Sometimes it’s so good to go back to the basics. And marketing and PR is no exception. Today: A is for Attraction.
I don’t mean attraction marketing beloved of network marketers and MLM bots. But attraction as one of the fundamental principals of marketing that helps a brand or business to be seen by more people.
One of the hardest things about launch marketing for a new brand, for example, can be figuring out where the people that want to know about your lovely new product hang out.
But even the most established, successful businesses benefit from revisiting the basics from time to time. It’s a really worthwhile exercise to look at your content and where you place it as fresh eyes. Take a drive around some of the digital channels where you are getting seen, or want to be seen, and ask yourself how does someone who doesn’t know your business find you?
What do they understand about your business the very first time they discover you? Is it clear what you are asking them to do - does your CTA (call to action) make sense?
Attracting your audience
If you have a website, you need to consider how to attract and direct its traffic. This is inbound traffic and is the crux of digital marketing because as well as finding new customers, digital technology makes it really easy to learn about them. And the more you understand about your core audience - the more people you can attract.
So you’ll need Social Media, SEO, Local SEO and email marketing. These are all key players to attract your audience. And your business will really benefit when they are all bound together by clear branding and a consistent message.
For visibility, clarity and recognition you need to get your brand assets in order. Nothing is more attractive to the browsing customer than well constructed socials. And a clear brand palette and tone of voice will make the brand within these posts distinctive and memorable.
To keep your content sharp you’ll need to have a good volume of ideas, a themed calendar and a commitment to posting on a 14-day cycle. Writing is the marketing space where professional help is a huge asset. And no matter how proud you are of your English Literature qualifications, writing for social media, SEO or long-form blogs is not the same as essay writing.
And the same goes for video - many business owners like the idea of maintaining creative control, and there are many tools out there that offer a helping hand. But the reality is that unless you know video tech or how to blog inside out, it will take much longer than you bargained for to complete these tasks. And Canva is only really your friend if you understand about brand assets, editorial style and layout - and pledge to keep a very close eye on consistency.
All the right places
When we know where our customers hang out, we should endeavour to be there too. It’s tempting to stay in the comfort zone of our own favourite places - and for many small business owners this is Instagram and Facebook. If you’re converting high volumes of customers or sending lots of traffic to your website from these channels that’s all good. But if it takes you 12 hours a week but you only get 2 website visits, you need to consider if this is the right balance of your time.
So where else can you attract an audience? If your customers are magazine readers, put some effort into securing editorial. If they listen to podcasts, find one to guest on. And if they are younger content consumers who hang out on Twitch, YouTube or TikTok - make sure some of your budget is allocated here.
Attraction Audit
If you do one thing for your business this week, make an attraction audit. Using your website as the central point, list all your marketing ‘places’ around it like satellites. Then take a scroll through your recent posts or content and score out of 5 for:
brand identity
content quality
accessibility
clarity of CTA
These are the four things that I believe new customers subconsciously notice. And the higher the score you have for each, the more chance you have of customers coming back - or noticing you first as they scroll a feed.
And the more times they come back, the better chance you have of converting these browsers into buyers.