Just in case you didn’t know (how could you not!) it’s a New Year. Social conversations are trending with “Top Tips for 2014” and so on. I didn’t think I would take my first post for 2014 down that road, but I’ve crumbled and I want to throw our hat in the ring.
This post came about from a strategy conversation with a client during the break. After working ad-hoc for the last 3 years my client is ready to get their house in order.
If you’re looking at doing a marketing strategy for 2014, check out our small business marketing must-haves for 2014:
Brand
If you’re struggling to connect with your audience it usually all boils down to brand. If you brand isn’t built with razor sharp messaging, it will get lost in a sea of noise.
First stop for ALL small businesses in 2014 is to review your brand. Think about your customers last year: were they the right type of customer? Did your marketing connect with the right audience? Is the message you’re leading with still relevant for 2014?
In my bigger-end-of-town agency days I used a lot of email marketing, but in the last couple of years email gave way to social marketing. For small business though, email is just as important (if not more) than social. Email addresses are like liquid gold so start treating every contact you make like precious treasure and develop engaging, value driven email content to nurture your database. People won’t unsubscribe if they’re getting value from your emails.
Social media
It’s easy to get swept up in the buzz around social. In 2014 small business owners need to focus on generating the right levels of engagement (i.e conversation and interaction) on their social platforms. That will build a strong, loyal and active audience, so when it comes time for your audience to buy, they’ll know exactly who to call. Remember: social media is not for selling at people.
If you haven’t yet taken the plunge into social media, 2014 is your year to shine! But before you do, do some research on what on platform your audience is hanging out: it may not be Facebook or Twitter. It could be Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram or LinkedIn. Always look for where your audience is first then set up your social platforms accordingly.
Content
Content fuels your marketing machine. Without engaging, relevant content you’re up the proverbial without a paddle. But before you fire up a shoddy WordPress blog stop and have a think about what content marketing actually means. Check out this great article from Mashable for some content marketing motivation: 5 Businesses that Rock Content Marketing.
More
But wait… there’s more. If you want to know how much more, book me for a coffee. We can talk it over.
See you next week,
Darnelle
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