4 New Year’s Resolutions to Supercharge Online Content for Small Business

How was the last 12 months for you? Did you make any resolutions and, more importantly, did you stick to them? You may have had some personal targets to work towards, but would you also consider setting a business resolution? When it comes to online content for small businesses, you can make a few changes now and really reap the benefits over the next 12 months.

If you want to set some professional resolutions now and give yourself the best chance of supercharging your business over the next year, I can help. Here are some examples of tweaks you can make to your online content in order to pick up more followers and friends, more interaction, and more customers.

Talk to Your Potential Customers

It may seem obvious, but engaging potential customers in conversation is essential for clinching their business. If someone approached you at your workplace and asked a question about your products or services, you wouldn’t just ignore them, would you? No. The same rules apply online.

I’m constantly amazed by the number of businesses that I see post on Facebook or Twitter, but then fail to respond to replies. Your social media presence shouldn’t end as soon as you click ‘Post’. The ‘social’ bit of ‘social media’ is crucially important too. If someone has taken the trouble to comment, whether it is a question, some feedback, a joke or whatever, even simply acknowledging them with a ‘like’ is better than leaving them hanging.

I remember a local dentist practice tweeting a link to a BBC News story about moves to ban plastic straws. The dentist mentioned that, although not environmentally sound, straws are better for dental health as they allow some of the sugar in drinks to bypass the teeth. It’s an interesting point and I tweeted back asking if they knew anywhere that sold reusable straws in our area. I heard nothing back.

It was a decent post by the dentist, because it gave an alternative view on a debate where consensus was building in favour of the ban. But merely pointing that out and then refusing to add further information ruins the effect. More details about the benefits and potential solutions, maybe quoting my reply and then using a local hashtag to attempt to find an answer, would have built on the post. But they didn’t bother and that is frustrating for anyone who tried to engage them.

I know it’s time consuming to constantly monitor your social media, but according to Sprout Social, 74% of shoppers use Facebook, Twitter and the like to inform their purchasing decisions. This means you stand to miss out on a great deal of business by ignoring people. If you need a solution, it is possible to outsource your social media, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Speak to me today, whether you want someone to completely look after all your networks or simply just to handle the replies.

Blog Blog Blog

This is something that I have mentioned many times before. It is so important for a small business to blog on its website. In short, so I don’t run the risk of repeating myself too much, a blog keeps your content fresh (a big plus for Google), gives search engines more opportunities to find you, gives people a reason to visit your site, or even to return to your site, allows you to become an authority on a subject, helps potential customers buy into your brand and a whole lot of other really positive outcomes.

Once again, it is not easy to keep producing regular, relevant, SEO-focused blogs, even for those of us who do it for a living. Ahem…

Currently procrastinating over a blog about not procrastinating over writing blogs. Might even embed this tweet in to show people how even I need to follow my own advice. Wheels within wheels, man… pic.twitter.com/VvxsvDhBJi

— Jim Coulson (@jimcoulson) December 18, 2018

However, you will feel the benefit of blogging if you make a real resolution to dive into it. Once again, if you want to outsource this, I can write blogs for you on a regular basis. You can even snap up a special offer prepaid blog package at the following rates:

• 4 blogs for £80 (20% off regular price) (Buy now)
• 6 blogs for £110 (26% off regular price) (Buy now)
• 8 blogs for £140 (30% of regular price) (Buy now)

Blog packages available until the 31st January 2019. 

Get Filming

Video is the number one medium for converting viewers into customers. There are a host of amazing statistics to back up its all-conquering majesty too:

• You increase the view rate of your marketing emails by a average of 19% by using the word ‘video’ in the subject.
• Half of customers search for videos about a product or service before they buy.
• 92 percent of mobile video viewers share videos with others, effectively making them the best free marketing tool.

You don’t have to be Steven Spielberg and you don’t need to buy large amounts of expensive equipment. Just grab your phone and give your customers an insight into your business, news about your offers, make them smile, make them think, or pretty much anything else. Of course, you should keep it short, tight and to the point, but producing video content should be a major part of your marketing strategy.

I produce vlog-style videos for a range of different clients, from YouTube clips:

To those optimised for Facebook:

Tell Me a Story

I’ll be honest, when someone suggested I use Instagram stories, I didn’t see the point. Why produce content that disappears after 24 hours when you can add a picture to your normal Instagram feed and it will stay there until the internet implodes? Well, here’s the answer:

It’s immediate. Viewers know that it is topical and relevant. Whereas your regular Instagram feed is decided by algorithm and is a mixture of posts from the past week, stories come and go so you won’t see anything from more than a day ago. This sets them aside from Facebook and Twitter too, the latter of which used to be the go-to network for real time updates, but which moved towards a curated feed a while ago.

Instagram stories are more informal than posts on your main Instagram feed too. Instagram pictures tend to be well set-out and posed, whether it is a picture of you, your business or your products. Stories are like the behind-the-scenes shots or videos that help your potential customers emotionally buy into your business that little bit more. They feel involved.

An example of a Instagram story

You can add hashtags. locations and other stickers too, all of which add to the viewing experience and the potential reach of your posts. They are great for spreading the word to people who don’t follow you, but who are searching for keywords relating to your business or location. Give it a go in the new year and see if you can update it at least once a day.

Online Content for Small Businesses

If you want to know any more about any of the above, contact me today. If you are in the Yorkshire area, I can drop in and have a no-obligation chat about online content for small businesses. I will require a brew and, potentially, a biscuit though.