People Like People
It’s all well and good getting your brand out there, but ultimately the services that you provide can be obtained elsewhere, no matter how outstanding they may be. What sets brands apart is the people behind them, and so it’s important to tap into that when throwing yourself out into the wider world.
In a previous blog post we talked about the types of behind-the-scenes content you should be creating in the near future, and of those content types, we paid particular attention to that of a more personal nature. In this post, we’re going to provide you with some tips so that you can be sure that the personal content you put out there can be as effective as possible.
Keep It Real, Always
If you are going to show yourself or your team in your marketing content, you have to be your authentic selves. It’s pointless putting on a mask and turning up on people’s social feeds because ultimately that’s not what customers will get in real life when they come to do business with you.
Also, never underestimate what your audience will pick up on – they will be able to spot a fake miles away, and if you try to pull a fast one, it will massively undermine their trust in you. The bottom line is to make sure that everything you put out there aligns with your personality and values.
Know Your Objectives
As with any marketing strategy, it’s key to know what it is you want to achieve. What do you hope to get from a more personal approach to marketing? Goals provide clarity and direction, so to know what it is that you want will help you to get those all-important results in a much more time and energy-effective manner.
Be Clear on Who You Are Marketing To
Who is your audience? Where do they congregate online? What content do they spend the most time consuming? What do they want to see from you?
Imagine your audience as real individuals so that you can create content that caters directly to their needs, both in terms of what they want from you and what they are willing to give you in exchange for what they want. For starters, if your target demographic leads a particularly busy lifestyle, you’ll likely need to focus on short-form content. Paying attention to things like this will make a huge difference to the engagement your content receives.
Don’t Neglect Engaging on Social Media
Hopefully you’ll have worked out that all of your content needs to be shared on social media, especially on the platforms where your target demographic hangs out. However, it’s called ‘social’ media for a reason – people engage with each other and have discussions, so make sure that you’re interacting with others on these sites as well as just launching your own content into orbit. Pose questions to your followers and generate some organic inbound engagement with your profiles, but don’t be afraid to dive into the comment sections on other people’s posts too. It all helps in building relationships, so take the time to connect with others and gently introduce them to yourself that way. In time, these interactions will turn into engagement with your content which could lead to all sorts of things further down the line.
