Small and medium-size businesses have some specific challenges when it comes to creating brand visibility. In a sea of big fish, it can be difficult to make enough of a name for your company that you have a chance to connect with potential customers. On the plus side, there also are some benefits to being a smaller business, such as the ability to write a blog post without getting clearance from a bunch of higher-ups. Here are some solid steps in forming content for your SMB company branding.
Find Out What People Want to Know
If you have an exciting bit of news to share on your website, blog or social media platforms, that’s ideal because it is new and exciting. However, you likely won’t have that type of news every day. One of the quickest ways to get topic ideas is to find out what people are asking about your industry. You can start by typing in a main keyword into a search bar to see what auto-fills. That will be an indication of what people want to know, and then you can answer the question for them. You can also use one of the available programs to search through discussion forums for ideas.
Social Media Conversations
Whether you have a few hundred social media followers or several thousand, these fans are a treasure trove of potential topics for an SMB company branding effort. Take the time to look at trending hashtags that pertain to your industry. See what types of discussions have a lot of user involvement. You can get involved in the conversations, but remember, you are representing your brand and want to make a good impression while also gathering content topics. If you have a good sense of humor, be sure to use it. Followers are drawn to clever remarks, and your message could earn hundreds of shares or retweets.
Ask Customers
While you are monitoring your various social media accounts, be sure to take a look at what current or previous customers are saying. Perhaps they are offering product suggestions that could be addressed in a blog post, or maybe they have questions that you can answer on social media. Not only will you get points for being actively responsive to customer feedback, you will be yielding valuable SMB company branding content that can help people in the future.
Behind The Scenes
People love to get a look at daily operations at businesses they like. Sharing this type of information not only builds a camaraderie with potential customers, it portrays your business as a down-to-earth company. This is an excellent approach for creating video content for your website. Topics could be ïA day in the lifeï or ïWhen things go wrong.ï This gives followers a chance to see how you handle challenges with positivity and creativity.
Meet the Team
Along the same lines, it can be great to introduce members of your company’s team to site visitors or social media followers. You can share fun facts about employees or show them on the job. If you don’t have a staff to highlight, you can do the same thing featuring yourself. Post photos of your work in progress or a meeting with clients. Videos usually get a lot of traction, so take the time to make an entertaining one. Who knows, it could go viral and boost your SMB company branding exposure.
Industry News
Sign up for Google Alerts so that you can see breaking news about your industry as it happens. These articles can make for good blog post topics or social media reactions. You can choose to comment on the news yourself or ask people what they think of the information. Any conversation you start has the potential to engage more people and build your company’s brand recognition. Even non-industry news can be a jumping-off point, especially if it elicits an emotional response in those who view it.
Engaging Activities
Remember, not all of your online content has to include a lot of text. In fact, photos and videos are known to garner more SMB company branding attention than a lot of words. Make sure you are sharing as many photos as you can, especially if you work in a visual industry. You can also start polls among your social media followers or blog subscribers. There are plenty of way to get fresh and interesting ideas for content on your website or favorite social media platforms. Be vigilant, and you might be surprised at all the ideas you find. In the meantime, if you are looking to make great hires and improve your business, check out Mighty Recruiter to learn some new best practices.