Value time! When is the right time to deliver a message (because you must have engagement before you can generate sales)?
A commonly asked question by clients is “When is the right time to deliver a message?” We all want to maximise our audience reach and engagement. Timing is everything or is it?
“Time might well be the death of me.” “It’s time.” “Time is not on my side.” “Time please.”
These are some of the most commonly uttered phrases, all a consequence of a faster-moving pace of life. Our attention span is dwindling and can not be counted in seconds.
From the moment we are born to our final day, we measure things in time. The funny thing is we make a general assumption everyone is on the same time schedule when the reality is quite different. In the workplace, we are surrounded by people of different ages with different things making an impact on their lives. What one person is feeling at 5pm is not the same as the next.
We live in a world filled with artificial deadlines, created by someone’s inherent sense of time. We, of course, also have sweeping deadlines like the end of a financial or calendar year, where we have to get things done—but why? It’s hard to stop the momentum of these recognised time landmarks, but slowly they are losing their meaning.
Times have changed. We each operate knowing we can, for example, shop 24 hours a day (nothing like those last-minute items being delivered to your door quickly) or work from where we want and when we want. Dictating time to clients can work to create urgency among some while pushing others away.
Does this make the question even harder to answer? When is the right time to deliver a message?
Watch the video for your answer…
From the video
Hi. You know the chances are you’re not watching this live. You’re not watching this when I post it. You’re not watching this necessarily within minutes of me posting it. You’re watching it when the time is right for you and that’s the point.
There is time that is just out of our control. Just because you can do it now, doesn’t mean you should and just because you want people to see it now doesn’t mean they will.
Time is out of control in so many respects. And there are big things that are out of our control. The seasons, nature—these are all things that we can’t control at all. That’s time that is impacting us but our own time is our own time.
Now, just for example, why don’t you try this week switching off your phone, your social media, your computers for 24 hours and see what happens. What happens is you actually take yourself away from everything for a period of time. That’s right. You’re controlling the time and that’s the interesting thing, isn’t it? When you take your time away, how does anyone else know that?
Do you have to declare it? No! You just come back in your own time and you look at what you want to look at when you want to look at it. So you’ve got to imagine that your clients are doing the same thing.
Show time respect.
Respect is the key
If you offer people you are communicating with the same level of respect you would appreciate, you will introduce greater authenticity into your brand. For example, do you want people emailing you late at night for work issues and expecting an immediate response?
In essence, you need to respect time. Time doesn’t solely belong to you. Your messages should be available, but you should always remember now may not be the right time for everyone.
The real question you must answer is whether your messages will be available when the time is right?
Make information available, ALWAYS!
While not all businesses can operate in a 24/7 cycle, the messages they deliver most certainly can. If you don’t carry your messages through multiple channels, some of which last fleetingly in a social media news feed, and others that can be accessed forever on a website, or on a featured post, then you are gambling on the right time to deliver your messages. This is at the heart of engagement, a crucial component of any effective marketing strategy.
Remember, you also need to regularly review your messages because what you said yesterday may not be relevant tomorrow (times change fast – you only have to consider the past couple of years to know that). The right time is always now for someone who may be your next client, so make sure the information is available to them and it is up-to-date.
You always need to be seen all the time as the ‘go-to expert’.
Engagement should be effortless
I hear the wheels turning for you and the obstacles you are putting up…sounds great, but how do you maximise engagement but limit the time you have to spend on it?
You don’t like spending time on engagement, do you? Not just because you don’t enjoy it or it is not your main skillset, but because it costs you lots of money when you add up your time.
Let me tell you, there is a way to solve all this and reach more of your ideal clients, but you are going to have to contact me if you want the answer.
If engagement is a priority, because you want more for your business and you value your time, what are you waiting for?
