Tag Archives: content marketing
How to speak the language of your customer
Good quality communication is always about the recipient. To reach out to your customers you need to speak their language and tell them what they need to know in a way that they understand. It is tempting as a business owner to talk about ‘our products’ or ‘our solutions’ but people are coming to you because of their desires or their problems. Speaking the language of your customers is essential in making a sale, and as a customer focused marketing agency we can help you to identify how to speak to them in the best way possible for your business.
Using the right pronouns – When selling to your customers as we’ve already said you always need to talk about their problems and needs. Using the words ‘you’, ‘your’ and ‘yours’ makes the sale or product about them instead of being about the company. When you talk about what ‘we’ do, you are excluding the customer from the conversation. It is essential that the customer is included in the conversation by telling them how ‘they’ will benefit. Make it personal to the customer to engage them more effectively.
Use common language – There is a difference between the words you can use to describe a product or service. This difference between the words you choose can either alienate or engage the customer. While both choices of word may be correct, you need to tailor your language to the customer and not to yourself. Remember that your understanding of your business will in most circumstances exceed the customers and you need to speak to them in a manner that they will clearly understand without all your industry background and knowledge. The key is knowing the demographic of your target customer, including their level of education, interests and experiences. This will help you pitch your choice of language and style of how you address them correctly.
Explain everything – While it may be easier for you to refer to things with acronyms or jargon, this is not easier for the customer to understand. A customer may be left confused by jargon which can leave them unsure about the purchase they are making. They will be unlikely to know what HPWB (high pressure water blasting) means, but they will understand that you are cutting the material. When communicating with a customer you should lead with the features and benefits and avoid using industry shorthand and technical terminology and should instead explain everything and why such details matter to them as the end user. It may take longer but this will lead to greater customer understanding, which in turn will culminate in better buy-in and results. A good trick is to imagine you are explaining the information to a child or friend.
Make the decision today and call us here at to discuss your specific requirements , I am sure we can help you and at the end of the day it’s just a phone call !
We would be delighted to listen to your business goals and help you realise them, please get in touch today on 01392 241653 or contact us through our website here, we’d be delighted to have a no obligation chat to see if we can help your business grow.
GDPR is your business ready?
With the deadline for GDPR fast approaching you still have time to get your business ready and this checklist may help you do just that.
Your current business data
Your business will undoubtably hold data already and the questions to ask is do you know what this data is, i.e. name, address, job title, contact details? Where it came from, i.e. sign up forms, events etc. Why you have this data i.e. marketing, admin? and finally do you share this data with anyone or any other company. This is whats called a data audit and if you’ve not done on then you need to.
Is everyone in the business on board?
The implementation of GDP effects everyone in your business, so everyone needs to be aware of it and what the implications are. This is likely to mean changes are required but how will you know if you don’t bring your employees on board. We are all in some way data collectors so we all need to be a ware of our responsibilities when we collect data from anyone.
What information do you need?
Even business will need a privacy policy that covers what you do with data you collect and a key question to ask in this is what information you need and why you need it, it may well be you need a post code for possible deliveries or a phone number – please don’t ask for information you do not need.
Consent
For the data you hold and plan to use do you have permission to use this data, this will include things like how you got consent and did this include consent to use in the way you wish to do so. Also if you got consent through a simple form that the owner must be able to withdraw consent in a similar way, certainly it should be an easy process and no more difficult than how it was gained in the first place.
Unauthorised Loss of Data
Every business will need a procedure in place that covers the potential loss of data you hold, so you need to make yourself aware of what you need to do and what timescales are in place to fulfill this requirement. It is worth mentioning that the penalties can be unlimited by the Information Commissioners Office if you have a loss of data and you do not have a plan for managing this.
Getting your business facing these challenges and have them working for you shouldn’t be an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that have a clear plan in place. If you need help in ensuring your business has the right tone of voice then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Also if you need help with a GDPR documentation we can recommend Herbert Ball LLP and you can visit their website here.
Why tone of voice is important in your business
So the question we’re often asked is how to create any content with the right tone of voice. So in short these are five top tips to follow…..
1. Use short sentences.
2. Avoid jargon.
3. Write in the active voice.
4. Use personal pronouns.
5. Don’t patronise your reader.
Tone of Voice is very tricky to get right, for example if we work with a recruitment consultants, a garage and a dentist and they all want to sound expert, passionate and innovative, how are we to tell them apart through their tone of voice?
You may want to read our post on the 6 Key elements of a Successful Content Strategy for Small Business Owners and Why do you need a Call to Action both will help guide your business down the right Tone Of Voice.
Getting your business facing these challenges and have them working for you shouldn’t be an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that know their tone of voice and ensure it is used across all communication. If you need help in ensuring your business has the right tone of voice then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
6 Key Elements of a Successful Content Strategy for Small Business Owners
As a small business, one of the many challenges that you’ll face is how to stand out from the crowd – especially when that crowd includes big names in your industry with huge marketing budgets. One thing you can’t skimp on in order to meet your goals is a solid content strategy for your online presence. With the right elements all working together, you can get more traffic, more attention, and more customer loyalty, without that Big Name budget. Here are the key elements of a successful content strategy to enhance your brand’s presence online:
Website and Storefront
For most small businesses today, an online storefront is a vital part of expanding your sales opportunities. But your website must be more than just a place to sell goods. It is also a place to introduce quality content to your audience. With an excellently maintained website or blog, you can present yourself as an authority in the industry, and build your brand’s identity in a way that will be very clear to the audience. This is the most important aspect of any content strategy, so be sure to focus the most time and energy on having a well-crafted website.
Social Media and Customer Interaction
Social media can’t be ignored in today’s online culture. While your website should be your central hub, social media should be the place where you can interact with customers on a regular basis. Be sure that you are always presenting your brand’s mission and unique personality in your social media presence. Organizations that interact, rather than just post, on social media are far more likely to convert one-time buyers into loyal customers.
Advertising Profiles and Guest Appearances
One thing that many companies overlook online is the power of connecting with other companies. Consumers like knowing that they are buying from experts, and gaining credibility from other sources is a great way to show your expertise. Seek out guest appearances on other blogs, collaborations with popular taste makers, and create profiles on popular advertising sites such as Yelp, to give your audience the sense that you are well-established as a leader in your niche.
These six elements are the key pieces of creating a successful content strategy for small businesses. With a strong website as your central hub, an engaging presence on social media, and other industry leaders lending you credibility through partnerships, you can begin crafting a powerful online presence that keeps your audience coming back.
Getting your business facing these challenges and have them working for you shouldn’t be an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that make it integral to their strategy from the start. If you need help in ensuring your business is listed correctly then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Why Content Marketing is Crucial in 2017
Any amount of research on the current online marketing climate will tell you that content marketing is key when building a website. When it comes to growing a successful business, generating well articulated, accurate, and target content is crucial to drawing in your target customers. Without well written content, you may find your business stagnating in the competitive markets of the modern age. Here are a few tips to help keep your website’s content marketing the center of attention.
Pay attention to your target audience
In recent years, online consumers are less and less likely to spend their time searching through websites to find the information they need. Instead, the majority of internet users rely on search engines, and target specific keywords in order to find the content they are looking for. On top of this, more customers are less likely to stick around through a long article that weighs them down with over the top information. This means that, while a few years ago running a website with pages and pages of information may have been the best way to gain customers, in today’s market that kind of strategy will end up weighing your business down. Instead, it is crucial to invest in concise content for your website.
Content Targeting
When it comes to content for your website, make sure to hone your content in such a way to draw in specific consumers. For example, it is important to present your potential customers with facts about your industry, as well as with concise articles about your methods and any other information pertaining to your field.
With the specificity of search engine results, and the lack of interest modern-day consumers have in spending long amounts of time looking for information, it is imperative to know your audience. Making sure your website ranks for your business type is one of the best ways to ensure constant traffic to your site, and content is one of the main ways to prove to the variety of search engines out there that your site is worth showing their visitors.
Content Influx
Today’s consumers are used to a barrage of daily information, from Facebook feeds to Twitter posts to Emails. The best way to reach out through this information fog is to make sure your website updates with new content regularly. If your website offers no new content for weeks on end, you’re well on your way to losing website traffic, which means less customers. Of course, while keeping your website constantly updated is key to standing out in the information storm of the internet, the quality of your content is as important as the quantity. If your articles are poorly written, or merely rehashed versions of previous content on your site, your customers will notice, as will the search engines.
At the end of the day, creating good content is the key to marketing your business in the modern world. Content is one of the main ways your website gains renown on the internet, and without it you’ll find yourself high and dry wondering where the customers went. However, once your content is of good quality, and your website offers a wide array of regularly updated information, you’re well on your way to thriving in the online business world.
Developing a content plan shouldn’t be an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that make it integral to their strategy from the start. Now the sales bit, if you need help in creating your digital plan please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Content Marketing Strategy
Having a Content Marketing Strategy is THE current hot topic of the marketing industry and rightly so. It is a £4 billion industry and Hubspot has reported that companies that blog receive 67 per cent more traffic to their website than those that don’t and are 13 times more likely to enjoy a positive ROI.
Here at Gleave Media we know that a strong content marketing strategy needs to be part of your overall Digital Marketing strategy looking after your brand, PR, search and social media objectives. So with this in mind, this is our easy to follow list for you to think about before starting any content marketing?
- What are you trying to achieve with your content and how will it benefit your business?
- Who are you trying to reach with your content and where is that audience?
- How is your content going to reach your audience?
- Does your content need to chance depending on which channel it will be targeting?
- What part of your content will form the conversion element, to get the audience to answer your call to action?
- Who will be responsible for generating this content and improving/tweaking it?
- Finally how do you measure your success, what is success for your business?
There can be no doubt a well integrated Content Marketing Strategy will dramatically improve your businesses ability to effectively engage your audience, your business growth depends on you being able to manage and grow this. We have a Sales Automation/CRM tool that can help with this and you can read more on our website here and get a free download that may help in your decision process, alternatively please feel free to call us for a no obligation discussion on how we can help your business grow.
