The new normal: how to grow your following online
It’s no secret that things have changed a lot since March 2020. It’s become ever more important to know the best ways of marketing your business on the world wide web. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated our transition to an online way of life. Social media is showing no signs of slowing, and more than half of the world is now on at least one social media platform and of these users, 346 million new users have come online within the last 12 months.
This is all well and good but no use to you if you don’t have a presence online and learn to engage your specific audience. Couple this with the fact that there has been such a radical shift in human behaviour since the advent of the digital age that we seem to have forgotten one of humanity’s time honoured traits: PATIENCE. The average person does not have the time to figure out your messaging.
We’ve come up with 5 tips to help you either launch or build upon your online presence.
- Tone of voice is everything. You wouldn’t expect a brand that sells baby clothes to use corporate and serious language to market their products to new mothers would you? Your tone of voice must relate to your specific audience. Speak to them in their ‘language’ and they will listen. A great example of this for inspiration is Dove – their tone of voice is friendly, strong, confident and empowering. Their primary value is inclusivity of people as they naturally are, and this is applied consistently across all social media platforms and marketing. Read more about Dove’s branding here.
- Patience. We’ve spoken about how patience from the customer is lacking but it’s also vital that you have patience with yourself. A loyal and engaged following doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, dedication and lots of analysis to figure out what your customers wants and when they want it. Once you pick up these things then you can be consistent and on point.
- Be active. A community is about giving just as much as it is taking. Conversations can lead to better relationships and ultimately sales. Follow your competitors and people/businesses that inspire you. Comment, like, share where you can. This will not only push your profiles up in the algorithms but you’ll learn more about the industry at the same time and people will start to notice you.
- Consider paid advertising. Organic reach is good for your current followers, but paid ads are increasingly becoming more and more influential in the online public sphere. It’s possible to target very specific audiences and the possibilities with ad creative are endless. You can pay for advertising on Google, Facebook/Instagram, Linkedin, Youtube and more. It’s a good idea to identify where your customers usually find you and start there.
- Measure. Insights and analytics tools on online platforms are quite remarkable. You can see what is the best time for you to post on social media to get the best engagement, where people clicked on your website from, the gender of your followers and much much more. Use this to refine your brand and content over time.
Master each of these simple steps and you will be well on your way to having a loyal and engaged audience.
If you’re interested in learning more, we have a partnership with GO1 who have a library of free courses on digital marketing. Come the the reception desk to get your access details.
Thanks,
The Huddle team