In our weekly Office Hour in the Brand Success Club we ended up talking about social media, how hard it can feel, how de-motivated we can feel to post regularly, how right now it might not feel like anyone’s listening.
People are listening.
Not everybody comments and likes and shares each post they see. I know I don’t. Who has time for that?
I see what I see. And if I care enough about it I will stop and take a look.
That’s where posting consistently and being memorable comes in. When you use your brand colours and fonts, your own photographs and you have templates that help each post to look and feel like YOURS then people notice your posts. They start to recognise them in their feed, they stop to see what you’re saying and resonate with your content which helps you to build connection with them, they remember you – and then you start seeing results. They start liking and commenting (not always!) and when someone needs what you have they say: “O yes, I know X and this is just what you need!” or they become your customer themselves.
Sometimes when I go to follow a new client online I realise they are already following me or that I’m already following them! And I didn’t even know.
I buy from places which I’ve seen online and never interacted with a post beyond seeing it. But over time, I’m drawn more and more into their brand.
Don’t stop posting because it feels like it’s not working. It is.
Consistency = results.
People see what you’re doing.
If you’re not posting – they aren’t going to see anything.
Make it easy for yourself. Create some templates and use those. That’s the consistent visuals taken care of. Then batch a load of content so you don’t need to worry about it for a bit. See how much you can do in 30 minutes remembering what you have coming up, what message you want to share and thinking about how you can share that.
Sometimes it’s more about feeling like you have you lost all motivation, you just think you’re boring? Like nothing you say is interesting to anyone?
You’re always more interesting than you think you are.
Because you’re there, living your life and your everyday is your everyday. It’s not other peoples. They don’t walk your day. Even the mundane (to you) is interesting to others.
If you’re stuck, what can you share? There is loads that you can talk about:
- Each item that you sell – make a list, how many post is that?!
- Each component – this could be an element of the making process like clay, leather, the type of paint, or an ingredient like pomegranate or essential oils
- A process of the creation like the call you start with or one of the questions you ask, the sketch you make, sewing, mixing, painting..
- The reasons people buy your stuff, so stuff like confidence, dry skin, aging, safety, to help them achieve a goal, to make their space look beautiful. Make a list.
- Testimonials
- Staff members “Meet XX who has a dog called X and likes X” sort of thing with a photo – also other people like feature your photographer, postman etc.. (don’t forget YOU)
- Your local area if this is relevant. Other businesses, landmarks, parks, events…
- Photograph your workplace
- Day to day events – items arriving, posting out parcels, packing and wrapping, walk to the post office
- Customer stories
- Before/ after…
- What are your brand values? Focus on one of those.
- What is your vision and mission?
- Create lists including your business – Top 10 skincare products for… Top 10 places to go for … Top 10 home decor essentials… Top 10 self care products ..
- Feature things people use alongside your products. So flannels and brushes if you do skincare, hiking boots if you sell rucksacks, types of tea if you sell homeware.
- Do tutorials.
- Opening hours. Visit your website. How to navigate/ buy screenshare.
If you’re struggling, pick five of those you’ll find easy and then repeat each week – that’s your basic plan. Batch it. Add in other ideas as you go.
If you wonder if your ideas will be interesting think “If [name of business you admire] shared a post about this would I be interested?” You probably would be. Because we’re all nosey aren’t we, we want to know more about the places and people we buy from.
The good news is, it doesn’t have to be War and Peace. You can even make your post into a question which invites engagement rather than sharing information. Sharing the “un-interesting” creates connection. A quick look at my Instagram feed just now and I can see (just looking at the image):
- A delivery unpacking video of a wall planner in a tube
- A before and after photo for a washing product
- A quote
- A list “50% off.. X, 35% off..X, up to 30% off…X “
- A timelapse of someone rolling rosemary into clay
- A photo of a box in someones hand for a giveaway
- A video of cupboards and fridges and dishwashers full of the same newly published book
- A carousel of a tiny cooking scene getting closer and closer and closer with each photograph
- A photograph taken through a train window
- A reel about kids grabbing snacks five minutes before their dinner is served
Even just doing this quick exercise can give you inspiration, but it also shows when you distill each post down that these probably fairly normal things for the person who posted, but interesting to you – if you did these things would other people think they were dull?
IMPORTANT NOTE: Whatever you decide to do, please keep your GOALS and your BRAND in mind. What have you got coming up and how can you communicate that to your audience?
Think about your brand when you’re posting. You can find a lot of inspiration in your brand. And I highly recommend that you don’t forget about this when you’re posting. Your brand is EVERYTHING remember?
Every interaction, every moment, every piece of your business that can build up an idea of what your brand is in the mind of your audience and your customer. It’s the things other people think, feel and say about you – when you’re posting on social or writing your blog or making that video.. this is your chance to impact that narrative. To help people think the right things when they think about you, to help them feel a certain way and to help them have the right words to say.
This means spending some time figuring out what your brand is in the first place. I gave my Brand Success Club members a card this year. Inside there’s space to write down goals and plans and there’s also a reference guide for their brand. A place they can write the essence of their vision and mission, position, values, personality, offer, feelings they want to create, who they want to work with and the benefits of working with them. I recommend you grab yourself a piece of paper and note these down for yourself too. That way you can keep it in the back of your diary, planner, favourite book, notebook, cellotaped inside a handy cupboard.. where-ever! And refer to it when you’re doing anything in your business.
When you’re creating content you can take a look at your values and incorporate one of them in to your copy or take a photograph that relates to another one. This is about taking the core of what you’re all about and including parts of it where you can to help plant seeds.
This reference guide is really the only guide you need to help you create brand-centred content that will be interesting to the right people.
Go and make some lists and take some action! Let me know how it goes.
You’ve got this!
Amy Purdie, The Brand Explorer takes you on an Adventure to discover what your brand is all about, helping you with your brand strategy, brand visuals and content ideas. You can join Amy’s Brand Success Club or join her in your very own Private Brand Adventure.
Amy has been enjoying designing logos, brand identities, illustration, print work and websites – since 2007 fuelled mainly by tea and chocolate.