Online Marketing Tip: The True Value of Blogging

Despite the fact that blogging began in the Jurassic era of the internet (1994 by most estimations). Despite the fact that content marketing has changed dramatically in the past decade. Despite the many funnels available for implementing a successful online marketing campaign, the value of blogging has never been greater.

“Why is this true?” you ask.

In a nutshell, it’s because online access to your audience is shrinking, making the information you share with them even more valuable. It was inevitable that corporations would finally discover the true value of online marketing – and they have. They are now eating up more bandwidth than ever, leaving reduced access to online markets for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs.

For example, back in the day, your Facebook News Feed was dominated by information sites; often individuals who were sharing high-value data and facts that interested you, based on your search history. Now, however, that same feed is dominated by advertising, often from companies you’ve never heard of.

As these businesses buy up and dominate the bandwidth, smaller voices are being drowned out and silenced. As a result, the search engines have fewer opportunities to present you to your audience because the Big Boys are dominating access.

Despite this trend, all is not lost. You still have access to your audience, IF you offer valuable information that is easy to find: using your website, social media platforms, video channels – and your blog, which remains the most important of these.

Why Blogging Has Value

• First, blog posts remain the purest, most accessible form of online content. Despite the amazing advances in technology, as well as the refining of search algorithms by the search engines, written text remains the easiest form of content for Google and the others to crawl, index, and rank in their search results (SERPs).

In fact, because the written word is so easy to read, blog posts are the most valuable content published to the internet – and always will be.

• Next, weekly blogging gives you, and your business, a voice; an opportunity to be yourself and share what matters most to you. Whether you share personal stories and experiences or the latest updates and news about your business, writing a blog provides you with a fantastic opportunity to build your reputation and generate trust. This leads to loyalty from your audience, which will ultimately generate leads and increase your potential to make sales.

Blogging provides you with the opportunity to let your personality shine online while offering your target audience the chance to learn about your business.

Publishing regularly to your blog keeps the search engines interested in and ranking your site. They exist to catalog valuable new content for their customer, the searcher. As long as you provide them with what they’re looking for, high-value content, your ranking will improve.

• Finally, blogging is an easy way to establish yourself as an expert in your niche. Because it’s easy to share, your blog is a powerful tool for word-of-mouth marketing and viral marketing to promote your products or services more efficiently than many other marketing methods. And, adding a blog page to your website is easy, while publishing to your website is simpler than ever – no coding needed!

Blogs remain one of the most popular social sharing funnels on the internet, so taking advantage of this phenomenon makes sense as the foundation of your online marketing strategy.

If you aren’t blogging as part of your online marketing strategy, now is the time to start. Now that you know the incredible value of blogging, whether for personal or business reasons, you do have an audience who is just waiting to hear from you.

With more than 25 years of experience in the luxury furnishings and interior design industries, Ted has pretty much seen it all. So, if you're ready to work with a professional consultant who can help you with marketing and understands the value of blogging, feel free to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Brand Building: 5 Tips to Help You Get It Done

Even though you’re spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on brand building each month, your audience isn’t growing. You’re only followed online by a few clients, some bots, and your mom. (Yeah, not even your dad is paying attention to your online marketing efforts!)

And so, for a change of pace, instead of a lengthy introduction to our subject by explaining how difficult building your brand is and why it’s so important, let’s do this. Let’s assume you already know those things and are frustrated by the time, effort, and expense to do it. That way, we can go straight to how you can get it done.

5-Step Brand Building Strategy

If you're like many entrepreneurs and small business owners, your business refuses to grow despite all the work you’ve done to market yourself. But, despite the poor return on all of your efforts, you feel obligated to continue because you know you need an online presence.

1.      Consistent Messaging is Marketing Gold

Consistent messaging throughout every platform is vital to building your brand. This includes the content you create, the logo and graphics you use, images, and the calls-to-action for your target audience. This last can change according to the type of strategy you're promoting, e.g., list building, engagement, special deals on products or services, etc.

Inconsistent messaging does more than simply confuse your audience, it also creates doubt in your abilities and expertise. For example, if your social media content diverges significantly from the messaging on your website, you create uneasiness and questions in the minds of your audience. When this happens, rather than contacting you for answers, it’s far more likely they’ll simply move on to a competitor whose messaging is clear and (yes!) consistent to them.

Once they leave, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to bring them back.

2.      Your Identity is Unique, Make Your Brand Unique Too

Separating yourself from your competition can be extremely challenging. However, being unique in some way(s) is what brand building is all about, i.e., creating an identity that has a singular impact on your target audience.

Focus on who you are. Share your vision and mission, which stem from your purpose. Do all you can to make yourself real in the virtual world where you’re doing business. These are the things that make you more human and will separate you from your competitors, before you even describe your business, your products, or your services.

Video is a great tool for doing this type of brand building. The cool thing about using video to create an identity and reputation online is that they don’t have to be long. In fact, the best videos are quick, laser-focused on solutions, and highly targeted to your audience.

What should you include in your 2-to-3-minute branding videos? One subject. Expert analysis. Solutions. Call-to-Action. That’s all you need to gradually build your brand and online reputation through video marketing.

3.      Poignant Messaging is Powerful Messaging

Emotional appeals are an incredibly powerful part of your messaging. This requires consistent messaging about the benefits of doing business with you. Not features. Not tech. Not changing the world. Benefits to your target audience!

If this somehow sounds selfish, that’s OK. Your goal is to cater to the self-interest of your audience, after all, so don’t get distracted by things that do not reinforce that benefits-based message. Always work to answer their most important question, “What’s in it for me?”

Whether your goal is to make people feel better, their homes look better, be more comfortable or more productive, a positive result is what they are looking for. At this point in your messaging, it is absolutely not about you… It’s all about them!

4.      You Need a Loyal Audience

Creating loyal followers (and eventually paying clients) is only possible if you display your expertise and honestly share the benefits they’ll receive from first engaging, and ultimately working, with you.

Your audience is your most valuable asset and by engaging with them and showing interest in their comments, you can keep them coming back. Once they show interest, by subscribing to your email list for example, you have a valuable opportunity to pique their interest further and engage them on a deeper level.

This is the stuff of dreams for any online marketer because you now have a chance to build a relationship that has a high probability of conversion. How you handle these opportunities will determine the long-term success of your business. And it all comes from implementing a solid brand building strategy.

5.      Always Ask Them to Take Action That Benefits Them

Ultimately, the goal of your online marketing efforts is to compel your audience to take action that benefits you, and them. (Don’t ever forget them!) Whether your short-term goal is to get them to subscribe to your email list or take some other step that will lead to increased engagement, you need to get them to act.

These various types of activities are designed to help you begin building a relationship with them that will, eventually, lead to conversion; that is, making a sale. Your consistent emotional messaging combined with your unique identity and poignant appeals will create the loyalty that will entice them to act and do business with you.

Now, back to the intro we didn’t make you read… Yes, building your brand and a unique identity may be the most challenging part of your marketing strategy. But, just like that marketing plan, a strategic approach will be a huge benefit for enhancing your online reputation and your brand.

Business Branding Help

It goes without saying that we at TD Fall will do all we can to help. And Ted is always available to work with you on an individual basis, consulting on how your business can best respond to the shifting needs of your design and furnishings clients.

With more than 25 years of experience in the luxury furnishings and interior design industries, he has pretty much seen it all. So, if you're ready to work with a professional consultant who can help you with marketing and brand building, feel free to… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Inbound Marketing vs Content Marketing (What’s the diff, if any?)

Online marketing. Internet marketing. Social media marketing. Video marketing. Email marketing. Inbound marketing. Content marketing. “Do this one or your business will die!” “Do that one and your business will grow!” “Do the other thing and your business is guaranteed to grow/die/get better/fail/be profitable/never make money!”

But wait. With the internet being universal, aren’t all those things kinda the same these days? Not so much.

You see, some of these things are broad marketing strategies while others are more specific types of marketing techniques. For example, the two in our title this week: inbound marketing versus content marketing.

As part of your broad-based online marketing strategy, content marketing is aimed at your target audience in general. Inbound marketing is directed at a clearly identified type of potential client; a “buyer persona” that you create as the perfect client for your services (or products).

Content Marketing Strategy

As defined by Wikipedia, “Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online.” As you can see, there is nothing about a “persona” or “profile” in this definition of content marketing. Here, your target audience is pretty much anyone who might be interested in your services. This requires you to generate content that has a broad appeal to a diverse audience.

This may be very easy, or very hard. That is, it can be difficult to avoid stating the obvious or sharing platitudes when you write for such an audience because it’s often difficult to focus on exactly who may be interested in your content. It can also be seen as intrusive (and possibly unwanted). On the other hand, when you get it right, the appeal of such content can be far-reaching and may generate interest among folks you had no idea might wish to do business with you.

Such an audience might be defined as:

• Homeowners

• Local

• Single or married with kids

• Mid- to upper-mid income range

• Likely works for others

• Active on social media

• Pain points are a bit vague and generalized

• May be interested in DIY training

As you can see, these are essentially categories of people who may someday wish to work with an interior designer or buy from a luxury furniture store. Such timeframes and wishes are by definition vague, as are the categories. However, it is possible to generate interest with content marketing, which can then be used to engage your audience in a more targeted fashion: for example, email campaigns or newsletter subscriptions.

Inbound Marketing Strategy

Requiring in-depth research and marketing know-how, “Inbound marketing is a business methodology that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them. While outbound marketing interrupts your audience with content they don’t always want, inbound marketing forms connections they are looking for and solves problems they already have.” (Hubspot.com)

Further, inbound marketing focuses on building a website, its content, and a clearly defined audience. The strategy here is targeted to encourage readers to “perform an action such as inquire, buy a product, or complete a form”. (Spyralitics.com)

Inbound marketing content is interactive. It’s targeted, purposeful, and helpful. It is not intrusive (and therefore not unwanted), because you're providing your audience with content they’re searching for – and need.

Your targeted “buyer persona” or “ideal client profile” for an inbound marketing strategy might include:

• Owns a home worth $1 million or more

• Lives in a specific, high-end local neighborhood(s)

• Is a married female with a family

• Enjoys an upper-income range for your area

• May work in a creative profession

• Likely small business owner, entrepreneur, or other professional

• Is active on specific social media platforms

• Has well-defined needs and desires, with distinctive (perhaps unique) pain points

• Appreciates expert knowledge and professional services from a creative influencer

As you can see, the profile of your potential audience here is far more specific and targeted. It can be narrowed even further with additional research and based upon experiences with previous clients. That is, clients you’ve most enjoyed working with in the past.

Stated simply, inbound marketing does not rely upon a silhouette of what is possible in your audience, but a portrait of who you want your audience to be.

While we do not happen to offer inbound marketing or content marketing support at TD Fall, we do have contacts who can. And, of course, Ted is available for general marketing and business consulting to the industry. Get in touch with TD Fall today.