4 Truths About Content Marketing

Marketing a small business is big business. There are so many ways to do it, experts to help teach it and platforms/apps/programs to support it. As a result, navigating the good from the bad, the necessary from the nice-to-haves and the impossible from the achievable is a minefield. On top of that, most small business owners find that just as they get a handle on one new way of marketing themselves they’re told that that’s old hat now and they should be looking at X. Content marketing IS an ever-changing field and unless you have a love of marketing and about 1000 spare hours in your week, it’s hard to stay on top of. In addition, common wisdom doesn’t always prevail.

I want to break it down for you, and give you 4 truths about content marketing that haven’t changed since its inception.

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Doesn’t everyone know this though?

This morning I had a root canal. An unexpected, expensive, bitch of a thing.

Whilst I lay there, with one eye scrunched close due to the mouth open situation, and the other staring firmly down the shaft of colour created by the iridescent light overhead, I willed myself to drift off into a magical meditative state so as to escape the hideousness going on in my head. Unfortunately I didn’t reach nirvana, nor even basic relaxation to be honest, so instead I tuned in to the conversation between the dentist and his nurse.
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The key to effective social marketing during Covid (and other uncertain times)

Effective social marketing during Covid requires you to listen, be human and stay connected. Baseline? You need to know your customers inside and out.

Overwhelmingly, the most popular question I’ve received lately is: “what should I be posting on social media right now?” And it’s a fair enough question too, because there is so much uncertainty around what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s perceived as politically astute and what’s not, what’s appropriate and by whose standards, and what sounds just downright delusional. So I want to talk you through what I believe is the key to effective social marketing during Covid – and by the way, this works in any uncertain times.

Tough as it may be, as a small business owner you can’t afford to stop marketing or selling right now, and that therefore includes posting (strategically) on social media. Why? Because your followers are spending more time online than they ever have before, which presents you with a unique opportunity to deepen your relationship with them and increase brand affinity. The challenge however, is that you can’t just pretend that it’s business-as-usual either, or you risk coming across as tone-deaf to an audience who potentially have heightened anxiety and sensitivities. Continue reading →

Your story in three words

I bet that if you were asked to describe a friend in just three words you could do it easily. You might say he was kind, generous and loyal. Or that she was fierce, driven and creative.

But would it be as easy to describe your business’ characteristics in the same way? Could you summarise your story in three words?

As entrepreneurs and business owners we invest SO MUCH TIME and effort in raising our profile, being seen, and becoming known …..without actually clarifying what we want to be known for. Continue reading →

Your truth vs the marketer’s truth

I read somewhere once that you should get new trainers (you know, sneakers/joggers/sandshoes/runners) every 3 months if you exercise regularly. Apparently if you don’t your shoe will no longer provide you with the support and shock absorption you signed up for. You’ll be ‘at risk’ of all sorts of things. I’m wondering whether that was purely marketing hype put out by a sports shoe company, but regardless, it stuck with me.

Every 3 months I should be shelling out around $150 for a new pair of trainers.

Really?

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