Check out our top 8 actions below and get cracking! And remember, we’re only a phone call away (03) 9662 9900 if you have questions or need some assistance.
8 ways to grow your brand (right now, for free)
- Audit your brand and social media strategy and your channels – what is your target audience? What channels does your target audience leverage? What does your presence look like? Does it appeal to that audience? If you’re not sure, ASK some loyal clients or friends in the demographic that you’re trying to reach to give you feedback.
- Define your brand’s voice – creating a consistent style and personality will help you shine through the noise, and perhaps a bespoke hashtag to use with your posts. It’s also much easier to sit down with your team and brainstorm/workshop content ideas and put them in the calendar instead of trying quickly to come up with something last minute each week.
- Create a content calendar – determine your frequency and then find a consistent time of the day/week to post when you have peak traffic (and so your followers can anticipate your posting rhythm).
- Network within the network – Facebook and LinkedIn are great for this. There is very likely a number of groups out there that suit your business, but it may take a bit of searching and creativity to find them and request membership. And once you’re in, your job isn’t done – what are the rules for the group, how can you engage? Can you make a special offer exclusive to them or is direct marketing prohibited? If you’re not allowed to do that, then you need to make an effort to regularly and genuinely engage with the group to lift your brand’s profile.
- Activate your biggest secret weapon – your people! Most of you are great businesses, so I can make the assumption that you consist of great people. These people can be your biggest advocates. They can also help you to ‘beat’ the social media platform’s algorithm. Ask your people to SHARE or at least comment on your posts to amplify your message – it can have exponential results!! (Also note that ‘likes’ don’t do a great deal so a comment or better yet a share is what you’re looking for).
- Engage with influencers – now with this I don’t mean pay someone on Instagram to spruik your brand. Rather, find symbiotic individuals or companies that are considered thought leaders within your industry and begin to follow them, comment on their posts using your brand’s account, share their content to your company page, etc. You’ll be surprised how many people following them will also take notice of you if you add interesting and informed commentary.
- Always respond to comments – positive or negative one of the most important things you can do is to respond to comments, and quickly. Many businesses get nervous about responding to negative posts, but have a think about negative reviews you’ve read – a professional, polite and constructive response often leaves the reader feeling more positively about the brand.
- Review your results – which posts had the most reach? What was the topic, timing? Learn from your audience about what they like and want to see more of – or if you’re not sure you can do a survey or a poll and get more quantitative view.
And then once you are seeing results and have a little bit to invest in your marketing, you can consider inexpensive steps like social media ads or work to optimise your website for search. You can often get a much greater engagement, measurable results and increased return on investment than traditional advertising like print, radio or television (and typically less expensive than Google Ads).
