Find the leak before you fix the post
Between a post and a customer there are a few steps: someone sees the post, visits your profile, taps the link or sends a message, makes an enquiry, books. Your platform statistics show the first steps, and your inbox and calendar show the rest.
Write the numbers for one month next to each other. Where the biggest drop happens is where the work is. Many businesses improve their posts for months when the real leak is a link to the wrong page.
Attention from the wrong people
A post can reach many people and still bring no enquiries, because it reached people who were never going to buy. Funny trends and general tips attract an audience; posts about prices, process and results attract customers.
Check which posts brought profile visits and messages, not only views. Make more of those, even when they look modest next to your most-watched video.
One clear call to action
Every post that should sell ends with exactly one next step, said plainly: "Comment PRICE and we will send you the list", "Send us a message for a free check", "Book via the link in our profile".
The keyword comment is especially effective on Instagram: tools using the Instagram interface may answer each comment once with a private message within seven days, so a public comment becomes a private conversation. MyTrendView Retention, currently in beta with a waiting list, is built to automate exactly that reply.
Remove every step you can
Each extra step loses people. The link in your profile should open the booking or enquiry page directly, not your start page. Forms should work on a phone and ask only what you need for the first contact.
A messaging button often beats a form, because people already know how to send a message. Wherever someone has to log in, download something or search for a phone number, a part of them gives up.
Speed decides
Someone who asks often asks several businesses at once and books with the first one that gives a useful answer. An enquiry that waits until tomorrow morning has often been decided elsewhere by then.
Set fixed times to check messages, prepare answers to the most common questions and say in your profile when people can expect a reply. If enquiries come in the evening and at weekends, an assistant that answers in the meantime is worth considering.
Trust at the moment of decision
Right before an enquiry, people look for proof: reviews, real photos instead of stock images, a price or price range, a visible address and imprint. Whatever is missing there becomes a reason to keep looking.
Pin your best proof where people land: a highlight with customer voices, a post with typical prices, a short video of how a first appointment works.
Test one change at a time
Change one thing, such as the link, the call to action or the reply time, and compare the following three weeks with the three before. If you change five things at once, you will not know which one helped.
Compare yourself with your own last month, not with numbers from other industries. A conversion rate only means something against your own baseline.