Partner Article

How to create content for your small business.

This article was written by Peter Boolkah, Business Coach and founder of Visibility SEO. Peter has helped businesses globally scale up and grow for over 20 years.

To be visible in the marketplace all businesses must be visible on social media which is crowded already. This means you need to create content around your business which stands out from others’ content. This might seem like a mountain to climb but following simple steps will get you started. What do we mean by content? Videos, podcasts, blogs, images, webinars, stories. When creating content, it's essential to consider the tone, style, and voice you want to convey. Find your personality. Your personality in content creation should reflect your brand, values, and target audience. Here are some steps to find your personality when creating content.

Understand your brand's mission, values, and unique selling points. Your content personality should align with these aspects to maintain consistency and authenticity. It is important to think about how you deliver your message and the strength of the personality behind the brand that you want to convey. Personal branding is important. We'd much rather find out about personality than a corporate brand. It will give you a competitive advantage if you have a great personal brand behind your business. Somebody may well choose to work with you rather than your competitor.

Know Your Audience. Tailor your content personality to resonate with your target audience. Consider their demographics, interests, preferences, and communication styles to create content that speaks directly to them. Decide on the tone you want to adopt for your content. It could be formal, casual, professional, conversational, humorous, or authoritative, depending on your brand image and the nature of your content. While it's essential to be flexible and adapt to the needs of your audience, always stay true to your brand identity and values. Avoid straying too far from your brand personality, as it could confuse or alienate your audience.

Creating content can seem insurmountable but start small and experiment. Remember that once you have created a piece of content, it's evergreen. Make sure it is properly tagged up then it will be searchable forever. That is where it has a distinct advantage over paid advertising which has a finite window. Once the money is used up It's gone. When you are creating video content think about your hand gestures, your facial expressions, your voice, and everything that's going to help you become a dynamic presenter. Don't be afraid to experiment with different content styles and personalities to see what resonates best with your audience. Monitor engagement metrics and feedback to adapt and refine your content strategy over time.

Personal brand is important because it will encourage people to go on a journey with you. Being confident in your brand and able to convey it clearly over the camera or through your voice is critical. Presenting is a skill and it needs to be learned. Podcasting is a great step into the world of speaking, because you're in the comfort of your own home, you're having a great conversation and you're getting your message to a wider audience without having to stand on stage or speak in front of 10,000 people in a big arena, for example.

Be honest and authentic. Marketing is a disqualification process as well as a qualification process. There is only a certain proportion of any market that wants to work with you. Authenticity is key to building trust and connection with that audience. Let your personality shine through in your content by being genuine, honest, and transparent. Being honest and authentic will probably split opinions. That is a good thing because you're focusing on those people that you do want to work with anyway.

Get your message to the market with competence and clarity. If you are using technology make sure that the the quality is high. Good audio and visuals are much easier to achieve now with the phones we have. You don’t have to invest thousands in the first instance. You can buy reasonably cheap USB mics on Amazon and your smartphone is your friend in these situations. Technology has moved forward at such a pace. You can get world-class quality equipment much cheaper.

Remember to maintain consistency in your content personality across all channels and platforms. This helps reinforce your brand identity and makes it easier for your audience to recognise and engage with your content.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Hood .