Content that Connects: How to Boost Engagement and Conversions

1. Welcome to the Course! : welcome to the course. I'm Jessica Nevins, and I'm so happy to be here with you, teaching you all about creating content that truly connects before we get into the nuts and bolts. Here's a little background on me and wine beer teaching you thes concepts from Fortune 500 companies such as Coca Cola, Intuit TurboTax, Verizon Wireless, direct TV to tech startups and even recording artists. I have helped them generate over $40 million from marketing campaigns and messaging, as well as maintain a strong consumer presence and fan base of raving fans. I'm also a published author of five fiction novels and have been published in a variety of on busines. So I'm all about copy. Throughout this course, I'll be showing you how to boost your engagement and conversions. Sales often is, you know, through creating content that connects with your audience, customer or following. Being able to connect through your messaging is relevant both personally and professionally . We've all read an email or a post that caused us to feel caused us to take action or caused us to think this course will teach. You have to delve in to create purposeful content. Now Let's talk about your core structure. There are eight total lessons in this course. You will learn all about the branding backstory, unlocking the money in the message, the pitfalls, introducing you to the Pinocchio principle, drying them in the impact of a good story, getting the Children, making the connection last the humanity factor. And lastly, the secret epic stuffs. And here's why I'm so excited to share all of this with you. With over 20 years of experience and branding, marketing, messaging and monetizing, I felt inspired to create this course on sculpture because I have a passion for showing others how to build a stronger connection with their audience and consumer through impactful messaging that converts and cultivates cash flow. As I tell my audience and my clients be authentic, be unapologetic. Be boldly you. Let's get started. 2. The Class Project: Let's talk about your class project for your class project. You will get to create a piece of original content using your feet favorite medium meaning a post messaging and email, a video, etcetera and right it is. If you were writing to a friend first, you'll make a strong call to action in your writing, and then you'll share it with your friend or your team member. Next, you'll have them evaluated based on the criteria listed in your project workbook. Once you've received their evaluation, you can make your edits and share it again for even more feedback. This project will help you to get deep into the trenches of content creation and the process to test it out on others within your inner circle or your team. In order to understand if that process is truly some gin or it may be a little more refinement is needed now a lesson breakdown. Do this exercise with a partner or in a group used the instructions provided in the Project workbook, and here's a quick tip for you. Do you not be overly critical of your work or try to edit, which you created right out of the gate. Remember, you've got this. Let it be fun to play with it. Make sure you download your project workbook before you get started. Now, let's dive in and do this. 3. The Branding Backstory: Alright, let's dive in and get started with lesson one. We are diving into the branding backstory. We're going to understand the personality of your brand. And before we start diving into the content here, I just want to give you a brief overview when I talk about brand, what I mean by brand personality is that that spans all levels of a brand. So whether you're a baby brand and you're just getting started in the marketplace, whether you're a small business or your personal brand, or your a larger company, if you're rebranding or if you're starting out, or if you're an established brand and you're just expanding your reach to the marketplace. You're an established Fortune 500 or you're part of a team of in a Fortune 500 that is wanting to make more of a connection with your audience. This applies to everyone. So when I say branding, I'm, I'm talking about the personality of the brand within that context. So understanding that, let's dive right in. Big brands, have an established identity. Do you recognize these popular brands? And I'm sure you do, Coca-Cola, Nike, Amazon, Mercedes Benz, you've probably seen commercials, you've probably maybe experienced an ordered from them. I know a lot of us have ordered from Amazon myself included Coca-Cola. You know, most of us have had a Coke at least once FAR life and some of us have Nike's on our feet when we go running or walking like I did earlier today. So let's take a look at those brand identities Now. What did they have in common? Most of these, with the exception of Amazon, have been around for decades now. Mercedes-benz, I think, has been around for something crazy like 200 years and Coca-Cola is probably close to the same. I think there are about a 100 years. And don't quote me on that because I'm not sure and just pontificating air, which is anyway, they are established brands in the marketplace. And it is very easy for a consumer to understand the brand because they'd been very consistent in their personality. For example, Apple, Coca-Cola. And the reason I like to pick Coca-Cola is because they were one of my first clients. And I got to work with them and learn them. And they're on a very deep level. And one of the things one of the tenants, it's very important about Coca Cola is refreshment. They want that bubbly feeling. They want that refreshment feeling. They want people to feel uplifted when they drink a Coke. And that type of brand personality can be seen throughout all of their content. Whether it's a commercial, whether it's an ad, whether it's something you see in a magazine, whether it's something you read online. You'll see that evidence of brand personality going through all of the different content and it's very consistent. Now why does some brands is connect effortlessly, like those that I showed you? And some don't. Why are some brands powerful? Another's a big full up. Well, let's revisit those iconic brands for a minute and take a closer look at what they have in common. So we're really going to boil it down here. They have an authentic, distinctive personality. They have a commitment to providing massive value to the marketplace. They have a consistent way of showing up in their content. So people know what to expect from them. People know what to expect when they see something from Coca-Cola, when they see something from Mercedes Benz, when they see Amazon pull up at their house when they put those Nike's on or they see Nike's if they want to buy, there's a certain expectation and that brand is very good at delivering on that. This establishes credibility. That consistency of personality throughout the brand and the constant reinforcement really establishes credibility with their audiences, with their consumers. They know what you expect. Now how does your brand measure up regardless of where you are in your brand lifetime? Take a look at how your brand measures up as far as expressing personality, as far as consistency, as far as showing up in the marketplace. Now find the answers to these prompts. What makes your brand tick? What gives your brand in edge over your competitor? How consistent is your brand within your content? The content that you're putting out there on a regular basis or maybe not on a regular basis, but take a look at that. Why does any of this relate to building connection and content? Now the greater understanding you have for your brand voice and it's unique personality helps you to create content effectively. Over time. With consistency in your content, trust builds and this leads to conversion. To show up in their world as a trusted advisor, a solutions provider, they can depend on when you're being true to your brand. Integrity will come through and the likelihood of them connecting and converting increases. Now, credibility and consistency with your audience in your content are a form of targeted communication that leads to conversions and connections. Now, you might be wondering, what do you mean by conversions? What I mean by conversions, and we'll dig in a little deeper in further lessons. But I'll just give you a rough overview. When I talk about conversions, I'm talking about them taking action on an offer you made present, whether that means sign up for my email list, whether that means here, try this free product. Whether that means buy this product from us if they are taking action and they are opting in, so to speak, or, or buying your product. That is a conversion. And we're going to look more at that. But really credibility and consistency with your audience and your content is the way to go. Now, let's move on to the next video or you will learn all about unlocking the money in your message seat. There it is. This is great, but how does this translate to profits? While we're gonna get to that in the next lesson, I'll see you there. 4. Unlocking the Money in the Message: Welcome back. We're going to dive right into lesson two, unlocking the money in the message f2, this is where it starts getting good. Let's start with the two most powerful keys. Understanding the needs of your audience and getting off and take your message only halts the power to connect when you speak their language in a way they understand that is so important and we're going to get really detailed in understanding that as we go along this lesson and also further on in the course. Now, we talked about speaking their language right there. Right now. We need to offer them a solution to their problem as well. So let's just review this key, these key points real quick, your message only holds the power to connect when you speak their language in a way they understand and offer a solution to their problem. Now, what is the connection? How does your brand, service or product serve them? I want you to ask yourself that question right now and just take a moment to jot down whatever comes to mind. It's really important that you just take a minute to pause and take a look at how your brand service or products serves them, Okay, what do they get from it? Now, next question to ask yourself is, what is the connection between them and your brand? So that goes a little deeper than the previous question of how does your brand service or products serve them. Okay, you want to understand what that connection is? Remember, when we were looking at those iconic brands, where we're looking at Coca Cola and Amazon, Nike and Mercedes Benz. There's a connection between that brand and the consumer. Okay, there's something about that brand that the consumer naturally finds an affinity for. So what is the connection between them and you? What does that connection? Why did they buy from you? Why are they interested in your brand? Why would they want to consume your content? What is it? Now? Why does all of this work in a crowded marketplace? Ok, so why do some of those like those iconic brands we talked about? And maybe your brand, maybe you've seen some success, may be your content has stood out at times, but it, it's been inconsistent. Maybe it's downs out sometimes and not other times. So this is where we're really going to dig in and understand it. It comes down to Authenticity. Authenticity in your content creates a powerful connection. It's the distinctive factor, the unique essence of your brand. They gets to be shared. So this is what your consumer will connect with. Their connecting with that authenticity. Those brands that you learned about in lesson one, they're very authentic and the way they communicate and share their content, their content. Has a personality, their brand has a personality, and they're very authentic to that personality in the content. Here's a pivotal point for you. The more authentically and clearly you can communicate your unique value and your unique essence to the marketplace. You gain visibility and relevance with your audience. And when I'm talking about you, I'm talking about your brand, okay? And being able to communicate the unique value of your brand and the unique essence of your brand. There's a personality and underlying personality. There are things that your brand stands for. For example, let's look at Coca-Cola. Once again. They stand for refreshment. They stand for uplifting. They stand for power, powerful because they're global right there. Global company. And they're known for connection, right? They're known for that. They're known for have a Coke and a smile. That was a really old advertising campaign that they did a long time ago. But they like to leverage that human connection. They like to uplift that human connection. They like to add refreshment to people's lives. So that's bear unique value, their unique essence, and that is weaved into their content constantly. So that's when I'm talking about with unique value in essence. So I want you to take a minute to look at that in your brand and start to identify your brand's personality. Because the more you can understand that and your unique essence, the easier it will be to unlock the money in your message, OK. Showing up real and true to your brand can work in your favor. So as just like I was talking about how Coca-Cola shows up real and true for their brand and they do it consistently. Now, let's review. Content is simply an effective, targeted communication with your audience. That's what content is Now, were you unlock the money in your message is when you are able to communicate that unique value and that unique essence, just like I talked about a few slides back, okay, you want to be able to communicate that value in that unique essence and be consistent with it. And share that consistently in your message because it will resonate for some and it won't resonate for others. Now those that it resonates from, those are the people that's your tribe, those of your followers, that's your audience. Those are the people that you want to keep speaking to. You want to keep having a conversation with. And we will get deeper into this within the course. But this is how you start to build a relationship with these people. And that can turn into sales in time, which of course translates to money. Now, what's next? What are the best ways to communicate? How do we convey that relevant message our audience wants to hear? So that's what we're going to tackle in the next lesson. So I will see you there. We are going to jump into the next video. We will learn all about the pitfalls and the Pinocchio principle. I will see you there. 5. The Pitfalls and the Pinocchio Principle: Okay, welcome back. We're diving into lesson three, the pitfalls. The pitfalls and what I call the Pinocchio principle. By now, you've learned how to get more authentic and your content, you've definitely gotten a better understanding of your brand backstory. How your brand adds value, what is the unique essence? And maybe you're having some inklings, some ideas, how you can communicate that better in your content. Maybe you're having some ideas of, maybe this will connect or maybe that will, and understanding what your audience needs a little more in the marketplace. But what causes disconnection? What causes some content to work and some default flat. Because maybe you've had this happen before. Maybe you have put content out there and it's done well, but then it falls flat. So why does some work and some not work? Enter what I refer to as the Pinocchio principle. The Pinocchio principle refers to the concept of wooden copy written for your content regardless of which media you've selected. Now when I talk about copy, I'm talking about the text. The text that is used in any post, in any video script, in any audio, in any communication K. So you might hear the word copy throughout this sets what I'm referring to. So let's take a look at wooden copy. What is it? Well, there are four flavors to choose from. Number one, overly formal tones and phrases. Now, how many times have you received an e-mail that is so overly formal. You kinda look at unlike Hong, I mean, and then he read through and it just doesn't flow and it just seems choppy and clunky and instantly it's like, yup, I'm done. You know, I can't even so I'll close the window. I won't even look at the email because it just doesn't connect right? Overly formal tones and phrases have a very rare effect of connecting. The just a very wooden feeling thing. Number two, it doesn't convey emotion. So how many times have you seen a piece of content that comes through, let's say on social media and it really jumps out at, you know, OK, there's something in there that you connected with its probably underlying emotional, whether good or bad. There's some kind of emotional connection there. Now. There's tons of content that we get them started with on a daily basis. That doesn't even register, doesn't even resonate. Why? Because maybe there's no, no emotion. Maybe there's, maybe it's overly formal. It just doesn't connect. Number three, it's contrived in feels forced to be something that's not. So how many times have you seen something that's so gimmicky and maybe kind of sales Lee, and it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. So you just feel the in office. Authentic in authenticity of it all. And it just feels like they're forcing their message on You just doesn't feel good. Number four, it sounds like something, another brand or competitor. It's sane and doing in the marketplace that maybe on trend, but isn't organic to your brand or to another branch. So we see this happen a lot. We see a video go viral, and then we see someone else trying to replicate that video. Or we see a piece of content go viral and another brand is trying to replicate that same strategy and it falls flat. It doesn't work. Why? It's the growing nose effect. While this type of content may have connected for someone else or another brand, it alienates yours. Why? Well, audiences are smarter than you think, especially nowadays, we're constantly getting bombarded with content. So it's very easy for us to find what connects and to stick with it. We feel it. We just know right? Inauthenticity causes confusion. So when I say it causes confusion, I'm talking about on a subconscious level that you might not even be completely conscious of. But somehow, when you see that brand mimicking another brand, you kind of say what? I don't know. They're trying to overdo what so and so did last month and it just doesn't work. Well, it's because it's inauthentic, it causes confusion and it dampens credibility. So what this it has the effect of having a negative effect like a wet blanket on a brand's credibility and that's never a good thing. It's strains that trust factor. And like I said, Trust is a muscle that gets to be built. It gets to be built between your brand and your audience. And you do that through content, through communication. And we'll get into what really works and what doesn't. As we go further along, all of these things in the growing knows, this all leads to declining conversion. So that means you start to lose your audience, they start to retreat from you. And that's never a good thing. So what are the four ways to make it stand out? Make your copy stand out to escape. Wouldn't copy to escape the wood, the growing knows. Keep it casual. Use the same language you would use in everyday communications. So instead of saying hello mister so and so maybe you'd say, hey and then put the person's first name in there. If you're looking at something like an email or maybe if it's a post, you're just writing a post like you normally would on your own personal social media and just keeping it true to the brand. Be conversational. So once again, that's that free flowing casual. No. I've had this asked before in workshops about slang, about using slang. Now, some brands can do that, and it works for their brand. Some brands, it doesn't work at all. So it really comes down to what works for your brand. Okay, so once again, we're diving back into brand personality. If your brand is a very casual laid back slang he kind of feel than yes, that's part of your conversation. If your brand is more conservative and approaches things in a more conservative fashion, you're going to want to be conversational in a conservative way. You want to be true to that brand essence. Number three, infuse your brand personality that the fullest son was already getting there, right? I was telling you about that and be conversational. You really want to make sure that your brand personality is weaved throughout the content. Alright? Number four, be consistent, but the tone with the words, with everything in your content, you want that consistency to be there so that people can really let it absorb in. This positions your brand as top of mind and relevant, which shores up their trust. Okay. Now, let's review a void that wouldn't copy. I can't tell you this enough times. Keeping it conversational, consistent, and infused with your brand personality, help build the know like and trust factor that leads to your audience filling and affinity with your brand. Now, you may be thinking, well, how do we make our content truly memorable and unforgettable? Haha, well, let's move on to the next video. We'll, you will learn how to draw them in with the impact of a good story. I'll see you there. 6. Drawing Them In The Impact of a Good Story: Welcome to lesson for drawing the min, the impact of a good story. By now the pitfalls and how to avoid disconnection with wooden copy is one of the lessons you've learned. Among many. We're building on everything. As you can see, we've got some building blocks going on here. But how do you create content that's memorable and unforgettable? I have to tell you that this is one of my favorite lessons, mainly because I absolutely love story. I've been a storyteller since I could talk according to my mother, and I absolutely love it. So drawing them in the impact is all in a good story. Powerful storytelling can be the ultimate game changer with your content. Why story? Storytelling has been a part of humanity since the dawn of time. It's a hardwired part of the culture. Everyone knows story. You've told a story, you've heard stories over and over again. Stories had been passed down and first verbally, then with other media later on down the line. How does story create connection? Well, the best stories are ones within emotional factor present. The impact of a good story can be deeply felt. Once again, it's a common thread. People are used to feeling something from a story. That's why certain books do Well, that's why certain movies do well, that's why certain songs really resonate with people. They feel something when they experience it. It's a pattern everyone can recognize on a subconscious level, and this creates connection. The anatomy of a good story. If you look at your favorite movies, you'll see a common pattern, a beginning, a middle, and an end. You'll also see a hero and a villain. Now whether that is a physical villain or if the hero, the main character is battling something within him or herself. You'll see a challenge this presented to that hero, and then you'll see a resolution. So how does this relate to telling a story in content? You might be saying, great, yeah, that's great for a screenwriter or a novelist or a songwriter. But how does this relate to content? How does this relate to my brand? Well, stories can be told about your brand, about your product, and about one of your customer's journey. The more compelling story is about the brand, the product, or customers journey, the more impact it will make. It's all about feeling it. This is what makes a story compelling. Now I want you to take a moment to think of a story about a brand or a product you've encountered recently that is just easy to recall in your mind. It's just top of mind and it just pops up right now. What is it and what is it that you feel from that story? Now, for example, we've all heard the story of how Jeff Bezos started Amazon out of his garage. We've seen the photos and we've heard that story over and over again. Now are you seeing a pattern with us? Okay, remember what we're talking about? The hero has to go on a journey. And on the hero's journey, he discovers a challenge or she discovers a challenge and there's a resolution, right? Well, in this example, here, it is, challenge to astounding triumph. That's why that story sticks out. That's why we're able to tell it over and over again. Because who doesn't love a good underdog story and that's exactly what that is. He built a multimode time, multi-walled now probably $1 billion empire out of his garage. Once again, talking about the photos of his garage right decades ago. We've heard this story over and over again. And that's another part. Okay, that's another part. Over and over again, that's a clue for you, right? This enforces the brand story of triumph. Consistently. People feel inspired. They love a good underdog story. And there it's reinforced over and over again. It's part of the brand. We know how to tell the story. And we want to, because it's something going from nothing to building an online Empire. This is talking about this example, okay? We know the story, we tell it. It's someone going from nothing to building just this tremendous online empire. It's Emperor, inspirational and that feeling sinks right in. It's not something that we necessarily understand. We can feel it. We can feel it on a visceral level and on a subconscious level. There's a connection there. Every story has a hero's journey. This is something everyone understands now they might not be conscious of it, but it is there. We've all had times in our lives where it didn't look like things would work out and they did. Or we've seen that happen for others. This can show up in content as stories about a brand's history. For example, the Amazon story, right? How they were formed. Stories about a customer's journey. This is commonly known as a testimonial that shows how the product has positively impacted their lives. This can also show up as stories about a product's evolution or how it's changed the lives of those that have used it. This is another variation of testimonial. And then there can be stories about a personal experience shared by an employee within the brand. Now, the opportunities are endless. You can also draw from just general knowledge. You can draw from general story, which is human interest stories that inspire we see those all the time. We see those go viral raid in comedy that entertains an audience, as long as comedy and play and lightheartedness as part of our brand, then comedy would be a really good fit. The more emotion that can be felt from the story, plus the clarity of how it's created, the more memorable and unforgettable It will be. That's what gets people sharing things over and over again. Because it gets deep into their memory banks. They're able to feel that they're able to recall it. So let's review. Making a lasting impact is all about powerful storytelling. It's sharing a story that your audience can feel and experience. The more promotion and clarity, the more it sticks in the mind of your consumer. So you may be thinking, okay, I got all that's, I got all that about story. Get the picture now. But how do we get them to engage with that content? Well, I'm glad you're asking that because we're going to move on to getting me engage it in the next video. I'll see you there. 7. Getting the Engagement: Welcome back to lesson five. Now we're going to dive right into getting the engagement. Now how do we do that? How do we ask all the right questions? By now you've learned the power of story in how to make your content memorable. But do you get that engagement and keep it? What causes some content to get lots of attention? It's all about asking the right questions. It's part of a combo plate for success. What gets the engagement? Well, a few things. Number one, authentic content that's infused with personality, who doesn't love anyone that's infused with personality. We hear that all the time. Oh, you've got a great personality. We love people that have great personalities, Right? Brands are no different. Number to authentic stories that help others feel the impact. That's where we're getting into the emotional factor feeling it. Okay? And number three, asking the right questions. It's about asking them to connect with you and asking them to take some kind of action. An action that feels organic and is easy for them to take. An action that shows the content is resonating with them. So here are some examples of engagement. Likes, comments or shares, responding to a question posed within the content, or a combination of all of the above. What about those questions? It's about asking them to take an action. This could be one of the forums of engagement on the previous slide, or asking them to sign up for your email list, check out the latest sale, buy your product. Asking them to do something specific is referred to as a call to action, also abbreviated as CTA. Here's some CT examples. You'll see, I'm sure you've seen these all over the internet. They're very popular. Click to sign up. Click to get your coupon for 20% off. Click here to learn more. Click here to grab yours. Now, these are all common examples of what you'll see in content online, usually in the last line of the copy, okay. For other content that isn't online, such as in a magazine or a letter. They may ask you to subscribe or make a phone call. You might even see this on a billboard. Okay. Same concept and same placement. It's usually the last line. Something as simple as call now is a call to action. We see them all the time in all walks of life. Person in the mail and online. From sales to email lists from a friend asking you to like their content to a public figure you follow, asking you to share out their content. I'm sure you can recall times when you've taken action before. Now. We've talked a little bit about intention before. We're going to talk about it more again, okay. The intention behind the call to action, it is of the utmost importance to craft your CTA from the place of getting them to engage, yes. But not for the shear, the sport of it. This is really important, okay. Because this is something you see happening a lot online. And I just really want to make a point about this and drive it home. There is a term called clickbait. And it's creating a CTA only to get people to engage for vanity reasons. This is a big no, no. Creating engagement is much like what you've already learned in this course. K, we want to provide more value with a CTA. We don't want them to get them to click just to get them to click just so we can say, oh, we've got a 100 likes on this post. That's not the reason to get them to engage. We want them to engage for a reason that benefits both of us. Okay? We want to provide more value with that call to action. To interact with those consuming our content. To provide them access to something that will positively impact their lives. Not to get them to click for the sake of clicking so that the content will go viral. You will see this happen a lot. You see this happen on social media from time to time. Now, Facebook has gotten really good about identifying clickbait and shutting it down. Um, but a few years back, they hadn't gotten to that point yet. And so you saw a lot of clickbait going on. Now it's a little, it doesn't happen as much. It's still does happen out there. So in you'll see, you know, maybe a post that is like, hey, if you agree with this, say yes, okay, so, but it doesn't really add value. Okay? Clickbait content and CTAs or more for shock factor. Ok, when I'm talking about clickbait content of clickbait caught the actions. They're more for shock factor and an attempt to boost numbers then true engagement and true connection. That's why it's important to avoid it at all costs. Now, I'm not saying you can't do what's called a Yes post. Ok. But if you do a Yes post, it's gotta be authentic to your brand. And there's gotta be some kind of value that you're hoping that they will receive out of it, okay? And at something to promote connection between you and that consumer. So that's what I mean about the intention behind the CTA. When your intention behind the content and the CTA is good, you have a greater chance of building a sustainable connection with your audience. Now, Let's review. Getting the engagement starts with asking the right questions. And a call to action is a question k. By adding a call to action within your content, you ask your consumer to be involved in the process. Now, you may be thinking, how do we in state and how do we sustain that engagement? How do we make that connection will last? Well, let's move on to the next video where I show you exactly how to make that connection last. I'll see you there. 8. Making the Connection Last: Now less than six, making that connection last. By now you've learned all about getting engagement and CTAs. But how do you make a lasting impression that connects? It's all about building a relationship to keep that know like, and trust factor going. But how do we build a relationship? Well, it's easier than you think. Take a moment to think of a close friend of yours or maybe even your partner. How did you two meet? What was a connecting factor? What kept you continuing the conversation? Think about why you're still friends or paired up. Was open communication and conversation. Part of it was a common ground from the start or did you establish it? Was consistency part of it? Did you show up for them? Did they show up for you? Was trust built over time? It's no different with your audience. When you're carefully curating your content based on the concepts you've learned here. And showing up, sharing that content authentically, inconsistently. You're establishing a relationship with that consumer. They'll come to expect a certain brand style from you. A certain way. The media, the content is delivered, a certain consistency. When they feel this consistency over time, they're more likely to not only engage with your content, but take the actions you suggest or prescribe. Now, let's talk about the touches. You might have heard this one before. It's pretty popular in classic marketing circles. Now. In layman's terms, this translates to how many times your content appears in the consumer's life. This can be over all types of media. This can be all types of cata ten. There is a proven method that's performed again and again for establishing connection and determining when your consumer will convert. Its in the number of touches. The magic number. It takes at least seven to ten interactions with your content, which are also called touches before you'll gain recognition with an audience. This is why consistency with your content is so important. Whether it's a few posts a week for an email to your list once a week, or a video on YouTube once every two weeks. If you stayed consistent, your audience will start to see, you know, going beyond the seven to ten touches. They may or may not take action once they see you. It may take additional interactions with their content. The more visible and consistent, the more you stay top of mind and build trust with that. And we all know at this point how valuable building that trust muscle is with that relationship is the key objective. It's about not only establishing that connection, but maintaining it to also engage with your consumers. So they feel that there's a human on the other side of that content. Oh, that's so important. Yes. So let's review. Making the connection last is all about relationship. It's cultivating consistency in communicating like you would with a friend. It's showing up so they can see you. So you can be visible in their world. Now, you may be thinking, how do we infuse the humanity into the content if it's brand related or not conversational. Well, let's move on to the next video. We'll, you will learn all about the humanity factor. I'll see you there. 9. The Humanity Factor: Alright, lesson seven is here. And we're going to talk all about the humanity factor. At this point. You have a great understanding of how to create content that connects. You're well aware of the key points. We're going to go a bit deeper now into another key factor that is helping some brands stand out more than others. As you already know, when you take the time to understand your audience, you're well aware of their pain points and what worries them or keeps them up at night. Those pain points are keys to creating empathy and helps you connect your audience. Empathy allows you to create an instant connection and provide a solution. This continues to build the trust. As you've already learned over time with consistency in your content, trust builds. And this leads to conversion. Ultimately, you want to show up in their world as a trusted advisor, a solutions provider. They can depend on. When you're being authentic, your integrity will come through and the likelihood of them converting more than once increases. Now, let's take it a step further and build on what you already know about engagement. This is where it's a make or break game in the marketplace. Now some brands excel at this and others don't. It's reinforcing the humanity factor, especially in online spaces. Consumer mistrust is at an all-time high because of bots and automated content. We've all received a response from a bot or a piece of canned content or even some spam. And it doesn't feel that good. It can feel hollow in devoid of heart, devoid of the human factor. The days of operating from the ivory tower are gone. People want real. They want transparent. They don't want a bot answering their questions. They don't want some kind of canned email. They want to feel taken care of. They want their voice to be heard and understood. They want to feel like there's another human on the other side of the screen that can assist them. They want to feel that human connection. When you show up for your consumers, customers, audience, either yourself or your team or your customer service department. And exercise empathy and transparency. It's a win-win game for both of you. It elevates the brand reputation, and it elevates the consumer or customer. It has the potential to skyrocket your conversions and create connections with even more consumers who have watched how the situation unfolded online. Now, with this, I'm speaking specifically to, and we've seen this happen a lot, that maybe a costumer has an issue with your product or customer. And I'm not talking about your product, just a product in general. So a customer has an issue with the product. So they go online because they were unable to get their needs met through customer service or whatnot. So they take their complaint online. Okay. They take their complaint online. Now some brands managed very well, handle this very well. Some brands ignore it, and some brands don't handle it well. So once you wanna do is you want to exercise the humanity factor here. You want to be a good listener. You want to be able to respond from a place of understanding, making that consumer that's voicing their complaint or whatever it is, but making them feel heard and making them feel that they have been addressed and that they're a solution is coming for them. Ok. That's going to not only create a connection between you and that consumer that might turn them into a raving fan. It also is very visible to all the others in the marketplace that are watching. And if it's handled well, then that might give others, other consumers more faith in your brand. You want to leave the customer feeling happy and delighted. Now, in my first corporate job, I was in a sales job. And I remember them telling us to focus on customer delight. And I was like, what is that? And it was about making the customer feel so happy and delighted that they want to share the experience, okay? And in this case, and especially nowadays online, they can share that experience with their network. And that can result in many referrals for your brand. That can result in your content being shared. It can result in lots more visibility that leads to conversions and possibly sales. This by far is the most important key in this course. If there's anything you take away, it's this. There is a human factor in all content creation. We always have the ability to effect positive change if we choose to. Now, let's review. Empathy and transparency with your audience in your content are potent forms of the humanity factor that leads to connection and conversions. At this point, you may be thinking, anything else I should know? Well, yes, I have a bonus lesson for you, Lesson eight. Let's move on to our last video lesson. Will you will learn about the secret epic sauce. I'll see you there. 10. The Secret E.P.I.C. Sauce: All right, welcome to lesson eight. The Secret Sauce being epic in your content. Congratulations. You've made it to the last lesson. And now at this point you have a solid understanding of how to create content that connects your well-aware of what it takes to get the conversions, to get the engagement from your content and you know how to do that now in an authentic and organic way. So consider this a bonus lesson to tie it all up. Now in order to do that, let's tap into that secret sauce and be epic. What is being apathetic? If you'll notice it has an acronym. So let's take a minute to learn more. Now, this video you're about to watch was taken from a workshop where I did a keynote presentation and on being epic. Let's get to it right now is to be Epic. And before I talk about that, as you'll notice, epic is an acronym. And I didn't realize this until recently. Because I always said epic, epic, epic and all of my messaging and all of my communications. And I thought, okay, I mean, I know a lot of people say that, but why is this such a big deal for me? And then I realized it's an acronym and I will tell you what it stands for. So when in doubt be epic. So epic, express your message in a way that creates powerful intentional connection requires you to take a minute before you push those messages out. Let that sink in. Okay, so now you know that epic stands for expressing powerful, intentional connection. And yes, it's the secret sauce to all the content that you create and share. Let's tap a minute on intention. I know we've talked about this a little bit in this, in these classes, in these lessons in this course. But I really want to just drive this point home. Intention allows you to take a minute, a pause to create from the heart. Speak in a way that will express a powerful connection with your consumer. And as you've already learned, this isn't any surprise to you at this point. Building that connection is what continues to build the trust muscle. And it prevents you from creating a scattered half hazard place in the marketplace. You really don't want to have that kind of content going out there. Do you? Welcomes in creating valuable content that your audience wants to consume rather than noise or filler in their feed. It helps you to stand out in a crowded marketplace with integrity and value. It grabs attention without being gimmicky or salesy and no click baiting, right? You learned all about clickbait thing a few lessons back. So we're not gonna get into that, but this will take you away from that and get you into a place of integrity and value. And that's really where you want to stand out. It goes back to fostering that consistency in your content. And creating that connection. Connection is really where it's out. Now, Let's review being ethic. Expressing powerful intentional connection is the secret sauce in creating content that converts and gets engagement. It helps you create, share worthy content that adds value to keep your consumers coming back for more, leaving you top of mind and continuing to build that trust muscle. Now that the course is coming to a close, it's time to apply everything you've learned. So head on over to your class project and dive in. 11. A Parting Message: Congratulations. You did it. You accomplished all of the lessons. And now you're armed with tools on how to boost engagement and conversions that connect with your audience. Now let's recap what we covered everything from branding to storytelling to effective copy writing to engaging your customers and building relationships that will last. If there's one thing I hope you can take away from this class, it's this Be authentic and how your brand or your product or beyond would approach or communicate anything. Dig into the personality and communicate from your heart, infusing your full essence and the potent power of your story. Remember, even brands products businesses in their own right can have stories and deeply connect with humanity. Be the human heart behind the message and take your engagement connection and conversions to a whole new level as we conclude our time together. Don't forget toe. Upload your project to the project and resource is tab on the class page. It's time to take what you've learned and apply it. Thanks again for letting the guide you through this process of creating content that connects. See you next time. Until then, the authentic be unapologetic people above you