In the last 2 years you can’t help but have noticed the trend for 5 Day Challenges (or in some cases 30 day challenges)
Every single Marketer, Coach or Consultant has ran one … and you’ll perhaps notice that we haven’t
Now I’ll be honest with you from the outset in that I’ve often talked about them in a disparaging way. So in my own way this is my own personal challenge: to look at the idea of whether you should take part in one or not (and do so without bias)
WHAT IS A 5 DAY CHALLENGE?
Interestingly if you google “what is a 5 day challenge” all it comes up with in the results is how to build your own 5 Day Challenge to drive more sales
There is nothing from the customers or learner’s perspective
Typically 5 Day Challenges are sold to the organisers as a way to build their email list or sell higher ticket items
For the learner a 5 Day Challenge should
– Teach You Something New
– Get You Into The Habit of Doing Something
– Start to show you the potential of doing something
– Align With Your Business Goals
It comes via a mixture of education, tasks and community support
Without getting too academic there should be learning outcomes
But let’s look at the pros and cons
PROS
Learn Something New
I’m a huge fan of learning
You should see the bookshelves to the left of me (75+ business books and 75+ non business books over the past 5 years)
Throw in podcasts, blogs and networking events and I spend my life learning and acquiring new knowledge to either help my business grow or because I’m interested in a specific subject
If you want to know a little more about a subject then a 5 Day Challenge can help to teach you something new
I’ll always credit someone who tries to expand their knowledge
Habit Forming
I’d say the 30 day challenges could help more on habit forming, but 5 Day Challenges can work as well for habit forming
If you start to get into the habit of doing something every day then it becomes part of your routine
When people say “Alex, so why have you …
– Blogged since 1999
– Tweeted every day since 2009
– Posted on LinkedIn every day
– Engaged on Instagram every day”
The answer is simple
Because … it drives business
So if a challenge helps your form a good habit over a bad one – it’s a win
A Tribe Of Encouragers
We all like to feel someone has our back
And this is one aspect that 5 Day Challenges do particularly well
A tribe of encouragers cheering you as you start doing something for the 1st time
Whether it’s losing weight or posting on Instagram, it’s nice for people to compliment you along the way and encourage you to turn up the next day
I can motivate myself, but sometimes I don’t get a huge amount of encouragement from my own networking group and I’m sure many feel the same
A kind word or comment can go a long way
CONS
Headline Tips Only
You’re only going to get the headlines in a 5 Day Challenge
It won’t go deeper than the bullet points
And for some headlines and soundbites can be enough, it can be exactly what you need to take action
For some who already knows the basics the headlines can be the equivalent of Delia Smith’s “How To Boil An Egg”
Not Bespoke to your business
5 Day Challenges are often designed to get as many bums on seats
They’re not bespoke to your specific needs – they can’t be by the very nature of the challenge
Most free content isn’t bespoke: Blogs, Videos, Podcasts, Challenges are all meant to appeal to a group of people and you only get bespoke when you take the step of 121 which neatly takes us to the last point
The Upsell
Make no mistake
A 5 Day Challenges core purpose is to take you, the “customer”, along sales journey to pay for the premium product
Everything in marketing is it’s essence is this
At the end of the 5 Day Challenge you will get sold to and sometimes it’s done quite aggressively
We’ve heard tales of people trying 5 days challenges and then receiving 20 sales emails a week
Approach this with open eyes that this is what will happen
CONCLUSION – DOES THE CHALLENGE HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR BUSINESS GOALS?
You now know a little bit more about 5 Day Challenges and the pros and cons
Before saying yes or no to a challenge do a cost / benefit analysis
The challenges may not have a monetary cost, but they often have a time cost
Does the time spent doing the challenge align with your goals?
What are the likely outcomes of doing the challenge?
What alternatives are there out there for the time spent?
Do you need something more bespoke?
Does the person delivering the challenge have credibility? (check reviews + blogs + social media posts)
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
We offer Social Media Training on
* LinkedIn
* Instagram
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Blogging
We can do this
* 121
* Corporate Workshops
* Group Workshops
* Face to Face or Via Zoom / Skype
Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

Alex McCann is owner of Altrincham HQ – a social media management and training company based in Altrincham, Cheshire that has worked with 100s of local business developing their social media strategy. Alex has 500+ LinkedIn testimonials and is Ranked Number 1 for Social Media Marketing in the UK via independent customer reviews on Freeindex.
Archives
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- November 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
Leave a Reply