: Melodie Dewsbury, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Whether you're marketing your business on Facebook, Instagram, or Linked In, your biggest obstacle when just starting out is creating a community within your audience. While anyone can post content, creating a community takes a bit more commitment. Thankfully, it's not an art, and it can be taught.
In this article, I'm going to share with you some tried-and-tested methods I use to feel more connected to my audience. What's great about these methods is that you can start to implement them tomorrow and see results.
Building Community Through Facebook Groups
First though, I’d like to backtrack a bit so you know why I’m talking about this today. When I first started my coaching business in 2019, I created a Facebook group (as most of the business coaches were recommending this method back then). Within a year it grew to almost 2000 members and stayed at that number for a while. Some might consider it a small group, but it was active – at any given time, approximately 90% of the members were actively engaging in the content. Many new members raved about this special group for female entrepreneurs because the community inside was different than many other entrepreneur groups at that time.
Then some algorithm changes took place, Facebook started deprioritizing communities and groups and started pushing videos and reels. Engagement decreased and decreased, even though I was showing up in the same way. That was fine because at the same time, I felt like I needed a change. I had some life changes going on (buying and selling a house and a new marketing job to start) and I was pretty burned out. I couldn't give my group the same energy as I had before.
That’s when I decided to make the switch to Instagram, a platform I felt I could really let my creative side run wild (she has a lot of fun creating reels and graphics), but in essence, I was starting from scratch. Don’t worry, I love a good challenge.
Why Do You Need to Create Connection?
When you first start on a platform and you've got 12 followers, 3 of which are friends and your mom, you've got your work cut out for you. Your first job is to achieve some level of visibility and to establish your feed so there's something of substance for followers to see when they eventually find you.
After that, your job is to build a community.
If you think about it, this is the easiest to do when you have less than 500 followers! You've got a leg up, or a head start if you will, over others who have thousands of followers. There’s no way they can connect individually with everyone on their list like you can.
You might be asking yourself why you would prioritize connection at this point. The short answer is when you start to engage in your follower’s content, they end up seeing yours too. Sending direct messages back and forth tells the algorithm that you value each other’s content, therefore it will show you more of it (and show them more of yours).
People have a fundamental need to feel like they belong. They also buy from people they trust. When you connect with those who are engaging in your content (on a personal, agenda-free note, I might add), you open the door for conversations, connection, and future sales.
So what’s the actual strategy to do this? Let’s go!
If Nobody’s Commenting
You can’t create conversations if nobody is commenting on your content. First, make sure your content isn’t what I like to call “fluff.” Is it relevant, engaging, interesting, entertaining, or novel? Make sure your content strategy includes stuff that nobody else is talking about in the industry.
I also fully believe you need to train your audience to leave comments, and it's up to you to teach them specifically how to do that. Some examples of this in your posts or stories are:
Tell me below if you prefer A or B!
How do you feel about XYZ?
Agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!
The second piece to this is your own engagement strategy. I can’t tell you how many accounts I see who haven’t taken the time to respond to the comments they have. That’s a really quick way to lose trust and a community feel. It’s very simple to take ten minutes every day to respond to all the comments that have been left.
Build Trust Through Stories
On Facebook and Instagram, we’re lucky to have the Stories feature. This is undoubtedly the easiest way to nurture your audience and build community. This is where you get to have fun with your content, share parts of your life that aren’t business related, and engage with your audience through polls, questions, and interactive stickers.
Stories allow your audience to see you for the human you really are (the uncurated version that’s not on your feed). Continue to sell in your stories, but also don’t be afraid to share you walking your cat, going on a hike with your kids, posting a selfie after putting on a ridiculous charcoal mask (these get the most engagement, by the way!). You’re essentially filling in the trust gap and allowing people a look into your life. They feel like they really know you, like they belong and are a part of your life, and they start to really like you (hello, beautiful community!).
Video Is Worth A Million Words
The last piece that I’m sharing with you today (and don’t come at me for it!) is that to really connect with your audience, and create a community within your account, you need to use live video.
Clients hate it when I tell them this, as most of my clients are introverts, and being on video is the last thing in the world they'd rather do, especially live video. But my clients are also amazing and I never make them go on video without helping them build up their confidence first.
Posting alone just won't cut it. I like to say that if a picture is worth a thousand words, live video is worth a million. Your audience gets to see how you speak, who you are, how you teach others, how you answer questions and handle yourself, how compassionate you are, and how you are incredibly funny/witty/sassy/smart and all of this makes people feel like they know you and that they belong in your world. This builds the trust factor and collapses the time it normally takes to do so.
Let’s Work Together!
Community and connection is the ultimate goal when you’re starting out on a new social media platform. This allows you to warm up your audience and get a head start on turning followers into clients. The three tips above are just a few of the ways that I work with clients to help them build the trust factor with their social media accounts.
Most solopreneurs don't know where to start when creating content. They don't know what to write or post that will get their audience engaged in their content and ask for more information to work together.
The Content Creator’s Circle is a hybrid 1:1 and group program that will help you build a simple strategy to write and post content with ease, so you can turn followers into clients.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been around for a while and have clients but you spend too much time stressing about what to post, the Creator's Circle will help you feel confident about your social media presence. With my 5-part framework, not only will you learn systems to make writing, batching, and scheduling content easier, but you'll also get clarity around your messaging, offers, pricing, and ideal client.
For more information on this program, please apply at melodiedee.com/creatorscircle.
Has this article shed some light or helped you get clear on your next steps? I’d love to hear how; feel free to connect with me on Instagram (@yourcreativecontentcoach).
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info!
Melodie Dewsbury, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Melodie is a devoted dog mom, educator, and avid sunshine chaser. After her divorce, Melodie decided to start living life on her terms, leaving her teaching career to educate others online. She now works with female entrepreneurs to write and produce content that resonates with their ideal clients and empowers them to overcome the mindset obstacles that hold them back from reaching their true potential. One of Melodie’s missions in life is to help other women find their voice and use that to help change lives.
