Content marketing strategy

Email marketing on laptop

Why you should work on your content marketing strategy

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In the last couple of months, we’ve placed a focus on the importance of maintaining presence online during this time of uncertainty and change. The reason being is as we move into the easing of lockdown and ongoing gentle reintroduction of getting back to ‘normal’, firms that have maintained visibility from the start will have kept their existing clients informed, helped to build awareness with prospects and potentially gained warm leads.

But, if you haven’t been able to keep up your marketing activity whether social media marketing or regular blogs, distributing email marketing or running a google ads campaign, it’s not too late to start. But, now is the crucial time to work on your content marketing plan.

Ramp up marketing activity

With the easing of lockdown gradually taking place, more people are returning to work as non-essential shops will begin to open, sports will start to return (albeit behind closed doors), people are beginning to step out of hibernation so to speak. But throughout this time, potential customers have been looking and listening to what’s out there, ready to jump at opportunities that they have put on hold.

For those of you who have continued digital marketing for your business, carry on and ramp it up. Perhaps explore other avenues to extend reach further such as creating an ebook of your core products or services with tips and advice, or send out that email that you’ve put on hold and create that video to share on social media.

Content marketing tips with SEO at the core

If you fall into the camp of not being able to do any content marketing during this time, then pick up your digital marketing plan now, it’s not too late.

Here’s our top SEO tips on what you could do as part of your online marketing strategy to help give your visibility in search engine rankings a boost. But note this is a long-term strategy so once you start, you need to continue working on SEO to reap the benefits when we truly are back to ‘normal’.

1. Be targeted

Review your website, especially your homepage. Are you telling your target audience exactly what they want to hear about when they reach your website? A little market research can help you hone your messaging.

2. Be relevant

Refresh any out of date content throughout your website. In the back of your mind always think about what your target audience searches for online and make sure you include those keywords in content. But make sure it fits. Search engines know when you’ve just added words for the sake of it.

This can impact your search rankings so make sure all links are working. And, add more where necessary to help ease of navigation.

4. Calls to action

Add eye catching buttons with calls to action that will encourage engagement and ‘action’.

5. Now write some blogs!

Regularly uploading content relevant to your target audience is a great way to keep content on your website fresh and search engines interested! Search engines want to return the best results to someone searching, so it has to be relevant.

6. Share on social media

If you already have social channels but have stopped posting, now is the time to get back to it. Tell people you’ve just added a new blog to your website. Remind people of your core services and products. There’s a lot of activity out there so you need to be in the mix to start to be heard.

This is just a quick summary for those who need to pick up on marketing activity. If you start implementing this now, it will help place you in much better position than waiting until life is ‘back to normal’.

Free resources

We’re a digital marketing and content marketing agency in Croydon and we have the following resources you can draw on if you need any help.

Free website review

Find out how to improve your website’s performance.

Free digital marketing consultation

Our Free Consultation should be between 15 and 30 minutes. The goal is to provide you with thoughts on how to start an effective marketing campaign and for us both to see if it would benefit your firm. No obligation at all, we just want the best for you.

Using social media for inbound marketing

TikTok phenomenon and your business

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TikTok is a Chinese video sharing app which has taken the social media world by storm. It has replaced the empty space left by Vine after it was shut down in 2017, and has similarities to other platforms such as Instagram and Twitter with its use of hashtags, ability to engage with viewers, and the variety of ways you can market your business.

41% of users are between 16 and 24 years old. So, if that includes your target audience, all the more reason to create a profile for your company. However, now because of social distancing, more people will be looking for new ways to connect with friends, family, or to learn something new. 

TikTok brings the opportunity to bring your company more exposure and build your brand awareness. It also allows you to be more innovative in the ways you market your company. TikTok has over 800 million active users each month and beat Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Snapchat to be the most downloadable app, (Apple’s App Store), back in Q1 2019.

Ways to engage

It is still early days for advertising and marketing within TikTok which means there is room to try new strategies and techniques. According to the TikTok Ads page you can use hashtags to target specific audiences, there are also interactive polls to engage with your audience.

You can track your performance and maximise Return on Investment (ROI) to ensure you reach relevant audiences.

Like with any social media platform, spend some time navigating through the various pages, finding out what is trending, when the best time to post is. Ensure any accounts you follow are in some way relevant to your target audience and that of the social networking site. To help gain a following promote your TikTok account via other platforms.

Content marketing

This social media channel, like others will fall under your content marketing strategy. If it’s a new channel for you, practice making content; you can leave anything you don’t post in the draft section until you find the style which works for you and fits within your brand guidelines. When you do start sharing content through social media posts, be consistent and keep within your desired aesthetic.

Social media marketing

Learning how to manage your social media platforms is key to promoting your company and attracting new clients and engaging with prospects. It is also important to find out what techniques and social media channels are right for your business. When you create a social media marketing strategy for your business, it’s not a one size fits all approach. Not all channels are relevant for all businesses. A channel like Tik Tok is great for Business to Consumer.

For support on social media communication and other digital marketing services schedule a free consultation with Smart Cow Marketing. As a social media marketing agency, we can work with you to develop a tailored mix of digital marketing that is right for your business.

news of lead generation webinar

Webinar: Grow your business through online lead generation

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We’re delighted to be taking part in the London Business Resilience Webinar Series on Wednesday 20 May, 12.45-1.30pm.

Simon Cripps, owner of Smart Cow, will be sharing insight into how to grow your business through online lead generation.

Simon will cover:

  • Why online lead generation is so important
  • What to do to attract the right type of enquiry
  • How to convert your online leads to clients

What’s key to your lead generation strategy is the different digital marketing channels that you can utilise to help start the lead generation process. But, it’s vital to provide your target audience with helpful tips, insight, a course or a template that will help with their business. Using a mix of activity as part of your inbound marketing strategy is generally the best route to take and can include blogs, social media marketing, email marketing or pay per click ads.

Register for the webinar

Register to attend the webinar on Wednesday 20 May to get some effective lead generation tips. These interactive webinars are hosted by the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) and designed to support your business and employees as we navigate the coronavirus crisis.

Inbound marketing agency in Surrey

As an inbound marketing agency, we would look at your business, understand your objectives to then tailor an inbound marketing campaign for your firm encompassing the tactics that are right for your goals. 

Why not contact us for a FREE consultation? If you’re looking to grow your business, talk us through your current position, where you would like to be, your target audience and objectives and we can work on a proposal for you.

Register Now
Man working on laptop using marketing automation

Digital marketing tips to help your business during coronavirus

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Regardless of whether your business was already embracing the virtual world, or you were just starting out in the digital world, one this is for certain, these times have highlighted the need for online presence and maintaining it.  

So, we’ve gathered a few tips for you to action now to optimise your website to help improve your search engine rankings and online visibility.  

If you need a hand with any digital marketing activity just drop us a line as we offer free consultations and free website reviews. These can really highlight areas specific for you to implement.  

Website review  

Once a website is built, you’ve got to maintain it with up to date content. The hospitality industry has already had to change the way they do business quickly to offer takeaway and delivery services. Whatever your business, you and your customers are being impacted. So, take a few moments to see that you are offering the right advice on your website. Makes sure you’re being informative and a thought leader. Add a simple message to the homepage of your website about your opening hours, how to contact your team and ‘business as usual’ even though working remotely.   

Check your content details are up to date. The last thing you want is clients unable to get through to you when it may just mean a simple update of an out of office contact number. For most businesses, the use of VOIP phones mean no disruption when remote working. But it could be a simple overlook of not checking your website that could prevent business coming your way.  

Also make sure you have ease of navigation across your side. Internal link building can help the flow for a visitor. So, see where you can add links to other web pages on your site so that it’s easier to move from one page to another by just clicking a link.

Specific content marketing plan 

Review your content marketing plan, from blogs through to social media posts and offers. Make sure you’re answering your target audience’s specific challenges during this time.  

Think of the challenges and draw up a specific marketing plan for the next couple of months, if you haven’t already. Schedule planned content on specific themes to help your clients and prospects. With constant change in our everyday, revisit your plan regularly and adjust creating content accordingly. During these times you may find a ‘news jack’ offers timely advice as well as links to great resources. 

Search Engine Optimisation  

This is at the core of your content marketing plan and website updates. A Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy is about getting your website seen. Now more than ever, you should make sure that you implement a few processes to continue moving forward.  

Get your technical backend SEO sorted and up to date. This includes Meta Descriptions, Alt Tags, Meta title tag (H1 and H2 headers). Do this now and continue to do so. This helps your website in search engine rankings and is particularly good for local search.  

Create at least a couple of blogs a month, if not more, to help with adding fresh content to your website. All the time think about what you want to be found for – those are your keywords you want to weave into your content. This keyword research will help with where you appear in the search engine result pages.

Social media marketing  

Keep on sharing posts on your social channels throughout this time. Keep communicating with your followers letting know any business changes, how you can help them.  

Take a moment to review of your channels. LinkedIn is great for networking but so often we’ve found that business profiles aren’t updated as best as they could. Add as much detail as you can about your business. Start following relevant hashtags and join groups. Start engaging. We’ve certainly noticed that engagement has increased as more and more people are reaching out as they find that the business world they were used to has changed.  

Be thoughtful of your content. Share articles you found interesting. And, use imagery to help your posts stand out.  

Video and webinars 

Talk directly to your audience. You can make videos efficiently, simply and at no extra cost on your mobile phone.  

Repurpose content from your blogs and make short and snappy videos to accompany them to bring your social posts to life and your web pages.   

Read our blog on using video for business for tips on setting up videos for your business for some useful dos and don’ts.  

Seek out local networking groups and see if you can create beneficial webinars for fellow members which can be hosted via channels such as Zoom.  

We’re a member of London Chamber and will soon, be hosting a webinar on How to grow your business through online lead generation on 20th May at 12:45. We’ll post details of how to register to join in due course.  

Free resources  

We’re a digital marketing agency in Croydon and we have the following resources you can draw on during this time. Get in touch with us today to talk through your requirements.

Free website review: Find out how to improve your website’s performance.  

Free digital marketing consultation: Our Free consultation should be between 15 and 30 minutes. The goal is to provide you with thoughts on how to start an effective marketing campaign and for us both to see if it would benefit your firm. No obligation at all, we just want the best for you. 

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