As the case with marketing since its inception, business owners understand that positive branding helps to engage clients and bring in new business leads. Increasing these opportunities is often achieved by traditional marketing tools – such as TV and radio advertising, and more recently social media marketing. However, effective these may prove, an area which is all too often overlooked is published content such as blogs and articles.
Getting the Foundations Right
The most important part of the foundation of a comprehensive (and ultimately successful) marketing strategy comes with knowing what it is you want to achieve. This can be the goals of the greater organisation, or specifically what you would like to see come out of the marketing department.
Whatever the scope, goals are important to provide some guidance to the development of a marketing strategy and to indicate the success or failure of it at the end of a determined time period.
Consider Long-form Content
Writing longer content in the form of articles and blog posts can potentially be time-consuming. However, it can offer business owners a platform to demonstrate their expertise in the field in which they operate.
It also separates themselves from the competition by providing extra value in the form of information. Sharing this knowledge through articles and portfolios of past work is all possible through your website, and a professionally designed website is even better. This positions your brand as a professional, clean and reliable source of information.
It also enhances the image of the business as a whole and increases the likelihood of people looking to take on your product or service.
Establish Credibility
Establishing expertise in your industry through such a medium requires some confidence in the way you construct published content. Most relevant is the confidence you hold in your own credibility, and ensuring said credibility is conveyed to your audience.
Establishing relationships with publications that are relevant and reliable in your industry is a good place to start, as good quality content in those spaces can significantly boost recognition of your brand; whilst also reaching an appropriate audience.
Publishing content on your own website, in conjunction with external sites, can prove a successful strategy in increasing your business’ digital footprint, and ultimately take strides in enhancing your reputation in your industry.
Utilise Social Media
A marketing strategy which involves uploading content to websites is well-complemented with a consistent social media strategy. Regularly uploading small content as single posts, and also linking users to larger articles on websites is a good place to start. From this, consistent branding where possible serves to enhance the recollection of your business in the minds of customers (both current and future).
Where to from Here?
Getting the best out of the combination of these strategies can be achieved by ensuring that the goals for the marketing strategy are outlined and followed, and all relevant, appropriate measures are taken to achieve them.
Is your brand where it needs to be? A brand health check may be the first step towards a successful marketing strategy.
For some tips on what publishing content and increasing personal branding, have a read of these Marketing.com.au articles: