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Growing your business: Developing a content strategy that will ensure that you’re winning in the digital world

Last week I announced the launch of brand new services on the site, starting with the most important of all, the brand fundamentals. This week, it’s a close second with my other favourite framework: the content strategy.

Ever since my time at Procter & Gamble when I was working with the media team and search agencies alongside our Google/YouTube partners, the content strategy has been at the heart of my approach to digital marketing. It brings together an understanding of your customer and your brand and will guide your content creation and distribution across all your platforms.

Growing your business: Create and distribute content that will engage your customers along the path to purchase and, ultimately, allow you to grow your business

growing the businessAs I said last week, it’s easy to get caught up in running Facebook ads or creating profiles on new and exciting social networks and telling your social media manager (or, in the past at least, your intern) to post like crazy across all those networks. Once you have your brand fundamentals in place, however, the next step has do be defining what content you’re going to create – before you run off creating it willy-nilly (good word!).

I would usually start by talking about why content is so important, but I think we’re past that stage now and we’ve all bought into the ‘content is king’ maxim. Today, it’s more a question of what and how.

And that’s incredibly important, as seen in a few vital statistics*:

  • 88% of B2B marketers now use content marketing as part of their marketing strategy, while only 32% have a documented content marketing strategy
  • In B2C, 37% of marketers say they have a documented content marketing strategy, up from 27% in the previous year, but of these only 37% say their strategy is effective
  • Content marketing budgets continue to increase, with an average of 32% of total marketing budgets now going towards content

*Source: Forbes

So what is a content strategy?

Unfortunately, as with all digital marketing, there’s no standard template you can just download and then, tada, that’s your content strategy done. There are plenty of frameworks available online, though, so if you can sift through them you may find one that suits your needs.

I have my own framework, of course, so that’s what I’ll focus on in this post! Here are the elements, or steps, you’ll need to work through in order to get to an effective content strategy:

First, you’ll want to set clear objectives for what you want your content strategy to achieve. As with any strategy, you need to start with understanding where you’re trying to get to, so that you can make sure that your strategic choices can actually get you there.

Second, assuming you have a clear customer target identified (that’s part of your brand fundamentals), you’ll want to dig deeper now to understand that customer’s specific needs. What questions do they have that you can answer, what problems do they need solving?

To identify the right kind of content that you can then go off and create, you’ll want to find the sweet spot between what your customer is looking for, and what you as a brand want to talk about (after all, you want to reach those business objectives you defined in step one). These content themes can range from the broader, more lifestyle- or brand-focused types of content down to the more specific product-focused content, and will sit at different points along the path to purchase.

Once you have the content themes identified, you’ll want to decide on which type of content will sit on which platform. For example, behind-the-scenes photos from your office or from the product development process would be best suited to go on your Instagram channel, a how-to video could go on your YouTube channel, and a how-to article on the blog on your website.

Pulling all this together, you should now have content areas identified that both address the needs of your customers and take you closer towards your brand’s objectives, as well as establishing a role for each of your chosen platforms in your brand eco-system.

As ever with digital marketing, I also recommend that you think of the capabilities and resources that will be needed to implement this content strategy.

That is, you’ll need someone with graphic design skills to create images, perhaps someone who can create and edit videos, you’ll need a copywriter, and so on. In addition to people, you’ll also need to plan budget both for content creation and distribution and probably also promotion.

Your content strategy is what will bring to life your brand, engage your customers and, ultimately, drive sales of your products or services.

Discover our new services to help you create your content strategy:

·       DIY coaching

If you’re an early-stage startup with limited time, money and manpower, then the DIY coaching solution is for you. After all, you’re the expert on your business! You’ll be in the driver’s seat, with an expert there to help you navigate the roads.

·       Workshop facilitation

If you have a larger team and want your key stakeholders to be involved in the process so that the content strategy is really anchored in the organisation, then the interactive workshop is the most effective solution. This can also be of value if you’re already an established business but are finding that you’re not getting the results you’re hoping for with your content marketing efforts. We’ll get together and share best practices, spend time on key exercises to draw out important insights, and pull it all together into a strong content strategy that will guide your future content creation and distribution.

·       Customised solution

Finally of course there is a fully customised, ‘done-for-you’ solution that we can develop to be tailored specifically to your situation and objectives.

Read more about our content strategy solutions on the new service page >>

Or get in touch directly to discuss how we can support you and your goals >>

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Sowing the seeds of business success: Establishing the brand fundamentals

NEWS: New services launching today!

I’ve been listening to you over the past few months, gathering insights from many calls and emails, and I’ve been learning what’s really needed. As a result, we’re now re-launching our services to be more specific to those needs.

As we launch these services, I’ll be writing a corresponding article on each strategy or tool and why it’s so important.

First up it can only be the brand fundamentals.

Whenever I’m coaching early-stage startups, this is always the part where they’re struggling the most (or, worse, the part they’re ignoring), and the first thing we get to work on in order to set the business up for success. And it’s not just startups: established businesses can get distracted by fancy marketing antics and lose sight of the foundations on which those strategies are built.

Sowing the seeds: Establish the brand fundamentals that will ensure that your business is set up for success

sow the seedsIt’s so easy to get caught up in designing Facebook ads and YouTube videos, trying to improve click-through rates and chasing media coverage, coming up with app ideas and fancy websites… The truth is that there’s a big step that we often rush through, or miss out completely: that step is defining your brand fundamentals.

You may think that it’s not that important to fiddle around with such formalities because you’re such a small team, you’re just starting out or, conversely, you’re already well established and you know what you’re doing. But not having these fundamentals in place can cause all sorts of headaches, making the simplest of decisions more complicated, causing unnecessary disagreements, and ultimately preventing you from building a coherent brand.

Your brand framework is really the basis for everything else that you do in your business.

It ensures that everyone in your team or organisation is working towards the same vision; it helps you to be consistent in your communication; in fact, it feeds into each and every decision you make in your day-to-day business. Getting this right can save you endless hours of disagreements, confusion, and inconsistent results further down the line.

So what does a brand framework look like?

A brand is essentially a promise to the customer. It communicates what you stand for, what customers can expect from your products and services, and how you’re different to your competitors. Your brand is what makes you more than just a commodity, it’s what creates loyalty among your customers and, if you’re really good, sometimes even love. Clearly, it’s a lot more than just a logo and some brand colours!

To start with, of course, you’ll need to understand who your customer is – this understanding is really at the heart of brand building.

At Procter & Gamble, we used to say that the “consumer is boss”, which meant understanding and delighting that consumer from the product shelf through to using that product. This idea was at the core of everything we did, to ensure that we were developing products and campaigns that were based on real customer needs and wants, rather than just designing things that we thought would work.

You’ll need to understand the positioning of your brand in the marketplace: what are the key variables for the category in which you’re operating, where are you on an equal footing with your competitors and where are you going to be different and ideally better?

You’ll need to choose the core equity elements that will really represent your brand in the eyes of your customers and will become associated with, or perhaps are already associated with, your brand. Playing around with these elements too much, making changes too often, will leave your customers confused, they won’t associate your advertising with your brand, they won’t find your product on shelf or online, and you risking losing all the benefits associated with building a distinctive brand.

What you’re trying to do is create a distinctive and cohesive brand experience for your customers over a period of time and across different touch points. In theory, this means that if you hide your brand name then your consumer can still identify the branding elements as being associated with your particular brand. This is the basis for brand awareness, engagement, and, ultimately, sales and loyalty to your brand.

Discover our new services to help you establish your brand fundamentals:

  • DIY coaching

If you’re an early-stage startup with limited time, money and manpower, then the DIY coaching solution is for you. After all, you’re the expert on your business! You’ll be in the driver’s seat, with an expert there to help you navigate the roads.

  • Workshop facilitation

If you have a larger team and want your key stakeholders to be involved in the process so that the brand framework is really anchored in the organisation, then the interactive workshop is the most effective solution. This can also be of value if you’re already an established business but are finding that you need to go back to basics to make sure you have a strong foundation in place. We’ll get together and share best practices, spend time on key exercises to draw out important insights, and pull it all together into a strong brand strategy that will serve as the basis for your business.

  • Customised solution

Finally of course there is a fully customised, ‘done-for-you’ solution that we can develop to be tailored specifically to your situation and objectives.

Read more about our brand fundamentals solutions on the new service page >>

Or get in touch directly to discuss how we can support you and your goals >>

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What are the latest trends in digital marketing?

digital trendsOne of the questions I get asked the most is: What are the latest trends in digital marketing? What’s big at the moment? What’s coming up next year? And I must admit that I’m always reluctant to answer these types of questions.

First of all, it’s hard to stay on top of the absolute latest developments in such a fast-moving industry – I do my best with Twitter and webinars and podcasts and conferences, but I’m bound to have missed something.

Second, and more importantly, I’m hesitant to talk about all those sexy trends, as they can really be distracting. Most big companies are slow-moving machines and if you’re constantly jumping on the latest trend not only will your efforts be fragmented but by the time you’re ready it won’t be a trend anymore! On top, you’ll be sidetracked from implementing the fundamentals, which ultimately will drive the success of your business.

No, really, what are the latest trends in digital marketing?

Okay, okay, let’s talk some trends.

Augmented reality and Virtual reality

Let’s start with the sexiest of them all, thanks to the recent Pokémon Go trend (although – is that still a thing?), the first time that augmented reality has been used in a mainstream way. AR is essentially about the overlay of information onto the real world (while VR is escaping into a fully virtual world). You need only look at Snapchat’s filters (they’re amazing!) to think of applications in make-up or clothing; and what about GPS navigation, or sightseeing, or children’s books?

Data and analytics

Ah “big data” – ironically this one is a sexy term for something that’s not usually very sexy: databases, analytics, technology that is essentially working behind the scenes. This is about capturing data, storing that data, analysing it, visualising it… In marketing, we can use this data to improve forecasting and planning, to optimise our campaigns in real time, to better understand our customers, and to personalise our offerings to those customers. However, it’s a question both of having the technology to make this kind of analytics possible and of having the expertise and the organisational set-up to be able to do something about it.

Marketing automation

Companies are recognising the need to work smarter in digital marketing, turning to marketing automation software to manage things like personalised email communication and landing pages. Automation technology is getting more and more sophisticated as well, allowing for immediate responses to your customers’ actions and real-time personalisation. The most successful companies have been using marketing automation to great effect already in the last few years, while there is a big opportunity for small companies in particular to implement it in their business.

(Live) video

Video has been on the rise for years with more and more brands and businesses choosing to present their content in visual form, increasingly in video. Facebook video views have increased from one billion to eight billion in just a year, while ten billion videos are watched on Snapchat every day; Instagram is also increasingly focusing on video. With Periscope and Facebook Live we now see live streaming coming to the fore as well, allowing for a less formal and more intimate, real-time engagement with your customers.

Mobile

The year of mobile has been and gone and we’ve passed the tipping point so that mobile internet usage now exceeds desktop. Mobile commerce is expected to make up almost half of total eCommerce sales by 2020. Unless you’re one of the big guys – Facebook, Amazon, and the likes – you’re going to need to focus on mobile web rather than hoping that consumers will download your specific app. At the very least, your website needs to be responsive (so that the layout adapts optimally to the size of the device), with optimised mobile checkout becoming more of a priority.

How will these trends affect our business strategies?

For most established companies, it’s still a question of dealing with what’s already happened, let alone jumping on the latest trends. They’re still struggling to operate in an environment where all this new technology has emerged, we’ve seen the proliferation of content, there are endless new channels and devices, not to mention changing customer expectations…

The implications of these huge changes are that traditional models and legacy systems don’t work, new competitors are disrupting the category (think Uber, Airbnb), we need to be ‘always-on’ even though our organisations are structured around an on-off product cycle, we need new expertise, we need somehow to bring together all the data from different sources, we need to collaborate much more across functions and channels…

This is what digital transformation is all about: not just investing in new technology but more importantly implementing organisational changes to be able to leverage that technology. So we need to be building digital capabilities across the board, re-structuring the organisation to be always-on and much more agile, leveraging all that data (ideally real-time), failing fast… and learning fast too.

Back to basics

Ultimately, marketing is still about how to engage our customers, the technology just a tool in which to achieve that. And so, for me, we come back to the fundamentals: understanding your target audience, being clear on your brand benefits, creating great content that is distributed across a search- and mobile-optimised website and other relevant platforms…

So before you jump on that sexy new digital trend that’s on the horizon, go back to the fundamentals and make sure that you’re doing those right. A fancy new technology built on shaky foundations will not a successful business make…

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Troubleshooting Your Startup: How to Diagnose a Failing Business

troubleshooting your businessThe entrepreneurial journey is a famously emotional one, a rollercoaster of excitement and disillusionment. With your blood, sweat and tears going into your business, and with a real belief that you really do have an amazing business idea, it can be especially difficult to face a world in which the sales just aren’t coming in as you had expected.

“What am I doing wrong?! Why isn’t it working?”

The trouble is that there is no magic solution. There’s no answer you can get from an expert that will solve all of your problems, no tactic that will have the sales flooding it. Maybe your business is never going to work, and maybe you’re really close to breaking through and you just need to make a few tweaks. Maybe it’s a problem at the strategy level, or maybe it’s in the execution.

Rather than giving up and scrapping the whole thing, though, you need to be asking yourself targeted questions in order to narrow down what might be the problem, or problems, that you’re faced with.

Here are some of the areas and questions you can ask yourself when troubleshooting your startup business:

1. Is it the product?

A natural first place is to start with is your product. Is the benefit clear, and does your audience understand it? Do they care? Does the product meet the market need that exists? Is the value proposition sufficiently attractive? Does the quality match the price? Are you clearly differentiated from your competitors’ products? It’s possible that a few tweaks are all it takes to turn the product into the success that you’ve been dreaming of. Worst case, you’ll have to re-think the whole proposition.

2. Is it the brand?

No we’re not just talking about the logo here, a brand is really a promise to the customer as to what they can expect from your products and services. Do you have a compelling vision or message for your business? Are you consistent in how you’re communicating what you stand for? Is there a match between your pricing and positioning (for example, you’re purporting to be a luxury player with premium pricing) and the quality and tone of voice (continuing with the same example, you’re using a mass approach that is disconnected to that aspirational pricing)? Without a strong brand, you’re just a commodity, and you’re most likely playing a losing game.

3. Is it the market?

It’s tempting to blame your business failure on the market but sometimes it really is true. Maybe you’re just too early with your idea and the market isn’t ready? (Google tried and failed to launch what was effectively an Uber service, Google Ride Finder, 2005-2009.) On the other hand, maybe you’re too late, and the market is already flooded with competitors, the barriers to entry are too high and it’s impossible for you to stand out? Are you sure that the problem you’re solving is a sufficient pain point? Is the market big enough to be a viable business? Maybe you’re trying to sell to everyone, and you don’t even have a clear market? An appealing market will be one that has a large number of potential users, ideally growing, and it’s relatively easy for you to acquire those users. Without any pre-existing demand you’re going to have start by convincing them that they want or need you in the first place.

4. Is it the business model?

Following on from the previous point, do you have a scalable way to acquire customers, bearing in mind that the cost of acquisition mustn’t exceed the lifetime value of that customer? Have you come up against unexpectedly high start-up costs that are preventing you from becoming profitable? Are the financials not working, were your projections just too optimistic? Did you assume that your product was just so amazing that it would sell itself? Many startups fail simply because they run out of money so if you’re facing cash-flow issues you’ll need deal with this sooner rather than later.

5. Is it the marketing?

Are you using the right channels to reach your customers? Are you creating relevant content? Is your message consistent and one that will resonate with your customers? Are you making effective choices or are you trying to do everything and be everything to everyone? Are you putting enough budget behind your activities, or are you spreading yourself too thin? Your marketing is often the most obvious area to explore but it’s worth reviewing the fundamentals before playing around with the marketing plan. There’s no point in increasing the budget if your branding or the product itself is off!

6. Is it you?

*Ouch*, this probably isn’t something that you’ll want to admit and hopefully it’s not the case; but it’s possible that the problem is in fact located with the founder. Are you sure that you have the skills and experience needed to make this business a success? Are you being consistent in your efforts or is your strategy all over the place? Are you fully committed, doing everything you can to get it off the ground (or are you dabbling, half-heartedly, alongside other projects)? What about the rest of the team? (When Zappos had to make lay-offs in the early days of their business, they actually found that productivity remained at the same level, as the people who left were the non-believers who weren’t delivering the biggest results.)

 

If you’d like help with troubleshooting your startup business together with an expert, get in touch on Clarity to book a call! Contact me on Clarity >>

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How to validate your business idea (and avoid wasting your time and money)

startup ideaBeing an entrepreneur and running your own business is becoming ever more popular, and for good reason – it brings with it a lot of freedom and independence, as well as opportunities to express your creativity and to have flexible working hours; while people are feeling increasingly unfulfilled and far from secure in their full-time jobs. But how do you come up with a business idea? And how do you validate your idea so that you know it’s going to make you money?

The danger with starting with the premise that you want to launch a business is that you’re explicitly trying to come up with startup ideas, rather than trying to meet a need that exists in the market. The risk here is that you create something that no one wants! On top, you may think your idea is revolutionary and bound to take off as a huge success but you really don’t know that until it’s proven in the market. Just look at Dragon’s Den (or Shark Tank in the US) – the millionaire investors will always favour the businesses that already have documented sales over an idea that may sound appealing but hasn’t yet been tested.

So how can you go about validating your business idea?

1. Consider your own skills, interests and experience

Whatever idea you decide on, you’re going to be working incredibly hard to get it off the ground and so it’s critical that you really care about what you’re doing. If you can find an area that taps into your core values and interests, and even better where you already have both the skills and the experience, you’re going to be that much more likely to succeed. So I would always start by asking yourself: What are you passionate about? Where do your unique strengths lie? How will you be different to the competitors who are already out there? What experience can you leverage that will give you a competitive edge? The idea may be great in theory, but are you the right person to bring it to life?

2. Ask your customers what they want

The easiest way to test your idea beyond your own brainstorming bubble is to talk to potential customers and clients. There is a caveat here, however. Did you ever hear that famous quote from Henry Ford: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”? Apparently he never actually said it (shame! it’s such a great quote…) but the message is just as valid: people often don’t know what they want.

So when you talk to people in order to check the appeal of your idea, try to focus more on the problems that they may be facing, rather than on the solution they envisage. Whether you do a survey on the phone or in writing, you’ll want to ask questions like:

  • What’s the biggest problem you’re facing?
  • How much of a problem is it, on a scale of 1 to 10?
  • Would you be willing to pay for a solution to this problem? If so, how much?

That last question is crucial: after all, people ultimately need to buy your product or service in order for your business to successful!

3. Ask the experts what they think

Ideally you’ve chosen an idea that sits within your area of expertise, so that you have the skills and experience to know that it’s a strong idea, to know how best to execute it, and to be able to properly implement it. Sometimes, though, you may come up with a fantastic idea in an area that you’re not so familiar with. A bit of naïve optimism may help to dream big and potentially change an industry (think Uber, Airbnb, etc.) – but more likely you’ll be operating within an existing playing field and it helps to know the rules. Talk to experts who can tell you the challenges they’re facing in the industry, what are the restrictions and limitations, what’s the feasibility of the solution that you’re proposing. This can save you from working for months on an idea that will never work in practice.

4. Test it in the real world

The second implication of the Henry Ford quote, I think, is that there’s only so much you can validate an idea with consumers in a theoretical sense. That warm and fuzzy feeling that you get when everyone you ask says “wow that’s a great idea!” is all very well, but the real test comes when you actually have something real to market. Research is very important, especially understanding the pain points of your target customer, but you need to avoid analysis paralysis and get ready to launch something into the market as soon as possible so that you can learn and ‘pivot’ if necessary – before you’ve invested too much time and money in the wrong idea.

So once you feel you have a strong idea, get it live as soon as you can. Push out your solution, even if it’s not 100% there, and get some potential customers to pilot it. They can give you real user feedback to allow you to optimise the solution as you go, and they can also give you testimonials and referrals to help you as you start to advertise and grow the business. In fact, you don’t even need to have a product available to do this! You can simply put up a landing page, run some Google or Facebook ads, and see what kind of response you get. You’re never going to be able to choose “the best idea” based purely on the theory (and, in fact, there is no such thing, as it’s really all in the execution).

5. Choose to crowd-fund it

One way to really put an idea to the test, finding out how much support there is for a product and then leveraging that support to actually sell the product, is to use a crowd-funding platform. If you go with this option, you’ll only actually start production if you have a successful campaign, i.e. if you get a sufficient number of backers, making the risk low in terms of initial investment. That being said, this isn’t the panacea that you may be hoping for. Running a successful crowd-funding campaign will require a huge amount of effort from you and your team, creating videos and publishing updates, reaching out to influencers, and making sure that you launch with a big bang in those crucial first days of the campaign. There’s no point in launching a half-hearted campaign and simply hoping for the best, as you’re not going to validate the idea or and you’re definitely not going to build a successful business out of it.

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