Digital Marketing for Small Business: Content Tips for Authentic Marketing
It used to be that you could spend millions of dollars for a 15-second commercial at the Super Bowl, reach millions, and have people talking about your ads for months. As long as you were clever or witty.
To stand out in a crowded marketplace, your best bet is to get honest with it. And the plus side as your market your small business? You don’t need millions to push out a Super Bowl ad that may or may not resonate.
Don’t believe me? Think about all of the craft breweries that have popped up in the last 5 years. Without the budgets of the Budweiser and Miller brands, they changed the industry and grew very profitable businesses through their love of good beer. And in a city like Denver where there are (literally) hundreds of breweries as well as the beer behemoth Coors, they continue to grow at a rapid-fire pace.
This is because each brewery is carving out a niche that speaks to their core audience. Like IPAs? We’ve got a brewery for that. Like sour beers? We’ve got a brewery for that. Like more of a chill vibe and just want to be outside in the sun? We’ve got a backyard brewery for that.
So how can you promote your small business through authentic marketing?
Create your niche: Do you brew beer? Do you own an IT firm? Do you talk about marketing all day? Do you make handcrafted beach jewelry? Whatever your niche own it!
Be True to You: As you build your niche, don’t overstretch because something is trendy. If you brew beer show us your local community, your beer brewery skills, the perfect pour, etc. There are a lot of ways “in” do what’s true for you
Be Consistent: Consistency is key to building a regular audience. Whether your doing a weekly vlog on YouTube or sharing life hacks daily, your audience will come to expect when they can hear from you and they will miss you when you’re gone.
Get Personal: Social media is all about being social and sharing. It’s ok to personalize content within your industry and to build your voice. You do you!
Show ‘em that you care: As you build an audience, it’s important to remember that these are people just like you and I. They are looking to you for your area of expertise and you’ll want to be kind and appreciate that your audience is the reason you exist.
For proof that being authentic works, check out these few brands (entrepreneurs & businesses) that are killing it in very different ways by being true to themselves:
Why Being Authentic in your Marketing Matters
Social media is one of the most popular tactics for marketers, and with something like 2.5 billion people on social media (that’s billion with a B), it’s easy to understand why.
As a small business owner, it can seem overwhelming to know where to start to carve out your voice and be part of that 2.5 billion-person audience. But the truth is, if you’re authentic to yourself, and your brand and share that voice, you’re going to have a heck of a lot easier time than building and pretending. A person who knits blankets all day as a hobby now has a place to share this with millions of others just like him/her; a unicyclist, a carpenter, and a brewer the same.
Building your authentic voice will help you reach a much larger (albeit more niche) audience than blankly canvassing an ad and hoping it gains notice. In fact, one survey notes that 84% of millennials don’t like being marketed to – people are on to us marketers.
This blog post does not say ads don’t work – in fact, I think they work very effectively – but rather to advocate for finding your voice through the old adage of honesty is the best policy and building on your ads through authentic content.
Authentic content will help you reach a core audience that believes not only in your brand but in you. And when it comes time to make a purchase, you better believe that this trust will translate too. Being inauthentic? People will see right through this and it will impact your brand negatively.
How will you promote your small business?