It can become a laborious chore; keeping your business fresh and relevant online is a task which becomes trickier with time. If you are, for example, posting three pieces of content per day each year, you’re tasked with coming up with 1,095 pieces of interesting, engaging content over this time period. That is a big ask, particularly when you are targeting a certain market. If you were scatter-boarding then you’d have access to limitless references. As it is, you have a demographic to hit. You need to be current, relevant and worth paying attention to.
By aligning your business’s social content with current events, you give yourself a great shot at staying relevant. You need to understand your customers. The power lies with them in terms of market saturation. They don’t necessarily need you, they can easily find the same product/service elsewhere. Therefore you need to stand out. We’ve outlined a few hints and tips on what you can do to ensure you don’t drift towards online obscurity.
BE ENGAGING. A simple statement and an obvious aim, but this is a broader requirement than it may suggest. Being active and relevant online isn’t purely about producing original content. It can equally be about being responsive and available. Dialogue with your customers is as important as one way information. If one of your followers/subscribers/customers presents a question or a problem to you, be there to answer it and keep them happy.
Creating seasonal timely content can ensure you are answering the questions your potential customers are asking. In their post ‘How SMEs Can Save Energy Over The Christmas Break‘ Love Energy Savings provide practical instruction for the approaching winter break, an example of how businesses can engage their readers with useful content.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT’S ALREADY OUT THERE. Again, you can ease the pressure on yourself by sourcing existing pieces of interesting and relevant information. Find articles or stimulating information pieces which you can share or suggest to your audience. If you’re on Twitter, re-tweet relevant content. Likewise, on Facebook share things that your audience might like.
Graham and Brown are a great example of a company who collaborate to create exciting content, engaging with their clients through interior design. They work extensively with Bloggers, highlighting the different ways in which their range of products can be used. Crucially, when they write one of such pieces, for example ‘Counting Down to Christmas‘ they share the content on a range of social platforms, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to name just a few.
RUN COMPETITIONS. A fantastic way to further engage people is by offering them something for nothing. With a simple giveaway, you can entice potential consumers who are attracted by a possible prize. This initial engagement may lead to further success.
There are a number of factors which should be carefully considered, for example the luxury vintage jewellery and watch specialist William May reached out to their target market by running a competition of great appeal to those with an interest in all matters fashion. The prize was two tickets to London Fashion week, both coveted and timely with the event on the horizon. As well as holding the competition William May produced related content, such as ‘London Calling: The Crucial Role of Jewellers at Fashion Week‘ as a means of promoting further interest and engagement.
INBOUND MARKETING. Traditional marketing methods involved reaching out to people via cold calling, print or media advertising, and even going door-to-door. Nowadays, potential business will often knock on your door in the form of online traffic. People will find themselves directed towards you by way of search engine results and clicks on links which have been shared. Make sure that, should they find you, you have enough illuminating content to grab their attention. Create ‘Buyer Personas’ of your potential customers. This means coming up with profiles and traits of the people you wish to attract. What do they want? What are their goals? How old are they? What’s their typical job? By asking these questions you can create an imaginary target market to mirror the real one you want to attract.
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