Have you ever wondered how these people who have a bunch of followers on Instagram get to make some ads for companies? It’s all in mania for online publicity. Publicity is an aspect of the business that you should be thinking about as you are simultaneously developing your company. It’s cohesive with other marketing and public-facing aspects of your business and should be addressed in conjunction when thinking about things like: What will my website convey? Who are my customers? Who am I competing against? Most people, unfortunately, don’t understand how to make the best out of what they have. So, you as a business, what do you want one to see when he/she is visiting your website? I usually get disappointed at times when looking for opportunities in these big corporations only to find an outdated vacancy post still lying on their website after God-knows how long.
For a small business, you may not think you need to pay much attention to publicity. Technology has taken us a notch higher in promoting a brand’s image. 2018 might be the year in which artificially intelligent bots provide better customer service than humans can, said Wired magazine. The various messaging platforms are increasingly preferred in handling customer-interactions, for this reason, small businesses may think that they need to pay less attention to creating a name for their companies. Stay woke!
It is quite important to remember that publicity is a slow and steady approach. Don’t expect to see results overnight. It takes time for you to lay the foundation for brand awareness and recognition. Just as Warren Buffet puts it, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
You need to create a plan with small, manageable steps so you’ll be able to follow through.
Image from List Of 10 Online Marketing Tools for Startup Businesses https://www.verveinnovation.com.au/blogs/list-of-10-online-marketing-tools-for-startup-businesses/
First, you need to establish your why. The ‘why’ is your story, for example, say you are launching a restaurant; you’ll need to answer why does it matter? Why should I eat there? Why did you decide to start the restaurant in the first place?
Once you have established this, you need to know inherent details about your market. Remember your market is on a wide scale. Research what your competitors are doing better than you, what the industry is giving, innovations and what the public think about it. All these you do before you start pitching anything.
Lastly, develop a strong, customized brand message. It will be more like your mantra; one that represents your beliefs, mission, vision and goal. You repeat it again and again. Think of Safaricom, “The better option”. The message is quite catchy, no doubt. I can be almost certain that this was one of its strategy to increase its coverage within the country back in the day.
After all that is said and done, you can now welcome technology into play, you can then use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. If managing your own social media platform is an issue, you can develop a rapport with reporters and bloggers. All these will promote your content to the next step, to many more audiences, and gradually, results will be evident. You can also hire an external social media manager.
So next time, you see your opponent using that renowned artist to promote their product, don’t jump into that pool fast. Understand why that artist was specifically chosen, why not the other one; develop insights and make proper decisions towards your online strategy. According to Forbes here are 7 Online Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2018 – check them out to find out what things you should be thinking about this year.
