Why a lot of businesses fail

Traction & Social Media ‍

Traction (surprise surprise) is one of the biggest reasons as to why businesses fail in start up stage. Traction is the necessary momentum that builds interest and awareness of your offerings. Relying solely on good product is not enough. Poor distribution — not product — is the number one cause of business failure. The only way to combat this is to ensure that you are building out traction outlets while you develop your product, so you can launch with a strong product AND distribution stream.

Most people try too many traction outlets and fail. The best approach is to test streams, and determine the single most optimal traction outlet for your business and then focus on it. This could include things like Partnerships, Instagram, Facebook, Email Marketing etc. Focusing on your strengths and where your customers are hanging out is the best way to tackle this.

Once a few streams are chosen, focus long and hard to build up traction, engagement and community. A lot suggest to plan out content months and months in advance, I don't think this is the best way to approach it. If you're new to content creation you want to test out different methods UNTIL you have some clear ideas and some measurable results backing your choices.

Many believe viral content can't be designed, I disagree. The way you connect hooky titles, punchy copy that triggers emotion, actionable advice and CTAs can make or break the shareability of a post. Consider the following:

- Have you used interesting copy and visuals to spark curiosity (reason to engage)
- Have you designed your content for the audience of your audience (targeting the 3rd degree)
- Have you focused on a trending topic that people will debate about
- Have you provided examples, case studies, diagrams and opinions
- Have you solved a problem that people were not aware existed
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People dislike being told how they should react to your brand.This means simply telling your audience what your brand is, forcing beliefs onto your audience through the objective of selling won't benefit them in the slightest.

Focusing on the right relationship building tactics will ensure you are educating, inspiring and moving your audience to want to buy from you. To do this focus on giving value that deserves a reaction, listening to what people say your brand is, inspire your audience to believe in new things, approach branding as a creative process and continue to build and iterate on the way you connect. Relationship building on social platforms means connecting with and not selling to your audience.

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To summarise:

1. Find your platform (IG, LinkedIn) based on where your customers are
2. Test and measure for 2-3 months and only then consider building up content plan
3. Don't get too fixated on selling, in fact best to focus on educating, entertaining or inspiring - depending on what your audience engages with
4. Develop methods for building viral content
5. Ensure your website is set up to make it as easy as possible for people to learn and connect with your business

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