Less marketing noise.More clarity, strategy, and action. Blog
Introducing the Small But Mighty Biz Stories podcast
Small businesses have taken a big hit with the shutdowns due to coronavirus. This podcast is a small step I can take to help so you know their stories, know the work that goes into keeping a small business going. I hope to inspire and encourage other small business owners while helping promote the variety and richness of products and services that small businesses offer in Canada.
Does your messaging speak to the customers you want to attract?
Messaging can be a real "tug of war of words.” It can be a challenging process because it often leads to a realization that how you talk about your business doesn’t quite accomplish what you thought it would. There can be a few different reasons for that.
Tone: What will your audience see in your words?
The tone of your content helps add colour and texture to the big picture of your business. These are the most common tone choices and how they can be used in content you produce to show your expertise.
Voice, tone, and style (oh, my!): What they are and why you should care
Voice. Tone. Style. These words get thrown around a lot in marketing circles but what do they mean for you? If you want to build a strong brand, they mean a lot. These three little words have the big job of helping shape your brand through the words you use and the personality behind them.
What will your audience see in your words? How will they describe your business and perceive your organization as a result of how you put your message out into the world?
Keep a steady stream of ideas with a content idea map
I find it can be challenging to generate enough ideas to build a content map on my own steam in a reasonable amount of time, so I like to bring friends (colleagues) into the brainstorm with me. Getting a group of people together in a room to bounce ideas around makes for a lively conversation since all the possibilities trigger creativity in different ways for different people. This is one of my favorite parts of planning - brainstorming all the things with smart, creative people!
How to successfully blog your expertise
Blogging about your expertise can be intimidating and it can also feel like you’re giving away what you do for free. Will you give away a lot of your expertise? Absolutely. Will it impact the business you get? Highly unlikely.
Strategic marketing vs. marketing as a service
Marketing is an interesting discipline in today’s world. In some companies, the team ends up relegated to service status, playing a reactive role in supporting sales. I’ve started referring to it as marketing as a service, or MaaS, since everything as a service is all the rage these days. For larger organizations, I’m not a huge fan of this approach since there’s usually significant investment to salaries of qualified individuals who understand the business strategy and build plans that help move it forward.
Making a plan to get where you want to go faster
Planning starts with establishing your goals so you can break down the steps it takes to accomplish them. But it’s not as straightforward as simply making a list of things you want to do. There are some questions you’ll want to consider so you start with realistic goals:
Repurposing content starts with rethinking how you view content
For anyone trying to market their company through evergreen content that demonstrates expertise in their field, the same idea of giving new, and sometimes unexpected, life to older content can make it easier to maintain a flow of content for your business. Because no one likes to throw away hard work - even if it happened years ago.
Repeating content effectively: If it’s worth sharing, it’s worth repeating
One of the most common questions that comes up when I’m talking about content is whether to repeat coverage of the same topic in content. My answer? Every time: yes, absolutely. Just about every company that’s around for as little as two or three years is going to repeat coverage on some topics if they have a robust content program.
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