Who Do You Think You Are Talking Too?

Who do you think you are talking to? A phrase said by many a teacher for one. Hands up I've said it to my kids, to my students, in fact to many people.

Have you ever been at work, or a place where you "belong" and someone who you barely know comes up and starts talking about personal things, or how much they loved what you did recently, and you're standing there nodding whilst wondering who this person thinks they are talking to. It can land you in a tricky situation. When I was on the circuit as chair of Cytun *Welsh Churches Together, there was many of those odd moments. I had people thanking me for the beautiful funeral I led for their friend, or that my boys were a credit to me. They were totally mixing me up with the other blonde on the circuit. Female speakers are all one and the same after all?? , then have two in one Welsh town, both 5ft, both the same age, frame, and standing... I guess it was an easy mistake to make.

I have many people come to me for help with creating content that converts for their videos they create. They spend hours creating fun, whacky and on trend videos, reach is fine, some are even going to some extent viral, yet there are no conversions into sales. The first thing I review, is "Who do you think you are talking to?", often followed by a baffled look by the creator. What a ridiculous question, they cry, I'm talking to people who follow me on social media, or to random people searching the hash tag, or with a bit of luck I will have appeared on the explore page.

When looking at creating short or even long form video, it's important to understand that you are not on a spaceship on the outer edges of Mars, broadcasting a full screen over the entire global. If the people seeing your video speak a different cultural, social, education or outlook background, you might as well be speaking Martian to them. This is social media, not mass broadcast, cast a big enough net and pray you catch a fish. Really sit down and create your Customer/Service User Avatars first, with as much detail as you can think of. It's private to you, so really dig into depth of characteristics, stereotypes, assumptions, no one needs to see it other than you.

Who am I talking to. Who is my message for. If your talking to stressed out Mums, how are you going to connect on a relational level. If you are presenting to other professionals, is pyjamas, with a pot noodle stain in full glory, and a messy bun really the best way to present yourself. If you're talking to families, how are you showing that message? What language do they talk? If you're selling skin care, did your audience really pay attention in science, would they understand what hyaluronic acid is? The quick answer to that is, the majority won't. They will want to know how it will make them feel, is it for them, and if it is in their budget. Most likely they will assess whether it's in their budget way before you have mentioned any pricing, they've decided that on whether you look like them, talk like them and relate to them.

In short form video, you have got anything from 5 seconds to a minute to make an impact. Have your message clear. Show how you are serving others, build trust and/or give value. You can not re-tell the Odyssey in a minute, so highlight one sentence. Break your message up into a series of 2, 3..7 videos to post daily throughout the week. This will have a strong drive to turning your followers into fans, and it's the fans that will drive your business to success. It's better to have just 10 raving avid fans than 1000 followers. So what does that fan look like to you? What qualities do they possess. Have a go at drawing a stick wo/man on a big piece of paper and write down every characteristic that you think makes a good service user/consumer/customer to you. Include background, education, location, budget, they style of everyday language they use. Be a mirror!

This is where the real skill in successful short form video that converts stands, your ability to mirror your target audience. To present directly to them in a non salesy way, building that "Know, Love and Trust" factor. Remember, know your audience, have a clear understanding of how you want to provide service, what your message is, and building in trust and value. Be impactful in a short space of time, whilst being clear and focused. AND ever forget that all important call to action. How do you want the viewer to do when they've watched the video? "Hit ??if you can relate/if you got value", "Link in the bio for further info", "DM me to connect", "Follow for more top tips", These are just but a few. Most of all, remember who you are talking to!