Shownotes
Is your social media performance getting you down? It is easy to start getting obsessed with the vanity metrics (likes and follows) and stressing that your social media is not working. Likes and follows do not automatically equate to actual bookings.
In this episode, I delve into the misconception that achieving virality on social media guarantees an immediate influx of direct bookings, revealing that genuine engagement with our target audience really is the key. I explore the distinction between the quantity of followers and the quality of interactions, emphasising the need to develop relationships that can ultimately lead to bookings.
I share with you the more meaningful marketing social metrics that should be prioritised, such as website traffic and audience engagement, rather than succumbing to the allure of superficial high numbers.
By focusing on creating purposeful ideal guest-lead content and building trust with our audience, we can achieve greater direct booking success.
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Key Takeaways:
- The pursuit of vanity metrics such as likes and followers does not equate to an immediate increase in direct bookings or more revenue.
- A focus on audience quality rather than sheer size is key for achieving sustainable business growth.
- Engagement with ideal guests through meaningful content creates relationships that can lead to actual direct bookings.
- Successful marketing strategies must prioritise actionable metrics, including website traffic and email signups, over mere social media popularity.
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Handy links from this episode:
Social Media Training - find out more about Sarah's marketing club - THE FULLY BOOKED BUSINESS CLUB™
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Connect with Sarah:
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Transcripts
You're listening to Get Fully Booked with Sarah Orchard. Are you ready to master your marketing so you can ditch your reliance on the online agents and grow your direct bookings?
I'll be sharing with you exactly what it takes to grow your direct bookings and the simple marketing steps to get more profit in your pocket. Welcome to the Get Fully Booked podcast.
I'm your host, Sarah Orchard, and today we're diving into something I think can be a real curveball that sparks frustration with using social media to grow your business. Hosts getting totally caught up in the likes, the followers, the real views, the good old social media vanity metrics. I need to go viral.
I need to get 1 million views on my reel or I have somehow failed. I hear it all the time. And here's the truth bomb I want to drop right at the get go.
More likes does not equal more bookings, and more followers does not equal more income. So in this episode, we're going to explore why vanity metrics don't control your booking potential.
The difference between audience size and audience quality, and what to track instead if you want to get fully booked. So let's jump right in. The problem with vanity metrics are the numbers that look good don't necessarily do good. Good for your business.
Likes views follow account going viral. They don't actually always translate into actual business benefits. But why are they so tempting?
Well, let's face it, we get a bit of an instant dopamine hit. It makes us feel good. We feel like it's validation of our marketing efforts. And it's so easy to compare ourselves to others.
I do it, I look at other people's accounts and I think, why is their social media doing better than mine? We typically say things like, you know, oh, they've got 10,000 followers. I only have 500. You know, what am I doing wrong? Why are they doing so well?
But the danger is that we start creating content just to try and beat the algorithm or to pacify the algorithm. You're not actually creating content for our ideal guests.
We focus on the total performance numbers and we don't think about the fact that there's real people on the other side of that mobile screen and we're not building that connection. We all also get discouraged when engagement's low, even if bookings are coming in. And I get it.
I am no different when I'm doing the social media for the Hideout. I feel that frustration when I put something out that I think is quite good and nothing happens. It's like tumbleweed.
Social media tumbleweed but we've got to remember, you're not an influencer, you're a host. And your content strategy should reflect that. So I thought I'd share with you an interesting conversation that I had quite recently.
I was talking to a host who's actually one of my marketing club members, and we were chatting about Instagram in general and social media. And she had told me that one of her Instagram posts had gone viral. It had over a million views. She obviously was delighted at this.
And I asked her the all important question, did you get lots of bookings off the back of it? She said no, she couldn't attribute a single booking. And that's the point. Going viral isn't an instant win.
You can't select or determine who the algorithm shows you're real to. People might like it, but they may not be your ideal guest and you have no way of knowing that.
So, yes, getting in front of big numbers and building an audience is really important, but it's longer term. We need to build an audience on social media and that starts with a relationship. And that relationship can turn into bookings.
But big numbers alone don't guarantee big booking results.
And I've seen hosts do really well when they don't have huge followers number followers on social media and they have been over 75% direct bookings and their booking calendars are full. I've got one club member who isn't even on social media with her business because her ideal guests aren't on social media.
So you've got to remember that you can't pay your bills with real, real likes alone. So it's key to remember that you don't need 10,000 followers to get fully booked.
And I've just demonstrated that you need the right followers and ultimately that takes a little bit of work.
But engagement with your ideal guests, if they're on the social media platforms, is like getting an applause from the right crowd about being in the right place and building a longer term relationship with them. Because what matters more than the vanity metrics is some of the other marketing metrics. So are you getting website clicks?
Are you getting them from that sort of top of funnel awareness that is created through social media? Are you getting them to come and actually visit your website? Because then it's your website's job to convert and sell.
Are people actually engaging with your content? Are they replying to your stories?
Are you actually creating stories that encourage engagement, using things like the stickers and posing questions, asking polls, trying to give people a good reason to engage with your stories. Remember, social is all about being social. It's not a one way advertising platform. Are they actually joining your email list?
Obviously that's going to be one of your major marketing objectives. So are you getting them from social? Are you using something maybe like Linktr.ee to get them across to your email signup page?
Are they sending you DMs and are they turning into inquiries and bookings? This is all about building trust and a relationship. It's not about just going viral. There are no quick fixes.
A reel with 200 views could get three DM inquiries and in my book that that's a win. But a reel with 10,000 views that leads to nothing is just noise.
So we've got to bear in mind the bigger goals of what we're actually trying to achieve with our marketing.
And yes, I'm not saying that social media is not an important part of the first stage of getting brand awareness and people discovering your business, but it is not the only thing that you should be focusing on. So let's take a look at, you know, what, what you should be tracking.
So if we're not just measuring the likes and followers and you know, how much reach our reel had, what should we be looking at? Well, I think there are quite a few key metrics that we should be looking at. So I've mentioned a few of them.
You know, are we, how many link clicks are you getting to your website?
Are people moving from Instagram or TikTok over to your website and then use your Google Analytics or GA4 to actually see whether they stay engaged on your website? Because often we find that visits from social media can have a high bounce rate. So people don't stay on your site for very long.
After all, they were probably on social media to be entertained, so they were maybe not looking to purchase something like people are when they're on a Google, you know, Google search. Are they sending you DMS or story replies? Are they actually engaging in a conversation with you?
Take a look at how many views your stories are getting. I mean stories are a fantastic way to engage your fans.
And I always think of like once someone's actually followed your account, stories are a daily way to actually just keep reminding them that you exist. Helping to show behind what goes on in your business, starting to build that relationship. You are trying to turn them into sort of super fans.
So that's important to try and start a conversation with them, making sure it's not just one way traffic. Take a look at whether people are actually saving or sharing Your content on social.
These are signs that your content is really appealing and resonating with them and they will come back to it later. So they're saving it, you know, so that they can find you again at a future date. So that's a great sign.
I always look for that when I'm looking at my insights on my social content. If you're getting website traffic, are you actually also getting email signups?
So this is where you actually start to build your own booking, more direct booking funnel.
So it's really important to make sure that people that are coming across from social are actually doing some of the things that you want them to do when they get to your website. And things like Linktr.ee can make it really easy to add a link directly to your email signup form.
Lastly, look at things like time on site and enquiries. So are people sticking around once they've landed on your website?
I mentioned that and I think it's really important to see how sticky your website is and whether people actually are engaging with the content or whether they are just hopping straight back to the social platforms for a bit more entertainment. These are all the metrics that move the marketing needle in your business and the things that lead to actual bookings.
So if you've been stuck in the scroll loop obsessing over the numbers of hearts or views, I want you to take a deep breath because you need to refocus on what actually matters and not forgetting the fact that there are real people behind these numbers, hopefully some of your ideal guests. So focus instead on creating helpful, inspiring content with that ideal guest in mind.
Think about, go back to your, I would say like three content pillars. Things that you know are of interest to them that you can focus your content around. You should be building trust, not just chasing trends.
Please, please, please don't just hop on to all of the latest trends.
You see someone else doing it and you think, oh, I've got to do that too, because I've been told to be successful on social, I need to hop on all the trends. Don't want to see you doing any dancing, silly dances and things like that.
That's not necessarily, and I can guarantee that is not going to get you more bookings, but you need to lastly measure the actions that will actually lead to bookings.
So if this episode has given you a nudge or maybe just a reassurance that actually you can turn your back on some of the vanity metrics, I would love it if you could send it to another host who's stuck in the same dilemma. Help them out and send them this episode to have a listen.
And don't forget, you can join my membership, the Fully Booked Business Club where I teach you how to create social media content that will boost engagement and leads to more direct bookings and profit in your pocket.
So if you'd like to find out more about that, head to my website www.get-fully booked.com and you'll find all the details about our supportive and vibrant community and the marketing club that I offer. So thanks for tuning in today. I will be back next week with a brilliant guest.
I have Ali Tate who will be helping us to master our CEO mindset and shift from being a host to the boss. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you could leave me a review. You know how much us hosts love those five star reviews.
Can't wait to see you next time. Thank you for listening to Get Fully Booked with Sarah Orchard.
If you want to see if you are ready to ditch the likes of Airbnb and grow your direct bookings, put your business to the test with my free Direct Booking Roadmap quiz. Head to my website www.get-fully-booked.com/quiz and let's get you more direct bookings and more profit in your pocket.
