If you’ve been looking into what you can do to market your business online, you’re probably aware that most strategies these days revolve around providing content, after all, Google’s favourite slogan is “content is king”.
If you’re not fully aware how important it is that your small business marketing campaign includes content creation and publishing, have a look at some of our introductions. Whether this is for social media, your blog or a print publication, creating something, anything, that is of interest to your customers is the best way to get them interested, trusting you and ultimately buying from you.
No one is going to start following you on Facebook, subscribe to your blog, or read the magazine article you wrote if it’s just advertising. People can spot advertising a mile away and immediately switch off, so you’ve got to create something they actually want to see, or listen to, or watch.
Of course when you sit down and try to come up with some kind of strategy, inspiration immediately deserts you. Keeping on top of regular posting can become a real drag, especially if nothing you come up with feels satisfying or original. As a marketing agency, we can certainly help you in a number of ways, but it’s important to have at least some input yourself. So here are a few suggestions to spark creativity:
What’s boring for you, might be new to someone else!
You do your job every day. But how many other people do your job? Even if you work in a competitive industry, the routines, challenges and events of your day to day life are going to be pretty unique. Just pointing out what you do can make you stand out to people who know little about your business.
Take pride in your work
If you do something you’re proud of, share it. It’s a pretty universal human trait to want to tell people when you’re really happy about something. So tell them. How often do you make others aware of something you’ve done well? No matter what you do you can convey pride in your work, through a written explanation, pictures, videos, graphs and data or just a quick tweet.
Industry insights
Whether you are new to what you do, or have been doing it for donkey’s years, jotting down an opinion about the state of the industry can give customers a lot of insight. It shows you care enough about what you do to have an interest in it, and it shows you know something about it too. Both are good indications you can do what you do well.
Make it personal (but not too personal)
Social media and other modern online marketing avenues offer the chance for a slightly less formal tone. Obviously this still depends on what you do and who you are marketing too, but allowing your sense of humour, or quirky approach to work to shine through can make you stand out from the buzz of impersonal advertising.
Hunt down inspiration
If you are still struggling for ideas, have a look at what other people are doing. In most industries, there’s probably going to be someone trying a bit of content marketing. Have a look at what works for them, what interests you, and think about what you could do better.
Remember to keep it relevant
Go and find something that interests you and see if you can share that with others, just try to keep it relevant to what your business does.
Call in reinforcements
There are a number of ways in which we can help you share the load. Perhaps by putting in place a strategy for you to follow so you have some guidance, or keeping the regular posts coming so you can focus on the fun parts. Whatever level of involvement you’d like us to take, have a look at our social media marketing service.