Have you ever walked into a party by yourself?
What’s the first thing you do? If you’re like me you make a bee-line for the bar. 😉
Otherwise, you immediately look for the people that you know.
Finding those people allows you to feel like you’re in the right place. You feel comfortable because there are other people like you.
It’s not much different when people visit your website.
They’re looking for clues that they’re in the right place.
It’s also the same when they’re making decisions about who they’re going to work with, if they’re going to go to an event or if they’re going to buy tickets to a show. People want some sort of confirmation they’re going to be in the right place.
So one of the first questions you need to ask is, who do you want to come? Those are the people you want to attract.
You attract what you put out
There are basically three ways to help you attract more of the people you want:
- Personality
- Pictures
- Showcase your audience
1. Personality
Sure, you can use the same bland voice that everyone uses or you can let your voice come through so people start to get a sense of who you are. They get to know you. And perhaps most importantly they can make a decision as to whether or not they like you. Perhaps they won’t. That’s good. They can move along and no one gets hurt. Don’t you think you’re better off attracting people you want to be involved with? Show your personality.
2. Pictures
People want to see you. There’s so much we’re able to assess visually. Don’t hide. Remember we often look for the people we know? If people start to see your face around, you start to become someone they recognize. That’s good, don’t you think? We feel more comfortable doing business with those we know.
3. Showcase your audience
This one is huge. When you include stories of the people your work with, pictures of them in testimonials or pictures from social events other people can easily see if they fit at your party. They begin to picture themselves there with you. Can they see themselves as part of your circle?
Here’s a perfect example of a promotional video showcasing the audience:
Notice how you see the people there. You see how they’re reacting to the show. You can imagine yourself at the event. You know immediately if this is the type of thing for you. The video above is going to attract more people like those featured.
Look to make things more human
Many people think the internet makes us less likely to interact with real people. The exact opposite is true. It allows more like-minded people to get together and support one another in the beliefs. So don’t be afraid to show yourself. Don’t be afraid to show the people you want to come along with you.
Do you have any online examples where you get a good sense of the people involved? Share them in the comments.
Great post and thank you. I heartily agree! I had a conversation with an opera company a while back. Their goal was to attract a younger audience, but all the photos on their website depicted baby boomer generation or older. I mentioned they need to have photos of their existing younger demographic too if they want to attract a younger generation.
I also gave advice to a ballet company that they needed more photos of their dancers so their audience could “meet” them. The campaign did help boost audience for that year!
People process your website/marketing through their own filters so it is very important that you introduce them to who you are and who your audience is so it is easy to see if they fit.
Thanks for the comment Shoshana.
Also glad to hear the campaign did help boost the audience.
“Many people think the internet makes us less likely to interact with real people. The exact opposite is true.”
Dave, I think that line from your post is so true and powerful. The richness we can now create by offering more personality and insight into who we or our organizations are, is so much easier now. What’s surprising is how few people make use of it.
I have been inspired by your use of video and will be looking at ways to do more for my own site, especially by doing an “intro” video for my “about” page.
Thanks for a great post.
Thanks John.
Looking forward to see what you do with video.
I really think people are still stuck in the idea of “static” websites and that they need to be “proper” (read as boring.)
I do love when I see a site that is engaging.