We’re all guilty of it. If the content plan is packed to the rafters, we look busy (busy = fabulous) and surely the leads will come flooding in after all this hard work. Right?
Wrong.
Many of us spend far too much time on that bit in the middle – creating content for content’s sake and posting it across Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google AdWords, blogs, TV adverts, radio adverts, press. And if the results aren’t reflecting the amount of work being put in, we just need to work harder, don’t we?
OK. STOP. BREATHE. It’s time to ask what you’re actually trying to achieve.
The most valuable part of any marketing campaign is understanding the audience: Who are they? What is known about them? Are you telling them what they want to know, or what you want to tell them?
Ignore this part of the campaign process at your peril because if your high-value customers are reading Good Housekeeping and shopping at M&S while you’re flooding social media with ‘How to’ videos, no matter how great the content looks to colleagues and clients, it will not engage the audience – if they chance upon it in the first place.
Too many businesses think about social media in terms of, “We must have a Twitter account. We must have LinkedIn, Instagram etc.” without really thinking about the conversation they’re trying to have with the person at the other end. – Danny Lacey, CEO and founder, Stada Media
Understand the audience
Take time to research and understand your audiences. Build buyer personas to focus messaging and become more targeted in terms of using relevant channels. Personas will evolve over time as more is learned about the people you’re having a conversation with. Very quickly, you’ll find your communications become clear, relevant and timely, and received in a way the audience is comfortable with.
Analyse, analyse, analyse
If the results are looking positive – great, replicate the winning formula quickly for optimum campaign performance. If they’re not looking so positive, examine how the audience is reacting. Are there a lot of likes on social media but no action? Is it clear what the call to action is? Is this actually the right audience to target or channel to use? Constant evaluation is needed, at least on a weekly basis, to make those little adjustments that can make a huge overall difference to a campaign.
Be less busy and more effective
By using research and analysis it’s possible to join the dots and figure out what to say, whom to say it to, and where their attention is. Less time can be spent on the number of communications and more time spent on the quality messaging that will strike a chord with customers and lead to a fruitful, long term relationship.
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Hi, I’m Danny Lacey and I’ve been in business since I left school – spending most of my adult life as a freelance, self-employed and now the owner of a fast-growing business.
I recently made a pledge to share absolutely everything I am going through as a business person – the good, the bad and everything in-between.
Let me be clear, I’m not trying to teach anyone anything! I am just literally sharing my journey. Hopefully, from that, we can all learn a few things along the way.
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I need your help. I want to make sure my content improves with every video, that’s why I need your comments and thoughts below. How could I improve the viewing experience for you? What information would you like to know more about? What bits of the content are you enjoying?
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Hi, I’m Danny Lacey, CEO and founder of Stada Media, experts in video production, content creation and management, SEO, PPC, social media, web design and PR.
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