Category: Communications

It’s easy to be blinded by the plethora of channels we marketers are faced with, especially when planning a full year of activity. That’s why having a sound content marketing strategy is key, and one which you can then hang all other activities from. Here are my 10 steps to building your content marketing strategy:

1. Define your target audience: Identify the demographics, psychographics, and pain points of your ideal customers.
2. Set your goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your content marketing efforts, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or driving sales.
3. Conduct a content audit: Analyze your existing content to see what’s working and what isn’t. Use this information to inform your future content creation efforts.
4. Develop a content calendar: Plan out the types of content you will create, when you will publish it, and on which channels.
5. Create a variety of content: Offer a mix of blog posts, videos, infographics, whitepapers, podcasts, and other formats to appeal to different types of learners and to keep things interesting.
6. Optimise for SEO: Use keywords and meta tags to help your content rank higher in search results.
7. Promote your content: Share your content on social media, via email marketing, and through other channels to reach a wider audience.
8. Measure and analyze: Use tools such as Google Analytics to track the performance of your content and see what’s resonating with your audience. Use this information to adjust your strategy as needed. Importantly, keep in mind what’s generating new or additional business. Some channels perform well but don’t drive commercial performance.
9. Engage with your audience: Encourage comments and feedback on your content, and be responsive to questions and comments.
10. Continuously improve: Continuously improve your content marketing strategy by experimenting with new formats, targeting different audience segments, and testing different promotional tactics.

Social media has become a crucial element in the world of modern marketing, with billions of users around the globe utilising platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to connect with potential customers, share brand information and promote products and services. Some may argue that the constant flow of information and content on these platforms is nothing more than “noise,” a jumble of words and images that detracts from effective marketing strategies and campaigns.

However, while it is true that social media can be overwhelming and saturated at times, it is also a valuable tool for reaching and engaging with target audiences. For many businesses, social media is a cost-effective and efficient way to connect with customers and build brand awareness. It is also an effective tool for disseminating information and promoting special deals and promotions, as well as for collecting customer feedback and insights.

Social media has also been a powerful tool for smaller businesses and new brands to establish their presence in the market and compete with larger companies. Additionally, social media has played a crucial role in many viral marketing campaigns and has helped to increase brand visibility and reputation.

That being said, it is also true that social media can be a source of misinformation and that the constant stream of information and content can be overwhelming and overwhelming. It is important to use social media strategically, by creating effective campaigns, targeting the right audience and using data-driven insights. Moreover, it is also important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in social media marketing to stay ahead of the competition.

While social media can be overwhelming at times, it is also a valuable tool for modern marketing. It is important to use social media strategically and to be mindful of the potential downsides but to also acknowledge its positive contributions to the business world. Social media is not just noise, it is a complex and multifaceted tool with enormous potential for marketing success.

In the digital age, effective marketing strategies have become crucial for businesses looking to reach and engage their target audience. The rise of social media, mobile technology, and other digital platforms has created new opportunities for companies to connect with customers, but it has also made the marketing landscape more complex and competitive. To stand out and succeed in this environment, businesses must employ a range of tactics and tools to reach their customers where they are and in ways that are relevant and meaningful to them.

One of the most effective digital marketing strategies is search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO involves optimising your website and its content so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. This can increase the visibility and traffic to your site, and ultimately drive more sales and conversions. SEO requires a deep understanding of your target audience and the keywords they use to search for products or services like yours. By identifying these keywords, you can optimise your website’s content, meta tags, and other elements to improve your rankings and drive more organic traffic.

Social media marketing is another important strategy in the digital age. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter provide businesses with the ability to reach large, engaged audiences and to connect with customers in real-time. By creating a strong presence on these platforms, businesses can share valuable content, engage with customers, and build brand awareness. Additionally, social media advertising provides the ability to reach more people by using target audience, interests, demographics and many more.

Another digital marketing strategy is email marketing. By collecting email addresses from customers and prospects, businesses can stay in touch with them, promote new products and services, and encourage repeat business. Email marketing campaigns can be automated to keep the process simple, and analytics and tracking can be used to measure the effectiveness of the campaign, and to personalise follow-up emails.

Finally, businesses should not neglect the power of mobile marketing. With the majority of internet users accessing the web via mobile devices, it is essential that businesses optimise their websites and digital content for mobile devices. This includes ensuring that the site is responsive to different screen sizes, and that it loads quickly on mobile networks. Additionally, businesses should consider creating mobile apps that can be downloaded and installed on customers’ devices, providing a direct line of communication to them.

Businesses must adapt to the changes that are taking place in the digital age and must use effective marketing strategies to reach and engage their customers. By utilising search engine optimisation, social media marketing, email marketing, and mobile marketing, businesses can increase their visibility, connect with their customers in meaningful ways, and ultimately drive more sales and conversions. However, the key to success is to keep experimenting and be open to learning and making adjustments as the market changes.

Marketing spend can be a tricky thing to navigate. On one hand, you want to invest enough money to make an impact and drive sales. On the other hand, you don’t want to overspend and waste resources. Here are some tips to help you plan your marketing spend effectively.

1. Define your goals. Before you start spending money on marketing, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Drive more sales? Attract new customers? Knowing your goals will help you focus your spending on the most effective tactics.
2. Understand your target audience. Another crucial step in planning your marketing spend is to have a deep understanding of your target audience. Who are they? What are their pain points? What are their needs? The more you know about your audience, the better you’ll be able to target your marketing efforts to reach and engage them.
3. Research different marketing channels. There are many different marketing channels available, from social media to email marketing to influencer partnerships. It’s important to research the different options and understand the pros and cons of each before deciding where to allocate your budget.
4. Create a budget. Once you know your goals, target audience, and the different marketing channels available, it’s time to create a budget. Be sure to include all of your expenses, such as creative costs, production costs, and any technology or tools you’ll need to execute your plan.
5. Monitor your results. Once your marketing plan is in motion, it’s important to monitor your results closely. Track your ROI and analyze the data to see what’s working and what’s not. This will help you make adjustments as needed and ensure that you’re getting the most bang for your buck.
6. Be flexible. Lastly, be prepared to be flexible. The marketing landscape is constantly changing, and what worked last month or last year may not work now. Be ready to pivot and adjust your strategy as needed.

By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to planning a successful marketing spend that will help you achieve your goals and drive sales for your business.

Etymology does fascinate me, as words we use daily are so rich when you consider how they’ve taken hundred of years to form. I myself, and I’m sure many other communication folks too probably spend some time thinking about the word influence. Here’s how is was formed:

The word originally had the general sense of ‘an influx, flowing matter’, and in astrology terms ‘the flowing in of ethereal fluid (affecting human destiny)’. How lovely is that?

When we talk about influencing, it’s often far less ethereal. It’s a business competency that measures how effective you are at ramming your own ideas down the neck of other people. As communications professionals, we often go search for our elusive ‘influencers of the business’, whoever they might be.

The easy (and lazy) way to get your influencers in a business is to put a note out and ask folks to volunteer to be communications champions – that’s champion the verb, not adjective or noun. Do you remember back at school when the teacher might need a hand with something? There’d always be a person who’d stick up their mitt and be a good little student in helping out. However, I’d put my pension on betting that person wouldn’t be able to influence the rest of the class.

The same applies to business. Often the proactive people in the business will demonstrate the traits we’d need for an influencer, however in reality they’d be no more effective than sending an email to all.

I’ve recently recruited a project psychologist who has the developed the science for identifying the true influencers in the business. I’m very excited to be able to share some of the results on the type of person an influencer is and how we best utilise them to enact change in an organisation… Watch this space.

–METAPHOR ALERT–

In work we’re obliged to spend as much time fostering relationships as we do with actually doing work. And I do mean that for everyone. Whether you’re in an office job, out on the tools, running a business or in the creative industry. More than half your time is spent building relationships. That can feel like a burden sometimes, and other times it can get in the way of actually doing the things that earn our keep.

But there’s the flip side. These relationships pay the bills. From the most obvious – our customers, or the more removed – people that help us deliver the things for our customers. Everything comes back to relationships.

Today I heard an interesting thought, a metaphor if you will, on relationships. Consider ships. They’re built in a harbour and that’s where they’re safe. While it’s in harbour it’s moored and at home. It’s got all the support systems necessary to sustain it close to hand. Fuel pumps, paint, mechanics, spare parts, joiners. The lot. When it’s in harbour it’s got everything it needs to sustain it’s keep with exception of one thing. Money.

Everything needs the Benjamins to keep afloat. While it’s sat in harbour, it serves no purpose to the wider cause. Ships then are built for a wealth of reasons, fishing, patrol, tourism, travel, and transport to name a few. The ship needs to be well built and well maintained enough to endure the voyages it must therefore make to guarantee it’s own survival financially.

Consider then our relationships and how they’re not dissimilar to ships. Each one must be built and maintained. Each one must have a purpose and contribution to port. And all ships must be able to weather big storms and high seas to complete their goals. Only great ships can deliver, and only great relationships help us serve our goals.

Just as brickies have a favourite trowel, I have a favourite pen. It’s like this one. Many argue it’s unnecessary, but I take great pride in the physical act of writing, even despite my hand-writing being terrible. One of my friends is a great photographer. The amount of kit he has, and the thousands of pounds he’s spent getting to this stage are staggering. But my job only requires one tool, and it’s my pen (my computer comes from the company), so why shouldn’t I have a nice one.

As communicators, we spend an awfully long time writing. One of the best tips I ever heard was the advice to forget formatting. Get the words on the page. Just Write! My Geography teacher taught me that when I was 14, and while it took a few years for me to apply it, I use that advice even now.

I heard a very funny simile recently; lorry drivers don’t get lorry driver’s block, so what gives writers the right to claim writer’s block?

I’ve tried all kinds of word processors, writing tools, blog software, and cloud-writers. None of them ever hit the money, too faffy, or too complicated. Most trying to be all things to all men and women. I stumbled across writing Nirvana however, and have been using it exclusively since. I’m writing with it right now, although you’ll be reading it’s copy and pasted twin on my website. It’s the most wonderful software I’ve ever bought, and for the cost of a takeaway, it’s worth every penny. Have a shufty here. You definitely won’t regret it.