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If you’re ready to grow your local business and bring in a steady stream of clients, you need to check out The Localpreneur Academy. Click here to join me inside.
Rate, Review & Follow:
“I LOVE listening to the episodes, especially since they’re focused on local businesses and it’s not just generic marketing advice.” If you love the show too, please leave a rating and review. This helps me reach more people just like you who want to reach more local people and create a business they love.
You are listening to the Grow your Local Business podcast, where local marketing expert and life coach Leslie Pressnell shares the strategies and the mindset to help you reach more people in your city and bring in a steady stream of clients. All right, let's dive in.
Speaker 2:
Hey, welcome to episode 44. Today we're going to talk about your local engagement strategy and why you need one and how you can create an engagement strategy really easily. Because I know sometimes just the word strategy when we talk about social media or marketing just that word throws people for a loop. It's like strategy automatically complicates things. I know I always felt like that, but if you've been hanging out with me for a while then you know I like to keep things really simple, really doable and really repeatable. I don't like complicated. I know when things get complicated a lot of people just don't do them. They avoid them because they're overwhelmed. So I try to stay away from complicated, which you probably know by now. I am very basic in the best ways. So we're going to dive in and make this local engagement strategy that sounds very complicated. We're going to make it very approachable and doable.
Speaker 2:
Today. I have told you before on the podcast that I've been really focusing on re-recording and updating my trainings inside of the localpreneur academy. This has been one of the main things that I've been focusing on this year and really for the remainder of this year, and it comes from this concept that my coach, stacy Bayman, teaches of getting my clients 100% results. What can I create that will guarantee everyone crosses the finish line and gets the results that they want? And really my clients have already gotten epic results More clients doubling or tripling their revenue, growing into six-figure businesses, gaining thousands of more local followers, winning those best of local awards, getting featured in local media really everything we think of when you think of becoming the local go-to and when you become that local go-to person. So now that I have had so many business owners go through the program and people from all different industries, all different states, I really wanted to take the time and streamline my process even more. I can see now where people were getting stuck or slowing down or over-complicating things and I can see where people's mindset really gets in the way. I could just see parts in my own process inside of the localpreneur academy that I could just simplify so people could get results even faster. And you know, the world of marketing changes so quickly. So I really wanted to just make sure everything that I was teaching was foundational and would work across all platforms, but also making sure that I am keeping things current and up to date.
Speaker 2:
So it's been a lot of. What do I need to change, what do I need to add, what do I need to cut out? Because even my philosophy has changed after coaching so many different business owners, and just as our marketing landscape has changed some Some things that I used to preach really hard. I don't see it as a necessity anymore, and so I just always want to make sure that my program and my coaching is a direct reflection of where I am right now and that everything I know now is there. And, of course, I want to make sure that it's just the cleanest, quickest process to help my clients grow their business and get more clients and increase their revenue. I want to make sure I have a really simple local marketing process that's repeatable and doable and helps every single person that comes through become that local go-to person in their industry, whether they are just starting out or they've been in business for years. So I'm just always asking myself, how can I make this even easier for them, how can I make it even faster? How can I support them even more?
Speaker 2:
So, within all of that, I have been rewriting specifically my social media trainings and really thinking If I was a local business owner, starting from scratch on social media, for example, instagram. We're just going to talk about Instagram today, even though what I'm teaching can be applied to other platforms. So I just took myself back what are the exact steps that I would take to grow my business from social media? And really taking myself back to what I did and what I've had my clients do, and what I even did for my clients when I was a social media manager, and I came up with a literal step-by-step process, that is, nine specific steps, that takes my clients through three phases. So first I take them through the local growth phase, like growing their social media with actual local followers. Then I take them through the content creation phase, so creating content that's going to set them apart as that local go-to person and position them as the expert to where they are just the top choice. Then I take them through the third phase, which is the sales phase, like what do they need to do to be making more sales and converting those followers into clients. So I've laid it all out step by step to take them seamlessly through these three phases to where all their actions just build upon each other and it all comes out together beautifully to more local followers and, most importantly, more clients.
Speaker 2:
So today I wanted to share one of the things that I talked about inside of the local growth phase, which is the first phase, and that is having a local engagement strategy, and we've touched on it briefly on the podcast before, but I wanted to explain it a little bit more today so you can apply it in your own business and use a local engagement strategy to start getting more local followers now. So I had another podcast episode, which was episode 32. And that episode was all about my favorite way to use local hashtags, and I did talk about engaging with other local people in that podcast and how I specifically like to use local hashtags, not only in my post to be discovered, but really to go out and use local hashtags as a way to find other local people, so then I can engage with their post and really get their attention. So today I wanted to just elaborate even more in this episode and, of course, if you want to come in and get my entire step by step process that takes you through these three key phases of local growth content that sets you apart as that local go to and then the sales phase, come, join us inside the localpreneur academy. This is the fast track.
Speaker 2:
People have asked me what's the difference of what I teach on the podcast and what I teach inside the academy? And this is it. The academy has everything laid out very thoughtfully, step by step, in order, streamlined, so you don't have to go picking around and piecing everything together to where the podcast is really not in any sort of order. You know, we may talk about Instagram one week, mindset the next and email the next. It's really just what pops in my head and what I see clients struggling with and what I see overall when I'm just out there on social media watching what other business owners are doing, and then I have an idea of how to address that here on the podcast. So I like to use the podcast also to create more spin off content from concepts that teach more in depth inside the program and then to spin off some of the things that we talk about on our business coaching calls every week. So I wanted the podcast to really be a resource for my clients and my future clients. So if you've been getting results from the podcast, then the localpreneur academy is really just your full A to Z process on how to become that local go to person and grow your local business with more clients and, of course, you get all that extra support in weekly business coaching calls and our Facebook group and our monthly challenges. You're always supported. So that's really the difference between the podcast and my program.
Speaker 2:
Okay, so let's dive in now back to this piece with your local engagement strategy. So again, this is one step that I teach in the local growth phase in growing your Instagram with real local people who want what you have. So one mistake that I see happen a lot on Instagram specifically is business owners posting and then they just wait. They wait for a response, they wait for engagement, they wait for people to find their post, and I actually teach the opposite. I don't teach to post and wait, especially if you are just starting out and you don't have that following full of local people who are your ideal clients yet it's really playing the long game if you post and wait for them to come. You've got to do the work to go out there and find them so they even know about you to begin with.
Speaker 2:
So I have a free guide and it's linked in the show notes. It's called how to Grow your Local Instagram Following and within that guide, I teach you four different ways to specifically go out there and find local people in your city. I teach you how to use local hashtags to find them, how to use locations on Instagram to find them, and even how to use other businesses and local events to find local people. So it's four strategies that specifically work beautifully for local businesses on Instagram, and you've heard me say this before. I do definitely recommend using local focused hashtags in your post, like hashtag Baton Rouge or hashtag Baton Rouge Photography or whatever it may be for you. But again, I don't want you to just post with the hashtags and then wait. I want you to go actively engage with other people who are using those hashtags, and this is really important If you are out there engaging and have an engagement strategy like we're going to talk about, because people are going to be seeing your name all over Instagram or all over whatever platform you're on, not just on your post or on your feed.
Speaker 2:
They're going to be seeing your name pop up on their post or on other people's posts that they follow. So engaging is all about being visible and being visible consistently. So people start to recognize you and they're reminded of you and, ideally, they become interested in who you are and they click your name. When they see your name in a comment or a like or a post, they click your name and come and check out your feed. So what does engagement look like on social media? Let's just start there and we're going to use Instagram as the example in this podcast, but we're talking about all the ways that you go out and you engage with other accounts. So here are some ways you can go out and engage with other local accounts, whether that's people or local businesses, ideal clients, brands, influencers, organizations, anyone local, anyone that has an Instagram account or social media account in your local city.
Speaker 2:
So the first thing you can do is like their post. When you like someone's post, they get a notification and they see your name. Other people can see who likes other people's post, so people can see you just from you liking their post. That's going to get their attention. The second thing you can do is leave thoughtful comments on their post. So, again, they're going to see you. This starts building a relationship. Other people who follow them and see that post are going to see your name and your comment.
Speaker 2:
Another thing you can do is watch people's stories on Instagram. So just by watching people's stories, they see your name. You know how you can go and see who's viewed your story. It's the same thing. This person or business is going to see your name there when they're scrolling through looking at everybody that saw their story. So it's just an extra way to be visible. And the fourth way is you can heart I'm saying heart in quotes, but that's what I call it Like heart their stories. You know there's a little heart there on Instagram At least there is at the time of this recording and if you are clicking through people's stories, there's just a little heart button there that shows up when they look at their stories like, oh, this person hearted, or in other words, liked their story. You can also send some really quick emojis, like a fire emoji or hearts or the heart eyes, and it just kind of sends them up your screen. So that's just kind of another way to for people to see your name and to see that they are, that you are engaging with them. So another thing you can do.
Speaker 2:
Number five is you can reply to people's stories. So you're watching people's stories and then you can send them a message and this is just a super personal way to engage. And another thing you can do is you can engage with their Instagram story stickers so you know how people have polls, or those slider stickers. People can see who engages with that stuff so they can see your name as one of those people that has voted on their poll. And then number seven. Another way you can engage with someone is to reshare their post and then tag them in your own story. When you share, they're going to get a notification that you shared. So I do recommend that the content that you're sharing to your story, especially as it relates to other local businesses or people, make sure it's relevant to your audience, make sure it's on brand and make sure it is in service of your following. At that point Now, with all of that said, you want to make sure that everything you're doing to engage is authentic and genuine.
Speaker 2:
So if you leave comments or reply to someone's story, be real, be genuine, not spamming, and we all kind of know the difference of what that feels like, because when something is genuine, you're going to feel Very happy and in service. When you do it, it's gonna feel totally different in your body. Then when you feel like you're just out there massively spanning people trying to get their attention. So reply to things that you really feel drawn to reply. To make it real. Don't do it just so you can check a box. That's when it starts to feel spammy. So just be genuine, comment reply. All that from a real place of I'm interested, I like this content and just let it be very real and it doesn't have to be the same People every day or every week. It's not like you're gonna be going and spamming the same three accounts over and over every day. You totally can if you love their content. I mean, I have people every day. If they post, I'm gonna like their stuff.
Speaker 2:
But I always also want you to be out there finding more Local people, which I teach you in that free guide. So go download the how to grow your local Instagram following guide if you don't have that already. So keep finding new people, new businesses, new brands, new influencers, new Organizations that you can engage with, and having an engagement strategy is just about being seen. It's about building relationships and staying in the top of their mind and just creating more opportunities for people to find you and discover you and Click on your name and come back to your Instagram. That's the whole purpose of an engagement strategy. Okay, so having an engagement strategy is just one little piece of helping you become known locally as you become that local go-to person, but it starts here. It starts with more people seeing you and you start building more relationships with people on social media this way.
Speaker 2:
Okay, so I want to end with this, because when I say engagement strategy, I know a lot of people want to complicate it. We want an exact formula like how many people should I engage with each day? How many stories should I watch? How many comments should I leave? How long should I be doing this every day? Should I track every person that I comment on in a spreadsheet? I know how our brains are working right now. But listen again, don't make it complicated.
Speaker 2:
Make it easy. Make this a very easy, natural thing that you do. Of course, you can schedule a few minutes every day to go in and do this if it feels like that's going to help remind you to do it, especially if this isn't something you normally do and you're just getting started. But I'm gonna say it again Let it be easy. How can you make going out and engaging with other accounts easy For me? It's really easy for me to sit on my couch at night While I'm watching TV and just do it. Then to just open my phone, start looking around, liking, replying, doing all of that. Also, consider when you have appointments, like sitting in the doctors in the waiting room, while you're waiting on a meeting, while you're sitting in the carpool line.
Speaker 2:
Think of little gaps in your day that you can grab your phone and just engage. Whether that's five minutes, ten minutes or one minute, there is no right way, there is no right amount of minutes, there is no right amount of comments, and we know this because you can probably Google this might be fun. You could Google an Instagram engagement strategy and see 100 different people tell you 100 different things. Some people may say go comment on eight posts today. Someone else might say 20 because there is no right way. And if you take anything away from this episode today, let it be easy, let it be authentic.
Speaker 2:
Don't try to have this perfect engagement strategy and Try to make it more complicated than it needs to be. That's when you're gonna drive yourself crazy and end up taking way more time than necessary. All you have to do to have a local engagement strategy is Consistently leave some comments, watch some stories, like some post, reply to some people and you get to do that in every and any combination that you want. If you don't want to reply to people stories, if that's not for you, then you don't have to. Maybe you just leave a few comments and like a few posts and you call it a day.
Speaker 2:
But today I just wanted to give you the options and to tell you the true purpose of Going out there and engaging with other local accounts is just about you being more visible Consistently and starting those relationships so people know who you are and they see you as an engaged, supportive local business. All right, so those are my thoughts on having a local engagement strategy so you can start being seen, getting noticed, becoming more well known in your city again, make it easy, make it doable, and you can always start small and add on. There's no right way, there's just the way that you go out and you do it and how you engage. Okay, my friends, I will talk to you next week. Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode, I want to invite you to check out my program, the local Pernumer bootcamp. This is my coaching program for business owners who are ready to become the local go-to in their industry. With a steady stream of clients. You can find more information at Leslie personal comm and I'll see you inside.