If we had a dollar for every time we’d been asked for our top tips for good content marketing, well, Cherie would be sipping cocktails somewhere a whole lot warmer than 5-degree Melbourne, lemme tell ya! When it comes to building a brand, few things are as valuable as a good content strategy. 

So, here are our top 5 ducks you should be getting in a row.

Good visuals. 

Social Media is a visual medium, and consumers are visual creatures. It doesn’t matter how good your copy is, if your images look like they’ve been shot in a dungeon, nobody will buy your thing. We cannot even articulate the value of an ongoing relationship with a good photographer. While it may seem like a big expense when you’re just starting out, it’s the key to elevating both your organic content and your ads to a level that suits the quality of what you offer. It’ll pay for itself, trust us. [Also, lots of commercial photographers will offer you an instalment option, if you ask for it!] 

Personal Touches. 

At the risk of sounding glib, literally the entire point of a marketing strategy is to get people to like and trust you so they’ll buy your product or service, or pursue an ongoing relationship with you to mutual benefit.  If they can’t see you, they won’t care. Talk about what business ownership means to you- the bits you love, the bits you struggle with, and all the bits in between. Get people to invest in you [your journey, your product, your team] so they’ll invest with you- [and once they do invest, treat them like solid gold, because that’s what they are.]

Get influencin’.

Even if the idea of sliding into the DMs of a cool and quasi-famous stranger horrifies you to your core, influencer marketing is still one of THE best and fastest ways to grow your account. As social creatures, nothing piques our interest in a product or brand quite like seeing it in the hands of people cooler than us. It all stems back to our primary-school desire to be accepted and loved. Oof.

Our pro tip for influencer marketing? Start with outreach first. Find an influencer you adore, and spend a few weeks sprinkling some sunshine on their feed by way of meaningful comments- that way, by the time you’ve worked yourself up to attempting the DM slide, you’ll have some positive exposure under your belt first. Personalise your messaging and keep it casual.

Value, not noise.

As our social feeds fill up with more and more businesses jostling for prime position, we sometimes feel obligated to post content for content’s sake, to stay visible and in touch. BUT [trust us, possums]  posting bland or uninspiring content will hurt your brand more than posting nothing at all. As a user, what would you prefer- a business who posts very frequently without a whole lot to say, or a business that pops up less regularly but makes every word count?

Yep, we thought so. Think about each post and whether or not it’s providing value to your users. The best way to learn about what your potential customers want? TEST. Work out what themes people are most responsive too, and feed them up a little more of it. If a theme is tanking, work out how you can re-frame it to get your point across in a more interesting way.  Remember- if it’s not serving them, it’s not serving you either.

Commit to an evolution.

If you don’t look at your feed from two years ago and feel thoroughly embarrassed, are you even evolving? Your content strategy, like every other part of your business, should be a living entity that changes based on the needs of your audiences, and the needs of your business. Feeling embarrassed about and measuring the difference between where you were 2 years ago and where you are now is one of the purest qualitative markers of growth, and a sure indicator that you’re growing- even if it doesn’t feel like it day-today.  Aim to be as embarrassed two years from now about what you posted today.