3 Important Reasons Why Online Presence Should Be Backed By Offline Events

If you’re an influencer (or aim to be one), or perhaps a service professional, but are struggling with conversion in terms of turning your followers into customers or paying clients, you might just be missing one important ingredient: establishing relationships offline.

Let’s face it, vanity metrics – likes, follows, reactions, etc. – are nice to have since it helps you gain online traction and widen your reach, but it will still boil down to finding out who among your followers are most likely willing to avail of your product or service.

It’s not rocket science. There are humans representing behind those numbers, and all you need to do is to find out and give (if you’re able to) what they need.

They want to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. People want to know if you’re the real deal behind your posts. The need for reassurance isn’t surprising. As people are now made of digital consumers, they are pretty much aware that it’s easy to just grab a blurb from the Internet, rephrase it, then post it. But if they hear that it’s backed by some form of a story that is based on personal experience, they are most likely convinced that you’re the real deal.

Trust is established face-to-face. This is actually an understatement. If you’re an influencer or wanting to be one, simply try to switch places with your followers and/or potential client. Walk in their shoes for a second. If you see yourself trusting someone with your money given the condition that you are able to see the face behind the reason for your purchase, then there goes your answer. 

This usually applies either when you’re an influencer or someone offering services (e.g. as a financial advisor, real estate broker, coaching services, etc.). The final touchpoint any potential client would most likely want to experience is a face-to-face encounter (with you) before they make a final decision to do business with you. This is the reason why service professionals initiate face-to-face meetings, either over lunch, coffee, or even dinner. 

(Potential) Customers are still humans. At the end of the day, people would still prefer to deal with people, not businesses or companies. They get attracted to influencers, business owners, establishments that treat them like humans, and not just someone who can answer an agent’s prayers for a commission or a source of a sale. 

As humans, customers crave for a pleasant experience. Simple yet sincere gestures like smiling, shaking hands, listening intently to what they have to say, or genuinely asking them how they are, are all examples of providing a pleasant human experience. In most cases, if you simply oblige having a photo taken with them, you’ve already provided a 2-second pleasant experience.

As for the type of offline event, it can either be a free workshop, an informal meeting over coffee, or a mini group meetup. If you’re now wondering where you want to hold it, that’s another story. The classic rule of marketing still applies here though: Know who your target customers are and get to really know them – who they are and what they like – and you’ll find out that organising a meetup with them will just be easy-peasy.

Good luck!