How To Listen To Your Community

10 Simple Ways To Listen To Your Community

1. Facebook Groups
2. LinkedIn Groups
3. Reddit
4. Twitter
5. Adwords
6. Google Trends
7. Analytics
8. Blog Comments
9. Forums
10. Networking

Let’s look at each of these in turn.

#1. Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are a great way to ask and answer questions. There are groups for every topic under the sun.

Some groups are filled with promotional posts with links to external blog posts and very little in the way of community engagement.

Others ban promotion or limit it to one day a week to encourage community engagement.

You want to find the groups with the most community engagement. Note what questions are asked and the quality of the answers.

Pay particular attention to the language used in both the question and the answer. Specifically, is there a lot of industry-specific language?

Every industry or niche has its secret language. Language that shows that you are part of the club. If I was to talk about a lead magnet and a squeeze page, then this is internet marketing jargon. It's industry-specific language that demonstrates a certain level of knowledge and understanding.

The question asked can be very similar to one written in layman’s English and the mere use of secret language indicates a higher level of understanding.

Why is that important?

Because if you want to attract your ideal customer, then you need to speak his words, thoughts, and feelings.

The easiest way to speak or write his words, thoughts and feelings is to copy them. So if your community is talking about marketing funnels and how to make them work, then you need to do the same.

Equally, if your ideal customers are talking about how to sell products and services online, then you need to do the same.

Both ways of talking are correct. They both want the same answer. And the language that they use is entirely different. (Marketing funnel vs selling products and services online).

The words that you use to describe the problem you solve will either attract or repel your ideal customer because they are not the words that they use.

Similarly, if you see that Webinars are a hot topic of conversation right now, then you’ll know that you can attract a lot of people if you write a blog or ebook about the perfect webinar presentation.

Better still, invite them to an online training or webinar where you will show them how to deliver the perfect presentation, and they can ask you questions live.

#2. LinkedIn Groups

Like Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups are a place where your ideal customers can come together to share ideas. There are groups for every niche so you can join one and listen to the questions being asked and see the quality of the answers.

Like Facebook Groups, some groups have more community engagement than others. Look for the ones where people are asking the most questions and getting a quick response.

Are LinkedIn Groups fundamentally different to Facebook Groups? No.

Are you reaching a different audience? Yes.

I’m not suggesting that anyone that is on LinkedIn is not also on Facebook. It’s guaranteed that they also use Facebook.

But…

Where do they spend their time? Where are they asking questions? And how quickly are they being answered?

Look at the questions being asked and the language that is used. Pay particular attention to the use of secret language.

You are looking for problems that you can solve and the specific words that the community uses to describe a specific problem.

Also look at the blog posts that generate the most likes, shares, and comments. Are they around a particular topic? Do they use sensationalist headlines? Are they written by the people in the group that give the most value?

This will give you an idea of how to attract the attention of your ideal customers. And what you must do to earn their trust.

#3. Reddit

Reddit groups are a great way to see what stories people are telling and the questions and comments that are generated.

If people within the group ask and answer questions, then you can easily see the language that they use and the types of questions that are being asked.

It is also worth looking at the stories that are being told. The long form posts that share a story and give insights into how to achieve a specific result. These are blogs that are pasted into the group.

What questions or comments are given? Does that community believe the story? Do have questions about how they can do the same thing?

These are insights into what your ideal customer believes is possible. It’s also an indication of their fears and frustrations as well as their hopes and dreams.

Do they believe that they can achieve the stunning result with enough time? If so great, can you give them the shortcut secrets to achieve their desired result?

Are your results similar? Or are your results even more spectacular? If so, that audience is likely to want to work with you.

#4. Twitter

What are the conversations around specific keywords in your industry or niche?

For my business, these keywords include:

1. Storytelling
2. Copywriting
3. Webinar
4. Entrepreneur
5. Startup
6. Marketing
7. Marketing Funnel
8. Content Marketing

Look for the questions that are being asked and the content that is being shared. What posts are getting the most engagement? What is it that makes the community take action?

#5. Adwords

Google Adwords is my favourite way to read your customer’s thoughts. There are 2 ways of doing this:

1. Keyword Planner
2. Running Ads

Keyword Planner

When you use the Google Adwords Keyword Planner as a research tool, you can type in a keyword phrase and see the average number of searches.

This also shows you the likely bid price to be on the first page of Google.

Unfortunately, this tool seems to change on a monthly basis the insights that it gives are not always the same.

One particularly useful feature (which has moved or disappeared) is suggested search phrases based on the keywords that you’ve entered. This can open a whole world of opportunities for lead generation and blogs posts.

The point about all of this is that it shows you the specific keyword phrases that your customers are using. So if you want to speak their words, then this is the fastest and easiest way to do that.

Running Ads

The beauty of running Google Ads is that you can see what words make people act. Not what they say but what they respond to.

You can see the response to different ads for the same exact match search (exact match targeting only shows your ad if the customer types in the exact same phrase as you have written.)

When you run ads, you'll see that small word changes can double the response to your add. That shows you what words you must use in all your messaging to grab your communities attention and persuade them to take a specific action.

The great thing about running ads to gain insight into your customers is that you can set a tiny budget (£5 per day), and see what makes them respond. If you are getting good cost per lead, then you can continue with your ads. If that’s not the purpose of them then after spending £20 to £50 you will have the information that you need.

#6. Google Trends

Google Trends is a tool that suggests keyword phrases based on the keywords that you enter. It will also show you the trend in the search volume for that phrase.

So if there is a topic that is soaring in interest, then you will want to stand at the front of that crowd with valuable information.

A simple search that takes less than 15 minutes can give you insights for your next blog post, podcast or product.

#7. Analytics

Blog and website analytics shows you what actions your customers take. Analytics shows you the time on page for each post on your blog.

This is crucial because it shows if your community is reading your posts to the end.

If you've written a 3,000 word post and the average time on page is 1 minute, then you know that the content, or the way you have written the post, has not held your communities attention. You have not helped them in the way they hoped.

Similarly, if the average time on page is 20 minutes, then you know that they have read every word. You know that you have delivered insights and answered their top of mind questions.

If you are writing about a variety of content areas, then the insights found in analytics will show you what you need to write about more and the next product you need to create.

You see, I write about Lead Generation, Storytelling, Product Creation, Copywriting, Webinars, Product Launches, Online Sales Vehicles.

If the analytics show that every time I write about Storytelling and Webinars the page views and time on page doubles, then I know that this is particularly important to you.

When you ask people for feedback, you may get an honest answer, or you may get the answer that they think you want to hear. You may get the answer that the person wishes they would take.

When you look at the actions that people take, you have proof of what topics generate the most interest. You have proof of the most critical problems that you are solving. You have proof of what you should write about next or your next product.

#8. Blog Comments

Much like analytics blog, comments show you what blogs generate the highest level of response.

The social proof of comments already on a blog will generate more comments on that particular blog.

Look at the comments that are left. If they are a variation of this is excellent, thanks then you can't glean much insight. The comments that give specifics of what they found useful or better still when people come back to give results of how your post has helped them give you proof that you are helping your community.

This also shows you the topics that you should write about more.

#9. Forums

You might be thinking that forums have died and that Facebook Groups now reign supreme.

You’re right!

And…

You’re wrong!

You see, Facebook groups reign supreme for free groups. But what about the paid groups?

What are the conversations happening in the higher level, or more dedicated groups?

Paid forums that are often part of an online product purchase or a membership site are a great place to listen in on conversations. If you're the newbie of the group, then listen and learn. The way more experienced people in the group describe things may be simpler than you do. If that's the case, it’s no accident! The reason why their description is simpler than yours is because simple works best. That is what generates the highest response and attracts the most customers so pay attention to the words that are used to describe problems, and solutions. That insight could save you thousands!

#10. Networking

All the listening methods listed so far you can use from the comfort and safety of your office or sofa.

And…

Nothing beats getting out and speaking to people. This could be a networking event for your niche. What are other entrepreneurs struggling with? How do they describe problems? What specifically makes that problem difficult or impossible for them to solve.

You know that networking is a conversation and not an interrogation and this is a perfect way to discover how you can better help your audience and possibly the person you are talking to.

When someone asks you what you do, pay particular attention to the follow-up questions they ask you. What did you not explain correctly the first time?

What did you not simplify? What industry term did you use that required an explanation?

The beauty and the frustration with networking is that you don't have your ideal customer in the room. What you do have is the opportunity to get feedback on your idea and your business. If you don't make the sale that's okay. If you've suddenly got some evangelists raving about you because your product will be perfect for people they know then great. And if you walk away knowing how to simplify the description of what you do, then you have still gained some valuable insight for your time.

Now It’s Your Turn

You now have 10 simple ways to listen to your community so you can write in their words to increase your influence and sales.

Please don’t do this once and think that’s it forever. As I mentioned right at the start of the blog, the solutions that we need change over time. So for this to be useful, you need to stay in the conversation. When you do this, you will better understand your customers. You will also become known and respected in these online communities which will give you share your knowledge and experience. That will give you better lead generation results over time.

There are multiple benefits to listening to your community, so please make sure you start with one of them today. This could be as simple as taking 10 minutes right now to look in a Facebook group and see if there is a lot of interaction. If so, join the group, answer a question and make a note to be in there at least once a week.

Give value, help others in the community, and you will see that come back to you with interest.

The most important thing is to take the first step so please take the action that is easiest for you. Then come back to this blog to take the next step, until you are using them all on a regular basis.

The point is not to use them all to prove how hard you work. The reason why they are all useful is that each tool will give you a different piece of the puzzle. Each tool will show you a different insight into your customer's needs, wants, and desires. By using all the tools, you can walk a mile in your customer's shoes, and write a page in their diary.

If you've found this useful, then please leave a comment below.

If this blog can help anyone you know, then please email it to them.

Until next time…

Carpe diem

Roland Eva

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