Brandmerry Blog Archives
How to Host an Online Challenge to Grow Your Community With Ease {Video Inside}
I've been hosting live challenges for seven years, and with conversion rates averaging between 5% to 7%, and the average 1% to 3%, it's clear they are impactful.
I’ve honed a process that consistently drives results with my live challenge, and with everyone talking about webinars, I want to offer a different perspective.
Live challenges allow you to give massive value to your community during a designated time frame, but give you the space to go deeper, something a 60-90 minute webinar can not.
Plus, in a short time, your audience can follow your challenge and instantly see results, which builds connection and trust quickly.
It's an amazing strategy and tool to not only grow your community, but also nurture and develop your community so they are ready to invest in your offer.
So whether you're launching a new program, live launching an existing one, or wanting to fill your 1:1 program, a well-executed challenge can be a game-changer.
Today, I am excited to share with you not only why these challenges work so well but also walk you through the step-by-step process for setting up your online challenge.
Inside today’s episode of the Authentic Brand Builders podcast, we’ll dive into:
The exact process you need to get your online challenge ready and deliver insane value to your audience.
My top tips for structuring your videos for higher conversions, and how to increase show-up rates.
A little insider secret I use to support my challenge participants in feeling great about joining my offer.
**I’ve included the main points below, but I encourage you to dive into the full episode via audio or video!
For the full content, and all the insider tips, listen to Episode 123 here or watch it here.
Why Online Challenges Convert Better Than Webinars
Many entrepreneurs prioritize webinars as the core of their launching or promotional efforts.
Yet, for me, live challenges have occupied this sweet spot. Why? They offer more flexibility and a deeper connection with my audience.
A webinar often limits you to 60-90 minutes where you need to cover the why, what, how, build authority, and promote your offer. I don’t know about you but I struggle with not only the timeframe but also like I’m cheating my audience out of value.
A live challenge, however, gives me up to two hours of interaction over several days. This longer format allows me to fully unpack the why, what, and how of my topics, leading to higher engagement and ultimately, better conversion rates.
If you’re like me and have never found your groove with webinars it might be time to try this completely underutilized launching technique.
How to Host Your Online Challenge {step-by-step}
I’ve broken down all of these steps in a bonus training, which you can watch for free on my YouTube channel.
STEP ONE: Define Your End Goal and Topic
Before diving into the logistics of your challenge, the crucial first step is defining what you're ultimately selling.
The end product or service influences the topic of your challenge significantly. Specific topics aligned with your offerings tend to convert better. For instance, in the past, I’ve used a challenge to promote my branding course, so I used a challenge to help them identify their brand story. This not only aligns perfectly with my topic but paves the way for participants to confidently join the course as the next step.
Think about pre-work or a first step someone might need to join your offer as the starting place for your challenge topic.
When it comes to choosing your topic, the more specific you can be with the outcome of the challenge, the easier it will be for someone to take time out of their busy schedule to participate.
The more specific you are with the title, benefits and outcome for your audience the better.
Here are 3 things to be super specific about:
The problem you solve with the challenge. This will help you title your challenge and promote it.
The title. This needs to be clear. Many people will decide if your challenge is for them or not based on your title. Remember you’re solving a problem, tell them the problem and what they will get from the challenge in a single sentence.
List out the benefits. Each of the days of the challenge you should be focusing on one small thing. The more specific you are with the lessons each day, the faster your audience will get results. Get clear on the benefit each day to help you plan your content.
Example titles from some of my past challenges include: The Specify Your Niche Challenge, The Brand Story Challenge, and The Content Gamechanger Challenge.
STEP 2: Design Your Challenge Structure
After choosing your specific topic, map out what you’ll deliver, the intended outcomes, and the timeframe.
I've experimented with multiple challenge durations and found that a four-day structure hits the sweet spot. It’s long enough to deliver meaningful content without overwhelming participants or losing their engagement.
Once you’ve determined your schedule you can map out the specific talking points and structure of your challenge topics. This will be helpful when we create all of your promotional materials.
Below, is a sample structure for a four-day live challenge that yields me the best results.
Structuring Your Live Online Challenge for Success
Day One: Setting the Foundation
The first day of a challenge is crucial. It's dedicated to laying a solid foundation and getting participants invested in what you are sharing. This is where the 'why' comes in.
I recently conducted a challenge focusing on the customer journey, vital for successful marketing. This setup not only sets the stage for the following days but also builds excitement and aligns with my upcoming offers.
Day Two: Diving Into Content
By the second day, I transition into the 'what'. What do they need to do to get results?
For my recent challenge, I guided participants in mapping out where they would show up and what content they would share. This practical focus helps participants see immediate results from their efforts.
Day Three and Beyond: Engagement and Depth
On the third day, we want to start to give specifics around the how. Don’t be afraid to give specifics here, even if it’s something you offer inside of your course. This provides value and trust with your audience.
This approach ensures participants are informed and prepared to join your offer when you present it.
Step 3: Delivery Method and Support
Your challenge content can be live or prerecorded. I personally favor live challenges due to their higher conversion rates. I host my challenges in either a Facebook Group or a community forum like Kajabi.
You’ll want to deliver either a live or pre-recorded video, typically live videos will be around 30 minutes in length and offer Q&A. If you’re going the pre-recorded route, then you’ll want to include a bonus Q&A call to support this element.
As I’ve said, I love live challenges and the key advantage of live challenges is showcasing the support aspect inherent in my programs. Whether it's one-on-one guidance or group support, the live format lets potential clients experience firsthand what it means to be part of my community.
I also include a replay page for those unable to join live or aren’t able to join the group. This ensures they don't miss out on the value and move into my paid offer. Coupling live sessions with accessible replays have consistently driven success in my business, including conversion rates of up to 10%.
Step 4: Set Up Your Challenge Collateral
Before promoting your challenge, you want to create all of your collateral materials.
This includes crafting a lead capture page to collect email addresses, a thank-you page, and a confirmation email with all the event details. If utilizing social media platforms like Facebook, create a group for participants to engage and ask questions.
Here’s a cheat sheet of what you need before getting started:
Lead Capture Page: Start with a landing page to collect participants' names and email addresses. This is crucial for creating a targeted email list for your challenge and growing your community overall. I like to host my landing pages on Convertkit or LeadPages.
Thank You Page: After users sign up, redirect them to a thank you page. This could guide them to check their email for further instructions or offer a simple upsell, like a discounted course related to the challenge or a VIP option for the challenge (which could include lifetime access to the videos).
Confirmation Email: Immediately send a confirmation email that includes details about the challenge, the schedule, and how to join the group where the challenge will take place.
Step 5: Promotion and Communication for the Online Challenge
Promotion should start at least two weeks before the challenge begins.
You’ll want to plan on sending a series of emails inviting your existing audience to the challenge, plus reminder emails for those who sign up.
INVITATION EMAILS
Craft at least five emails leading up to the challenge, sent over two weeks. These should entice participants with stories, benefits, and any previous success stories related to your challenge or offerings.
A last-minute email on the day before or the day the challenge starts, reminding those who haven’t signed up yet ALWAYS results in last-minute signups. Seriously, don’t skip this email even if you feel like you’ve sent a bunch!
In addition to your emails, if you’re on social media, you can repurpose these emails into social media content like posts, carousels, stories, or reels. If you have a YouTube channel, weekly podcast, or blog don’t forget to promote your challenge there as well.
CHALLENGE-SPECIFIC EMAILS
You want to make sure participants remember and attend the challenge by sending timely reminders:
Weekly and Daily Reminders: A week before the challenge begins, send a reminder email about the challenge. Then make sure you send a 48 and 24-hour reminder email as well. Remember, people will be signing up at different points over the two weeks so you don’t want them to miss the crucial information.
Tips and Tricks: Between reminders, offer valuable tips and insights on how to prepare for the challenge, enhancing participants’ readiness and excitement. I love to share a YouTube video that might give them a taste of my teaching style and provide them with helpful information. You could do the same with an existing piece of content.
Daily Updates: Send a daily email summarizing what participants will learn that day and providing links to join or view replays. We typically send this out 2-4 hours before the live video is released which helps with improving show-up rates.
PROMOTIONAL EMAILS
During the challenge, around day two or three, you’ll start promoting your paid offer. While you’ll be talking about this in the group, you’ll also want to send promotion-specific emails to participants.
Opening Sales Email: Announce the official opening of course or program enrollment early during the challenge.
Benefit-Focused Emails: Over the next few days, send multiple emails highlighting different benefits and features of your offering, including testimonials or case studies.
Final Urgency Email: As the challenge nears its end, use urgency-driven language to encourage program signups, reminding participants that doors are closing, or bonuses are expiring. I also pair this with the reminder that the challenge group will be closing and all videos will be coming down.
Step 6: Execute and Engage
This is the easy part. You’ve already done all of the ground work and now you get to show up and support your audience.
Ensure your content delivery is as energetic as your preparation.
Whether your sessions are live or not, make them interactive and value-packed. Encourage questions and provide as much support as possible. This interaction is crucial, as it builds rapport and allows participants to experience the benefits of your product firsthand.
Increase Your Online Challenge Conversion Rate
In addition to the value you’ll be providing during the week, there are a few ways you can enhance the experience for your audience.
SUPPORTIVE DOCUMENTS: Create bonus workbooks, questions, or prompts that your audience can participate in to get better results. Recently, I created a simple Google Doc that gave them exercises to complete after the live video and it was incredibly easy and useful to my audience.
ADD BONUS TRAININGS OR LIVE Q&A: If you’re using pre-recorded video, then you’ll definitely want to add live Q&A at some point via Zoom or another group meeting platform. You can also add bonus workshops or webinars at the end of the challenge to cover the next steps and go deeper into what your offer provides.
INCLUDE SPECIAL BONUSES: Since, you’re promoting you want this enrollment period to feel exclusive, so I always love to offer a bonus 1:1 session, a bonus bundle, and/or a discounted price on my offer.
CREATE URGENCY: You want to make sure people go through your challenge, so I really encourage you to limit your video replays and support to seven days. This will get more people to show up and engage, checkout the replay page, and pay attention while you’re promoting the offer.
PERSONAL OUTREACH: Personal touches, like individual outreach via video, can make a huge difference in your conversion rate. I use this strategy to reach out to any who actively participates in the challenge and I think would be a great fit for my offer. I send them a one-minute video where I say their name, thank them, and ask if they have any questions about the offer.
CONCLUSION
Hosting a live challenge is not just about sharing information and selling your offers; it's about creating connections and presenting your value in a magnetic and authentic way.
By taking the time to plan your challenge thoughtfully and prioritize interaction, you can achieve impressive conversion rates for your offer.
If you're looking to enhance launch strategies or grow your audience, hosting a live challenge could be the next big step for your business growth.
Don’t forget you can dive into the step-by-step process inside this video.
And, you can hear some of my takeaways and tips from my recent challenge in this video.
P.S. Ready to build a revenue-generating brand? One that not only stands out online but also makes it easier than ever to create high-value content? Tune in to my free brand class and learn my Build a Better Brand Method. Watch now at brandmerry.com/class.
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
Meet Michelle
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
How to Use Facebook Messenger Bots For Your Brand {Video Inside}
How to Use Facebook Messenger Bots For Your Brand
In today's video I'm going to be sharing with you three simple ways to use Facebook Messenger bots, specifically mini chat, to not only grow your audience, but also increase brand awareness, and more importantly, engagement. But before I dive into those three simple steps, I want to share with you an upcoming masterclass that I'm hosting on how to create an authentic brand that allows you to grow your community with ease and leads to more clients. You can find an upcoming time and all the information in the link below.
But before I jump into those three simple steps, I want to go ahead and invite you to an upcoming training that I am doing. I'm going to be sharing five steps on creating an authentic brand that grows your loyal community and leads to more clients. You can join here: https://brandmerry.com/authenticbrand
1. Using Messenger Bots for Live Video Notification
This has been so much fun for me in my brand and business, and I'm so excited to share it with you, because it has really not only increased live viewers, but also increased engagement, which is so important with the social media algorithm. We want people not only showing up to watch, liking and hearting your content, sharing and commenting. All of those pieces are really, really important.
So the more people that you can get on the actual live video, as opposed to watching it on replay, is going to help you stand out online. So how do you do this with mini chat? So there's so many different ways to use Messenger bots, but I absolutely love creating a really simple form in Manychat for an upcoming live video that you are hosting. Maybe for you it's a live video, a live training, a challenge, or a weekly or biweekly segment, like Mondays with Michelle, which I do biweekly on my Facebook business page.
Creating a really simple opt in form using Manychat, putting a cool little title telling them if they sign up they'll get a notification right in their Messenger box, so they don't miss a single thing. Then, when they sign up, you can schedule a broadcast to all of the amazing women and men who have signed up to get the notification, and send them a really cool notification that says "Oh my gosh, we're live." They can click the button and join you live right there and then.
It's also a really cool idea to follow up with any posts afterwards asking if they have any takeaways or questions, or reminding them about a special offer that you mentioned on the live video, which they will hopefully be live on, with that really awesome reminder.
It takes the guess work out for people wondering "When is that person going to go live? Do I have to set a reminder?" And what if they forget, because life gets in the way. We are all by our phones most of the time, so it's really cool to have just a little Facebook Messenger pop up and say "Oh yeah, I'll watch right here on my phone."
2. Using Messenger Bots for Pre-Enrollment to a Launch
So maybe you're rolling out a new course, or a new program, and this is a strategy that I absolutely loved doing for my signature course, Your Brand New Adventure. And it worked really, really well. So what I did is I created a wait list on my website, by embedding a Manychat form onto my website, so that they could go to my website, to the sales page, and click to get a messenger reminder when the cart opened.
Then about a week before the cart opens, I sent a Facebook message to them, just letting them know that they had signed up to join the wait list, and the offer was now available. It was so powerful, I had 50% women buy on the very first day, and the other 50%, yes 100% conversion on a wait list, signed up before the cart closed.
And all I needed to do, because they were an engaged audience, is send them a reminder message mid way through, just letting them know that that special pre-enrollment offer was ending, and then again on the final day, saying "Hey, now if you're interested, here's the information to learn more."
It saved me a ton of time when it came to pre-enrollment for my launch, I didn't have to send out a ton of emails. It was just three simple Manychat messages, and I was done. So it's a really cool tool to use in your arsenal.
One thing to keep in mind is that Manychat and other messenger bots do not allow sole promotion. So you want to make sure that the people who sign up for your wait list are engaged before you actually promote a free order. In order to do that you can add a couple of questions like "Are you still interested in the Brand New Adventure that you signed up for. Click yes or no." And once they respond, they will be considered an engaged audience.
3. Using Messenger bots to Announce a YouTube Video or a Blog Post that just went live
This is really important, especially when it comes to YouTube, because Google wants to see that people are responding to the video shortly after it's published. And the same goes for your blog post.
So the more eyes that you can get on that content right away, the better. So using Messenger bots to send reminders to your audience when a blog post is published, or a YouTube video is live, is really, really powerful. You can create a simple signup using something like Manychat, where they can just sign up for notifications, and then every week, or biweekly, or whenever your schedule is for your blog, or your YouTube channel, you can send a little reminder to their inbox saying "Hey, here's today's topic. I'd love for you to head over to the website, or YouTube. Hit like, write a comment, and let me know your feedback."
It's a great way to get instant feedback, and instant eyes on the content you're creating. Messenger bots are seriously exploding, and I'll share with you my personal favorite, which is Manychat. It's free to use, it's a really, really great tool to add to your online business. But it's really important because it improves engagement, and engagement is so important with the way Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, basically every single algorithm, is functioning today.
So the more people that you can get onto your live videos, or into your programs, on to your blog posts or your YouTube video right away, the better it is going to be for you and your brand. But here's the thing, I shared with you three simple steps today on how you can incorporate Messenger bots, but if you don't have a clear voice for your brand and your business, none of that stuff, that fancy stuff, makes any sense.
Which is why I'm really going to encourage you one more time to join me for my upcoming masterclass on five simple steps to create an authentic brand that allows you to grow your community with ease, and leads to more clients. You can click the link right here https://brandmerry.com/authenticbrand to sign up at the time that works best for you.
You can watch the whole video for a more in-depth version of this and several bonus tips below!
Head over to YouTube and be sure to like and comment on the video while you are over there to help more people see this information ↠ https://youtu.be/zc19LlZCIu0
And as always please share and comment on this blog post, I love connecting with you!
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>
What to do When You Feel Stuck and Don't Know What to Email Your List
What to do When You Feel Stuck and Don't Know What to Email Your List {Video Inside}
Before we dive in, I want to invite you to my upcoming masterclass: 5 Steps to Create an Authentic Brand. This is going to be way different than any webinar you've been to before because, let's be honest, I hate webinars. So I'm changing the game and bringing you this masterclass that is packed full of valuable information and giving you 5 actionable steps to create your own authentic brand. Join me here: Brandmerry.com/authenticbrand
Okay, now back to what to do when you feel stuck and don't know what to email your list or post on social media. How many times have you gone to email your list and sat in front of that blank email, unsure of what to share with your community? How many times have you done it for a Facebook post? An Instagram caption? Am I starting to see a theme?
In November of 2017, it felt like I had lost every idea in my mind. I was really struggling to come up with content. I was struggling to email my list and post in Authentic Brand Builders. So I came up with a process to get unstuck, and that's what I'm sharing with you today. Life happens, I get it. So even if you're not feeling this way now, this information may be good to keep in the back of your mind, so when something does come up, you can still show up for your community and overcome the slump. If you've ever felt this way before, comment below and share your story! I love to read your comments.
Why are you feeling stuck
We really want to pinpoint why you're feeling this way. It's not because you ran out of ideas. We always have ideas. Something else is blocking you and keeping you stuck. For myself, I was feeling a severe lack of confidence in November. Had I gone and posted to or emailed my community, it probably wouldn't even resonate with my audience because I wasn't inspired, and I wasn't confident. Ask yourself why? What is blocking you and why?
Make sure you know your audience
Check in with yourself and make sure you know your audience well. If you know your audience, it's much easier to come up with ideas and often times when we feel stuck it's because we don't know who we are talking to. We feel like we're talking to everyone. When we are trying to talk to too many people, we talk to no one. When you go to write that email or that social media post, it's really, really important you know who you're talking to.
Follow these 3 steps to get unstuck
1. Write an email about that very moment (your why to being stuck from number 1).
Write about your current situation and what you're going through right now (or at that moment of feeling stuck). Make sure it gives value to your audience. This will help you build trust with your audience, it will help you relate with your audience and it will give you something to talk about.
2. Have a brain dump
Be open to receiving the ideas and write everything that you can possibly think of down. If you haven't corrected the barrier of ideas flowing out, you won't be able to have the ideas flow in. You have to be open to receiving the ideas otherwise they won't come. But as soon as they do come, they won't stop. Sit down with a notebook and write down all of the ideas.
3. Pull from the archives
The archives are your story. Anything that has happened in the past. We can pull from the archives and share those stories in a way that give value to your community. You can give tips to your audience who may be going through the same thing. This is so, so powerful. This is why I believe storytelling is the basis for every successful entrepreneur. Storytelling is about you being comfortable sharing your truth in a way that resonates with your audience and gives value.
BONUS TIP: If fear is blocking you...
Think about the person you want to attract to your brand. The person you want to respond to your message. Write to them. Write to that person. Break through the noise, speak your truth, get over the fear and just do it.
You can watch the video for a more in-depth version of this and several bonus tips below!
Head over to my Facebook Page and be sure to like and comment on the video while you are over there to help more people see this information ↠ facebook.com/brandmerrycoaching
And as always please share and comment on this blog post, I love connecting with you!
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>
How to Grow Your Brand Audience
How to Grow Your Brand Audience
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
Prefer to watch the training? You can scroll down to get the info in video format as well.
Growing your brand audience should be a top priority for any business owner, entrepreneur and influencer.
The reality is without an audience, you’re going to have a very difficult time making money. If you have no one to sell to, how do you plan to do it?
If you’re struggling with How to Grow Your Brand Audience, I want to share three simple and actionable steps you can implement today to start building your audience.
This is not just about building an audience, or the number of followers, it’s about intentionally creating a community of brand fans and future clients.
If this is a topic that’s at the front of your mind and you’re ready to take action after reading this blog, then I’d love to invite you to my upcoming class to Build a Better Brand Method. You can find the details and choose the time that works best for you at brandmerry.com/brandmasterclass.
Okay, let's dive into the 3 Steps to Grow Your Brand Audience.
1. Create a LEAD MAGNET YOUR AUDIENCE NEEDS
All right, so in the online space, it's important that we're constantly giving value to our community as a way to build trust. Everything you do online has to be rooted in building trust with your audience, this is where sales come from.
We also know that growing a list, a community of individuals who are interested in what we have to offer is important if we want to actually make money.
However, what so many entrepreneurs miss is the lead magnet/ free offer/ freebie (all can be used interchangeably as they mean the same thing).
When creating this lead magnet the goal is to create something so irresistible that your audience needs to get their hands on it and are ready to sign up (i.e. give you their name and email) at that moment.
Too many entrepreneurs are focusing on just creating a lead magnet that they don’t create something truly beneficial to their audience and of high value.
For this to work, you need to have an understanding of your audience, something I chat about in my free class.
In addition to this free offer meeting the needs of your target audience, it also needs to be packed with value - I can’t stress this enough. Remember, the idea with this lead magnet is that your audience, who probably doesn't know anything about you (i.e. cold audience), signs up for this lead magnet and gets their hands on it.
We want them to walk away able to take action, able to do something with what you've given them because this is where trust begins. To do this, to deliver value and not overwhelm your audience, it’s important to simplify the process. Be very descriptive with your lead magnet and make it a goal to solve one problem, not 20 problems. The more specific you are the better the results for your audience.
So the emphasis here is not only to create a lead magnet for your audience, which of course will grow your online community but to make sure that lead magnet is on brand, meets the need of your ideal customer and provides high-value.
If you’re looking for additional, blogs on building a free lead magnet you can check out the following…
How to Build a Profitable Email List
The Truth About Getting Subscribers Through Your Email List
4 Tools to Build Your Email List from Scratch
3 Ways to Improve Your Email Funnel When Growing Your List
2. UTILIZE VIDEO (ESPECIALLY LIVE VIDEO)
Oh my gosh, I love live video, I also love YouTube, but live video is hands down my favorite way to spread brand awareness and grow my audience.
Now the brand awareness component of this might be easy, right?
You're getting online video, you're talking about a really important topic, you're showing up, people are getting to know you, you're building that trust.
But what might not be as clear is, “how do I grow my audience with live video?”
Well, here is the key. You now have that freebie that we talked about in step number one, so every time you go on live video or release a prerecorded video, I want you to share that freebie, and I want you to talk about that freebie like it is the hottest thing that they have to get their hands on.
You can begin every live video sharing this freebie and saying, "Hey, take a hot second, click the link below, grab that freebie, right, and then come back here for those awesome tips!" As a result of this simple action, as well as reminding them at the end of the video, you're going to start growing your community with every single video that you do.
Additional ways to grow your audience using video is to direct people to other resources. This includes growing your private community (i.e. Facebook Group), sending them to a blog, telling them to see a post on Instagram, promoting your offers and more.
There are tons of really cool ways, to use live video to grow your audience, but a lot of entrepreneurs are giving this actionable step. If people are watching this video, taking time out of their schedule, they’re probably interested in the topic. You have to give them a CTA (call to action) if you want them to take action.
If we don't tell our audience these awesome resources that we have, they're never going to know that they exist. So, do yourself and your audience a favor, and show up on that live video, talk about your freebies, talk about your community, talk about all the cool things that you have, give amazing value, build that trust, and watch your brand awareness freaking explode.
If you’re nervous about getting on video, I’ve got a blog and video with 5 Easy Steps to Be More Confident on Video.
I go live every Monday as part of my show Mondays With Michelle and every video has at least a small CTA. You can sign up to receive notifications for these videos at brandmerry.com/live and see it in action.
3. ADD Content Upgrades TO YOUR BLOG
As you can tell, I’m a big fan of blogging for business. It’s one of the coolest ways to deliver value and increase traffic to your website through SEO and Pinterest.
As we mentioned before you can create a signature lead magnet for your brand, but sometimes when we create blogs, that get incredible traffic it’s worth adding in content upgrades.
Content upgrades, along with your lead magnet, are a way to capture your reader’s information so you can add them to your inner circle (aka stay in contact with them). It’s not enough to just have someone land on your website, we want to make sure they learn more about you and you have a way to build the relationship that ultimately leads to the sale.
For example, if someone lands on my blog, “What to Include in Your About Me Section of Your Website,” I could give them my free Personal Brand Roadmap, but I could also offer them a free guide for taking what they just learned in the blog and implementing it.
Which do you think is going to get the highest opt-in rate? The About Me guide!
Content upgrades have been so amazing for my business, I encourage you to start implementing them in your business as well, especially if you’ve created a blog. They're a great way to offer value to your community and also capture their information so you can continue to build that relationship and build trust with them, resulting in more ideal clients.
Simple content upgrades tend to work best so think of PDFs, guides and checklists as a place to start.
CONCLUSION
I get it, growing your audience can be a little daunting.
There's so much information out there, and it can be confusing on where to start.
I trust that these three steps, along with the additional linked content, will give you a great place to start.
Honestly, if I could go back to square one, this is where I would focus my energy and attention - building my audience from day one.
If you’re just starting out, I encourage you to check out my free class, Build a Better Brand Method or at the very least download my free guide, The Personal Brand Roadmap, to receive a clear step by step of what’s needed to get people to actually care about your brand and business.
Head over to Youtube and be sure to like and comment on the video while you are over on Youtube to help more people see this information ↠ https://youtu.be/qBQDBSEbA8c
And as always please share and comment on this blog post, I love connecting with you!
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
Meet Michelle
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
How to Create a Visibility Plan for Your Online Business
Creating a visibility plan that gets you seen, heard, and paid is so incredibly important for your online business. Yet, so many entrepreneurs get stuck when they enter the visibility or marketing phase.
And, as I shared in this post we know that without marketing, your business is not going to reach its full potential.
We see this when entrepreneurs build websites and receive no traffic.
Create an offer and make no sales.
Work for years, but never see the growth they deserve.
All of these elements, and more require marketing (aka getting visible)!
I’ve been marketing online and teaching my clients sustainable marketing for over 8 years now, and one of the things I specialize in is a multi-channel marketing approach, centered around repurposing, and search engine optimization.
As a Brand Strategist, my goal is to help you create a visibility plan that gets your brand noticed and paid online. If you're looking to establish your presence online without solely relying on social media, this comprehensive guide will walk you through the essential steps to create a visibility plan that can drive leads and sales for your business.
This visibility plan is focused on big-picture, long-term success. Think of it as a roadmap. Don’t try to tackle all of this at once, rather start with part one for 30 days and after the first month add on the next part. Continue doing this until you have all the pieces working together.
This blog post is also featured on my YouTube channel. To watch the full video head here.
Visibility Plan Foundation: Understanding Your Audience
The foundation of an effective visibility plan lies in understanding what your audience truly needs from you.
It's important to create a variety of content tailored to different stages of the customer journey—from those just identifying their problems to those ready to make a purchase. I dive deeper into the Customer Buying Journey in this post here.
Educational content, despite what others might be saying online, is a powerful way to build trust and position yourself as an expert. It’s fundamental when thinking of the Client Buying Journey and supporting your clients at various stages. Educational content also builds authority, making you a trusted solution for your ideal customer.
Two tools I highly recommend for content research are Answer the Public and Ubersuggest. These tools help you discover what your audience is searching for, providing a wealth of content ideas based on actual search data. They are also incredibly useful when optimizing for SEO something we’ll talk about a little later.
Creating a 90-Day Content Plan
Now that you have a list of content ideas, it's time to organize them into a 90-day content plan.
Remember, we’re no longer focused on coming up with a new topic every single day, since we’re no longer focused on just social media, so there are only 12 topics for you to plan out.
Choose 12 topics to focus on, considering any seasonal things, trends, or upcoming launches. This focused approach allows you to deliver quality content consistently without overwhelming yourself with having to create new content every single day.
Want to learn my entire content planning process, including content research? Check out the 90-Day Content Blueprint here.
Visibility Plan Part One: Choosing Your Core Content
Decide on your core content format: a podcast or a video. Both have their advantages, but ultimately, choose the format that aligns with your strengths and preferences.
Remember, you only need to produce one piece of core content each week. But, you’ll want to focus on long-form content here because it will make repurposing your content to multiple platforms easier.
If you choose to start with a podcast, consider adding a video element after 30 days. Recording a video version of your podcast can greatly expand your reach, especially if you utilize platforms like YouTube, which functions as a search engine. It will also give you additional video content to repurpose.
If you have the capacity to start with video content, you can choose to create pre-recorded content for YouTube. This again, can later be repurposed to a podcast by stripping the audio.
For our purposes today, we’re going to use a weekly podcast as our core content.
Visibility Plan Part Two: Video Content
After you get into the habit of creating and distributing your weekly podcast content, it’s time to add in the video element.
A great tool to distribute your podcast content (audio only) is Libsyn. Libsyn allows you to easily push it out to the top podcasting platforms each week.
Now, the goal is to add the video element which we will distribute on YouTube. YouTube is a search engine so not only is your content discoverable by new people, but it will also continue performing for years to come.
To easily edit your video content, I suggest a tool called Descript. This video was edited in Descript!
Visibility Plan Part Three: Blogging and SEO
Your core content should also be repurposed and featured on your website as blog posts.
Now that you have an audio recording you can easily turn that into a blog post thanks to AI tools like Descript. The best part is that it’s taking your original content and turning it into a blog post, which is such an authentic way to use these amazing tools.
Simply add your recording to Descript and ask their AI tool to give you a blog post. Within minutes, you’ll have content that you can minimally edit and add to your website.
At this stage, you want to be sure and optimize your blog for search engines to attract organic traffic. By optimizing your content, you’re improving your odds of being discovered on another platform. Google is an amazing resource for driving organic, free traffic to your website.
Fun fact: This blog post was originally published in 2018, and started ranking higher in 2024. So we updated it with fresh content which Google loves!
Learn more about SEO research and optimizing your account in SEO Bootcamp. Details can be found here.
Visibility Plan Part Four: Leveraging Pinterest
Pinterest can be a game-changer for driving traffic to your website. It operates like a search engine, providing evergreen content that continues to attract visitors long after it's posted.
You already have everything you need to start showing up on Pinterest and driving traffic to your blog post, and even to your YouTube videos if you choose.
Pinterest relies heavily on keyword research, optimization like your blog, and visually appealing graphics. Use Canva to create visually appealing pins and schedule them directly on the Pinterest platform.
I continuously get traffic from Pinterest years after my original content is created and added to the platform. So, even if I’m not creating anything new I know I’m still getting my brand seen.
I’ve been on Pinterest for eight years now and help my clients create stellar Pinterest strategies as well. I’ve bundled up everything I teach inside my course Pinterest Mastery. Learn more here.
Visibility Plan Part Five: Utilizing Short-Form Video
Short-form videos are incredibly effective for building trust and reaching new audiences. You can use these types of videos to enhance your content on Pinterest, and YouTube Shorts. So even if you don’t want to show up on social media, you can still elevate your marketing strategy.
However, they also make amazing pieces of content for social media where you’re creating more of a profile of your work. Tools like Opus Clip Pro can help you create multiple short clips from your longer videos efficiently.
All you have to do is add your YouTube link or upload a video and let AI work its magic.
Visibility Plan Part Six: Social Media Marketing
Remember what I said earlier about using social media to nurture your existing audience? This is where your core content makes that 100x easier.
Simply take your blog post or transcript and pop it into an AI tool like ChatGPT. Ask ChatGPT to help you write a few social media posts from this content, ask it to create a carousel, or give you Reel ideas. Within minutes, which includes a little tweaking cause ChatGPT loves to take liberties, you’ll have social media ideas.
Pair these ideas with your short-form videos and consistency on social media becomes a breeze!
Visibility Plan Part Seven: Nurturing Your Email List
As we’re building our brand awareness, we can’t forget to show up for the people who have said yes to hearing from us. Your email list is a valuable resource and we want to be sure to share our core content with them every week.
This can be an excellent way to nurture your audience, showcase authority, and support them through the Customer Buying Journey. Simply sending a weekly newsletter with a link to your core content works like a charm.
If you need a little support in growing your email list via a freebie and funnel, then check out Funnel in a Weekend where I show you how to do it all in just 3 days.
Visibility Plan Part Eight: Incorporating Public Relations (PR)
Once you've established a strong base of content, it's time to explore PR opportunities.
With a background in PR, I can tell you this is the secret weapon that not enough entrepreneurs are utilizing. A robust portfolio of blog posts, videos, and podcasts will make it easier to pitch yourself for interviews and collaborations, expanding your reach even further.
When you’re featured on someone else’s channel you’re reaching a new audience every single time. Not to mention the credibility of being invited into someone’s business is huge, and can lead to much higher conversion rates for you.
Inside my membership at Brandmerry Academy, I teach my clients how to approach PR Marketing, along with all the other stages of the visibility plan mentioned above. Learn more about the Academy at brandmerry.com/academy.
CONCLUSION
Creating a visibility plan may seem overwhelming at first, but by breaking it down into manageable phases, you can build a multifaceted approach to get your brand noticed.
Whether you focus on SEO, Pinterest, or expanding into video content, each step brings you closer to a comprehensive and sustainable visibility plan.
The goal here is to feature your content on platforms that work for you, for years to come and utilize tools and strategy to make sure you’re not spending all of your time creating content.
Take it one step at a time and watch how your results improve!
Ready to take your visibility and marketing plan to the next level? Tired of relying on social media and intrigued, but slightly overwhelmed, with SEO, Pinterest, YouTube, Blogging, List Building, and more?
Brandmerry Academy was made just for you! My signature membership will give you access to all of my top courses to help you build a brand and get it seen and paid consistently.
Get more details at brandmerry.com/academy
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Meet Michelle
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.