Business growth Archives

Identify Client Needs: A Beginner’s Guide

Sep 17, 2023 | Business growth, Content, Marketing

Do you want to identify your client’s needs? Not sure why and how? As a business owner understanding your client’s needs is crucial to delivering the right solutions and building strong relationships. But how do you accurately identify what your clients truly need?

In this guide, we’ll explore some tips and strategies to help you better understand your client’s needs and deliver satisfactory results.

Active listening to identify your client’s needs

Active listening is a fundamental skill in identifying client needs. It involves fully concentrating on what the client is saying, both through their words and nonverbal communication. This means:

avoiding distractions, such as checking your phone or watching the clock, and instead focusing on what they are communicating to you.
ask clarifying questions to confirm your understanding and avoid assumptions. This shows the client that you value their input and want to provide them with the best possible solution based on their specific needs.

By actively listening, you can gather insightful information about what your clients require, which will help guide your work towards meeting their expectations effectively.

Ask the right questions to better understand their problems

One of the most effective ways to identify client needs is by asking the right questions.

Open-ended questions can be particularly useful, as they allow clients to share their thoughts and feelings in more detail. This can help you understand the root of the problem and the desired outcome.

For example, instead of asking a closed question like “Do you need a new website?” ask an open-ended question like “Can you tell me more about your current website and what you hope to achieve with a new one?” This not only helps you understand their needs but also builds trust by showing that you care about their specific situation.

Additionally, follow-up questions can also provide clarification on any vague responses given, allowing for better understanding for all parties involved.

Analyse data and gather insights to make more informed decisions

In addition to asking questions, analysing data and gathering insights can also help you identify client needs.

Look for patterns in client behavior, feedback and other relevant data points. This can provide valuable insights into what clients are looking for and what pain points they may have. It’s important to use accurate data that is relevant to your specific client base, as this will help ensure that the insights gathered are actionable and effective at meeting their needs.

By taking a data-driven approach, you can make more informed decisions about the solutions you offer and how best to address your clients’ needs.

Segment clients into different groups based on their needs

To better identify and meet the unique needs of each client, consider segmenting them into different groups based on their common characteristics or interests. By doing this, you’ll be able to more effectively tailor your solutions to fit the specific needs and preferences of each group.

For example, if you offer a product that appeals to both younger and older consumers, you may want to create different marketing strategies for each age group, highlighting the benefits that are most important to them. This approach allows you to prioritise which groups have the highest potential for success and lets you focus your resources where they’ll have the greatest impact.

Additionally, regular communication with clients via surveys or other engagement tools will help ensure that their needs are being met and allow for adjustments over time as their needs evolve.

Stay in touch with your clients and continually reassess their needs over time

Identifying client needs is an ongoing process that doesn’t just end after the initial solution has been delivered. It’s important to stay in touch with your clients and continually reassess their needs over time. This will ensure that you’re able to adapt and evolve your solutions according to their changing requirements.

You can use various tools like surveys or focus groups to gather feedback from your clients and keep track of changes in their preferences or priorities. By staying in touch with your clients, you’ll be able to build better long-term relationships with them, keep up to date with market trends and deliver top-quality solutions that meet their evolving needs.

Remember, the better you understand your client’s needs, the more effectively you can help them achieve their goals and improve their overall satisfaction with your services.

Check out the Get Clear On Your Target Audience template to help you map out your ideal client and their needs so you can really understand and connect with them.

How To Craft A Highly Converting Homepage For Your Website: A Step-by-Step Guide

Mar 14, 2023 | Business growth, Content, Marketing, Website, Writing

Are you looking for an effective way to convert more visitors into customers on your website? Writing a highly converting homepage is the first step. Your homepage is the face of your website, and it is the first page visitors see when they come to your site. It is essential to have an attractive and optimised homepage that quickly and effectively conveys your message and helps visitors to achieve their goals.

This step-by-step guide will help you to create a homepage that is both visually appealing and designed to drive conversions. You’ll learn how to identify the key elements of an effective homepage, create compelling content, and optimise your design for maximum conversion potential.

With these tips, you can craft a homepage that will engage visitors, and keep them coming back for more.

Identify the key elements of an effective homepage

There are several essential elements that make up an effective homepage. Each one of these elements helps to drive the desired action on your homepage. With an effective homepage, you can increase your conversion rate, win new customers, and increase your overall sales.

Tagline: the tagline is one of the most important elements of a homepage. It is the first thing visitors will see on your homepage, and it should instantly catch their attention and compel them to read more. Make sure it has the right mix of benefits, product information, and calls to action.

Visuals: visuals on your homepage can help to engage your visitors and make your content more memorable. They can also help to demonstrate the product and provide context around your offer. Make sure the visuals you choose are relevant to your product and help to clearly convey your message.

Value proposition: your value proposition explains what your product does and why someone should buy it. It answers the question, “Why should I buy from you?” and makes visitors feel confident in their purchase decision.

Craft compelling content for your homepage

The content you create for your homepage plays a crucial role in converting visitors into customers. It needs to be engaging, easy to understand and written with a sales-focused mindset (not sleazy though).

Visitors need to trust you (without you saying ‘trust me’), understand your product and be convinced that it is the right choice for them. The best way to do this is by creating compelling content that focuses on helping visitors achieve their goals and solving their problems.

So it’s important to really understand:

who you are targeting/selling to
what problem they are facing and
how you best solve it (better than anyone else).

The first step in crafting a compelling homepage is to identify the goals of your homepage. What is the purpose of your homepage? Once you know the goals of your homepage, you can then create content that is engaging, persuasive, and helps visitors to achieve their goals.

Homepage call to actions

Another effective way to increase conversions on your homepage is to set up compelling call to actions (CTAs). A CTA is a hyperlink or button on your homepage that prompts visitors to take the desired action e.g. go to a check out a service page, contact you, etc.

There are many different types of CTAs you can use on your homepage:

product CTAs,
service CTAs,
free trial CTAs,
subscription CTAs
offer CTAs.

These will be based and linked to your website goals/objectives.

For each of these CTAs, you’ll want to make sure that your copy is compelling and emphasises the benefits of clicking. For example, if you are adding a product CTA, make sure you write copy that showcases the benefits of the product, such as reduced fatigue, increased productivity, and overall better health. You can also add social proof to your CTA by including customer testimonials and ratings.

Design for maximum conversion potential

The design of your homepage has a significant impact on your conversion rate. You want to make sure that your design is attractive and appealing to your audience. The design should also be consistent with the rest of your website, and it should accurately portray your brand.

One way to ensure that your brand and design is optimised for conversion is by creating a style guide and mood board. A mood board is a visual guide that includes pictures, colours, fonts, and other design elements that you want to incorporate into your homepage design.

By creating an effective mood board, you can ensure that your design elements are consistent and that they appeal to your target audience.

Optimise your homepage for mobile devices

With an increasing number of customers using mobile devices to browse online and make purchases, it is important to make sure that your homepage is easily accessible and optimized for mobile devices.

Visitors browsing on a smartphone or tablet will have a smaller screen size and shorter attention span, which means that you need to create compelling content that is easy to understand and quick to read.

Make sure that your homepage is easy to navigate, has short paragraphs and that each page of your website loads quickly. It is also important to make sure that your images are not too large and that your font is easy to read regardless of the device that visitors are using.

Visitors to your site on a mobile device might not have the time or patience to zoom in or click through to another page to find the information they are looking for.

Google can also crawl and rank your website if it is optimised for mobile devices.

Test and measure results

Even after the homepage design has been implemented, you should continue to test and experiment with different elements to see what results in the highest conversions.

It is important to test your headlines, visuals and call to actions to determine what produces the best results. When you test, make sure to use control groups. This means that you have a control group that does not see the element you are testing, as well as an experimental group that does see it. This will allow you to compare results and see the impact that your tests have had on your homepage design.

Adding a blog to your website can help showcase your knowledge, convert visitors and target keywords. Want to learn how to write blogs? Check out this article about A Step-by-Step Writing Template to Quality Content

Craft Perfect Blog Posts: A Step-by-Step Writing Template to Quality Content

Jan 19, 2023 | Business growth, Content, Marketing, SEO, Social

Blog post writing template to get you crafting quality content. Laptop with phone and question mark.

Crafting the perfect blog post is no easy feat. Writing content that engages readers and reflects your brand’s unique voice can feel overwhelming. But with a step-by-step blog post writing template and the right approach, you can create quality content that will help your content stand out from the crowd.

This blog post template will help you develop your articles from start to finish, giving you the confidence to create content that your readers will love. You’ll learn how to research, structure, write, and publish your post so that it reaches its potential. You’ll also get tips on how to optimise it for SEO and share it on channels, so that you get the most out of your content.

Get ready to create blog posts that will draw readers in and make them come back for more!

Researching Your Topic

Your blog post will only be as good as the research behind it. Before you start writing make sure you have the facts to back up your content. Researching your topic is the first step in creating a blog post that will engage your readers and build your authority as a blogger.

When researching your topic you also need to keep your reader/ideal client in mind. If you really want to get to write and engage with them consider the following:

who is your target audience/ideal client/reader?
what are their interests and pain points?
what are their hobbies and everyday struggles?
what can your blog post teach them?
what do they care about?
what do they read?
where do they hang out online?
what keywords will your post be optimized for?

Your research will also help you stay on topic and avoid the dreaded ‘blogging paralysis’ where you’re too afraid to start writing. When you know exactly what needs to go into your post, it becomes much easier to start writing.

Armed with this information, you’ll be able to create a post your readers will love. It’ll be helpful, interesting, and valuable to them.

Structuring Your Blog Post

After the research phase is complete create a clear outline of what your blog post will cover. With an outline, you can easily stay on topic and avoid writing a disorganised or overly lengthy blog post.

When structuring your blog post, focus on answering the following questions:

what is the main takeaway the reader should get from reading your blog post?
what is the core argument or point you want to make?
what are the major supporting ideas or points you’ll include in your post?

Once you have a clear outline of your blog post, it becomes much easier to start writing. You’ll also find that your post is easy to edit and improve upon, even after you’ve written the first draft. Keep your reader in mind every step of the way.

Aim for a blog post around 800-1,000 words, as readers are less likely to read long posts but you need to have substance to your article. If your post is too lengthy, it will become difficult for readers to navigate your content and find the information they’re looking for. Long articles can also be intimidating, turn readers away and make them less likely to come back to your content again.

Writing Your Blog Post

Now that you’ve done all your research and have a clear outline of your post, it’s time to start writing! There are a few key things to keep in mind as you write your blog post, so that it comes out as clear, concise, and engaging as possible.

Consider the following when you start writing:

what is the emotional tone of your blog post?
what is the mood or feeling you want to evoke in your readers when they read your blog post?
what is the most engaging and relevant title for your article?
what are some interesting information/facts you can use?

Chop, chop, get writing and ensure your post:

is on topic. Nothing turns readers off more than reading blog posts that don’t seem to have a point or any clear direction.
has a clear structure with a strong introduction, where you hook readers and draw them into your post.
has a core discussion or point, and then finish with a conclusion that reinforces your main idea.
includes short paragraphs and sentences. Shorter, more concise writing is easier to read and comprehend. Avoid overly complex language or jargon that only a select few would understand.
is engaging and personal. Your readers are reading your content because they want to learn from you.
talks to your audience and addresses their needs and interests. Be authentic and be yourself. You’re creating content for your readers because you have something to say and knowledge to share. Let that shine through in your writing.

Editing and Proofreading Your Blog Post

Even the most experienced bloggers make mistakes when writing, and that’s okay! Writing blog posts is a skill that takes time to perfect, so don’t be too hard on yourself. However, it’s important to make sure your post is as error-free as possible, so it doesn’t distract readers from the helpful content you’re trying to share.

Editing and proofreading your blog post are essential steps that shouldn’t be forgetten when creating content. It will help you catch errors like typos, missing words, and formatting problems that can turn readers off. There are a few ways you can edit your post:

reading your blog post out loud is a quick way to catch any mistakes or anything you missed
hire a proofreader or editor if you don’t feel comfortable editing your own work
use online editing tools such as Grammarly or Hemingway App, that are designed to help you quickly find and fix common mistakes.

Balancing Act: optimising for SEO & the reader

When you’re creating your blog post, you’ll want to keep SEO (search engine optimisation) and your reader in mind. This will help your post rank higher in search engine results, so your article is found, but meaningful to your readers too. Don’t write just for the bots!

When optimising for SEO be guided by the following:

what are the core topics your post covers?
what are the main keywords related to this topic?
how can you incorporate these keywords into your post without being too obvious or spammy?
what are some engaging, keyword driven titles for your blog post?

When you’ve finished considering the above, it’s time to optimise it for search engines. This will ensure your post is easily found by readers and has a higher chance of going viral.

To optimise your articles for search engines:

keep your blog post around 800-1,000 words. It will allow readers to get through the content, give Google enough content to rank, but also allows you to share your knowledge.
use strong headings with keywords. Headings act like topic sentences in a paper and are good for SEO. They allow bots and readers know they’ve found what they’re looking for, making it easy to navigate your posts.
include your keywords naturally. Keywords in your content will help optimise your blog post but don’t force or overdo it with keywords. Include them naturally, just like you would if you were talking to a friend.

Publishing Your Post

Now that you’ve written your post, edited and proofread it and optimised for SEO, the only thing left to do is publish it!

Ensure you publish your blog post at a time when your readers are likely to be paying attention (during the holidays isn’t a great time). Different audiences are online at different times throughout the day. Publishing your post when most of your readers will be paying attention is key to making the most out of your content.

Share Your Article

Don’t pop your article on your website and hope people find it. Share it on your business social media channels, to your mailing list, collaborate with others and ask them to share it too, and even share it on your personal social channels.

When sharing your blog post, don’t just post a link to your blog. Instead, engage your readers and build a relationship with them by sharing your post in a more creative and interesting way.

Post interesting photos or visuals, short videos, or engaging GIFs that are related to your post. Be sure to include your blog’s title and a short description of the post so readers know what it’s all about.

Finally, well that’s it, there are no more steps. Now off you go, and make a start. And if you are still daunted, you can:

download the tried and tested blog post template from my site, which will guide you through what to write in each section of your blog
read the 8 steps to creating copy that converts for your business.

Thanks for reading and feel free to email me any questions you may have.

Thank you for reading my blog post template

The Perfect Blog Post Writing Template: How to Create Quality and Engaging Content for Your Business

Feb 19, 2022 | Business growth, Content, Marketing

Blog post writing template. Laptop with stationary, mobile phone and a cup of tea

Have you ever experienced writer’s block while trying to create content for your blog? Do you feel overwhelmed at the thought of having to write a blog post? If so, you’re not alone. Writing a blog post can be a daunting task, especially when you want to create quality and engaging content for your business.

But the truth is, there’s a way to make the process easier. Introducing The Perfect Blog Post Writing Template—a comprehensive guide that will show you how to create content that drives traffic to your business and captivates your readers.

This template will show you how to structure an effective blog post, craft an engaging introduction, and create compelling content that resonates with your audience. So, if you’re looking for a way to make the process of creating quality blog posts easier, The Perfect Blog Post Writing Template is here to help.

How does the Blog Post Writing Template work?

It will guide you through the process of creating quality blog posts. Whether you’re new to blogging or you’re familiar with the process, this template will help you create engaging and captivating content that resonates with your readers.

The template consists of sections, each of which plays an integral role in the blog post

writing process. This comprehensive guide will show you:

how to structure an effective blog post
craft compelling content that resonates with your audience
measure the success of your blog post.

So if you’re looking for a way to make the process of creating blog posts easier this Blog Post Writing Template is here to help.

Benefits to using this Blog Post Writing Template

The most obvious benefit is being able to create engaging and quality content for your business. The template will guide you through every step of the process, from coming up with a topic to creating a call to action at the end. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, using this template can help you get started.

Another benefit of using this template is being able to create a structure for your blog posts. Without a structure, you may find that you don’t have the control you need to create quality content. The template will help you create a plan for your blog posts, which will make the entire process easier. You’ll be able to see exactly what you need to do and when, which will allow you to create blog posts with ease and confidence.

How to structure an effective blog post

Before you can start creating content, you need to know how to structure an effective blog post. The components of an effective blog post, including the introduction, body, conclusion, and call to action.

Your introduction is arguably the most important part of your blog post. It sets the tone for your entire post, so it’s important that it’s engaging and interesting. Your introduction should pique your readers’ interest and make them want to continue reading.

The next section is your body. The body is where you’ll expand on the topic you introduced in your introduction. Create paragraphs that are easy to read and are divided into sub-headings. This makes the blog post easier to navigate and read.

The next section is your conclusion. In your conclusion, you’ll want to summarise what you’ve written about in the blog post. You can also use this section to tell your readers what’s next. This will leave them with a sense of anticipation and help to keep them engaged with your brand.

The last section is your call to action. In your call to action, you’ll want to tell your readers what you want them to do next. For example, you can suggest that they subscribe to your newsletter or learn more about your product or service. Your call to action should be clear and direct so that your readers know what you want them to do next.

How to create compelling content

It’s important to remember that the quality of your blog posts will depend largely on the quality of the content you create. To create compelling content, you first need to identify your audience. You should know who your target audience is, what they care about, and why they’re reading your blog posts. Once you know who you’re writing for, it’s time to create compelling content. You can start by coming up with a title that hooks your readers and makes them want to read your post.

Next, you want to create an outline for your blog post. You can use a tool such as Google Slides to create an outline, which will make it easy to navigate your blog post while you’re writing it.

Another way to create compelling content is by including visuals. You can do this by using images, charts, graphs, and videos. Or you can incorporate all of these elements into one post to create an even more engaging blog post.

Last but not least, you want to proofread your blog post before publishing it. This will ensure that your blog post is error-free and that it resonates with your readers.

Tips for creating quality and engaging content

Now that you know how to create compelling content, it’s time to put your knowledge into practice.

Here are some tips for creating quality and engaging content.

– Start with a baseline of readers. Before you can start creating content, you need to know your baseline of readers. This will help you understand what your readers are looking for and what they want from your blog posts.

– Know your audience. Once you know your baseline of readers, it’s time to get to know your audience. You can do this by asking yourself questions about your readers, such as why they’re reading your blog posts, what they care about, and what their issues and challenges are.

– Create personas for your readers. Once you know who your readers are, it’s time to create personas for them. A persona is a representation of one of your readers and helps you visualize who they are and what they want to read.

– Use SEO to your advantage. SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s the process of getting your blog posts noticed by search engines such as Google and Bing. By incorporating SEO best practices into your blog posts, you can get more organic traffic, which means more readers searching for your content.

How to measure the success of your blog post

Before you publish your blog post, you’ll want to know how to measure the success of your blog post. There are several ways you can do this, including tracking your readers’ engagement, collecting data on your readers, and tracking the number of pageviews.

You can use tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track the performance of your blog posts. By tracking the success of your blog posts, you’ll have a better idea of what your readers are looking for. This will allow you to tailor your blog posts and provide content that your readers want to read.

So if you want to measure the success of your blog posts, start by tracking your readers’ engagement. This will allow you to see how long your readers are spending on your posts and what they’re clicking on. You can also track the number of pageviews your blog posts receive. This will allow you to see how many people are reading your posts and how long they’re spending on your content.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to create quality and engaging blog posts, it’s time to get started. Start by coming up with a topic. Once you have a topic, you can start writing the post to create compelling and engaging content that your readers will love.

So what are you waiting for? This guide has everything you need to know to create quality blog posts, otherwise you can download my tried and tested blog post template for more guidance. You’ll be able to come up with blog post topics, create compelling content, and measure the success of it in no time.

Collaboration Over Competition

Mar 2, 2021 | Business growth, Marketing, Social

Collaboration is power. And competition is fierce. So, which one will you choose?

First things first, your business isn’t alone. Wait. What? But you’re the only person doing what you do.

Wrong, my friend. The service you provide isn’t stand-alone because other people (probably squillions) are doing it as well.

Now before you get all doom and gloom, I’m starting this with reality, that’s all. Remember, what makes your business unique is you.

But we’re not here to talk about that in this article.

Which means if thousands (squillions) of other people provide what you do, then why fight it?

In this blog, you’ll learn why embracing the power of collaboration can drive your business further.

What’s Competition?

As I said earlier, it’s fierce, and it’s not going anywhere. So, you’re doomed?

Quite the opposite. Because there’s so much competition, why don’t you work with it rather than against it?

Argh, but they’ll steal my clients, I’ll lose money, and they’ll like my competitor over me.

Is that what your brain is telling you right now? It’s ok if it is because it’s normal for sure. Here’s the shocking revelation for you, the pie is massive.

And guess what? You’ve also got a giant planet of clients. Which means there’s enough in the pie for all. You may not think about it. But it’s reality.

Competition & Human Nature

Now you may have heard, “survival of the fittest” as a saying.

So you may have thoughts of competing is the way to get ahead.

Think of when people,

-Go for a promotion

– Play sport

– Fight over who gets to eat the chicken butt

– Compete to run a country

Yes, the world is competitive, people thrive over it, and a bit of competition is fun.

However, when you think of competition, you probably say to yourself, well there can only be one winner if I’m competing.

Which means it can hold you back from achieving your dreams because it’s a limiting thought.

But what if I told you it never used to be like that? Think of times in your life where you’ve helped someone else.

– Given up your seat on a train

– Mentored someone

– Picked something up for a stranger

Collaboration is a human instinct, as well.

Perhaps you haven’t tapped into it because you think about that time you ran a 100-metre sprint to get a blue ribbon. I know I loved my primary school sports top covered in ribbons with safety pins.

But back to how it never used to be like that.

Another saying you may have heard is, “it takes a village to raise a child.”

Guess what? It used to and still does in many parts of the world. Back thousands of years ago, humans lived as pack animals as a way of survival. They all worked together to gather food, make shelter and raise children.

Which means humans have collaborated for thousands of years in order of survival.

So what changed?

My guess is many factors like companies, competitive sport and sibling rivalry. But it doesn’t have to be that way if you don’t want it to. And let me tell you, once you start collaborating, it opens up new doors that were closed before.

Let’s look at this blog as an example. I’m writing it for a dear business friend who’s now a personal friend as well. And who runs a business the same as mine.

So why am I doing this? Because this blog will give both our businesses exposure by sharing it through websites, socials and boosting SEO.

Plus, it offers extra exposure by reaching my humans and hers at the same time.

But your business is the same as hers, Gemma. Are you thinking that?

Because if you are, yes, it’s the same and we offer similar services but here’s the thing. Her target audience is different from mine. We serve different humans.

But picture this, what iI get a lead which isn’t best suited to my expertise and specific offering?

Well, rather than saying no, I have someone to refer the client too and vice versa.

Through Collaboration, We’ve Both Grown Our Businesses

Firstly, our collaboration created a meaningful relationship.

Because where we’ve contributed to each other, our relationship and businesses flourished.

Secondly, two brains are better than one, right?

Listen, are you a solo business owner? I want you to remember when you weren’t. You worked in a team with ideas and help from others.

And sometimes you can forget that now you’re on your own.

But once you start sharing and brainstorming with like-minded business owners, the magic begins to happen.

Collaborating has increased business opportunities for both of us, and here’s how it can work for you as well.

Increases Your Visibility Through Collaboration

As I said earlier, we’re getting our (stunning) faces in front of each other’s humans. Which means we’re becoming more visible to a similar yet different target audience.

Boosts Your Following with Collaboration

You’ll gain more website hits, social media followers and grow your email list. The possibilities are endless when you’re connecting with more people.

And once you’re following increases? You’re ultimately looking at business growth and making more money.

Expands Your Knowledge

There’s always something to learn.

And working together with someone rather than against them it’ll be a valuable experience. As you’ll gain knowledge, insights and learn new things.

Embrace Vulnerability

When collaborating, you can ask for help.

Go on, be vulnerable because I promise you, it’s fantastic.

Getting a helpful hand is a life-saver because it saves you from doing all of the things all of the time.

Furthermore, you have the opportunity to collaborate on projects, and it’s lovely to work together with someone like-minded and who you trust.

Creating Higher-Level Value

When collaborating, you can do things like (guest blog) podcast swaps, YouTube interviews and social media lives. It’s endless.

Creating higher-level value is terrific for exposure, SEO (backlinking) and your social growth strategy.

But it’s also wonderful to create content showing new ideas, further insight into your topic and giving different perspectives to your target audience.

Create New Offerings

This one is truly wonderful.

Because you can create offerings together, for example, something you both have qualities in. And the bonus is you can offer this as a larger package.

In summary

With a collaboration over competition approach to your business, you can better serve your target audience, create new opportunities and grow your business.

Are you in?

Over to you,

What are your thoughts? Have you embarrassed the power of collaboration?

About The Author

Photo of Gemma Lumicisi

Gemma’s the founder of Contently Driven.

She’s a copywriter and life coach. She teaches you how to write copy that sounds like you and how to be yourself truly.

Gemma’s business mission is to help more people be themselves in their business and life.

She helps women stop hiding, become intentional and create a life and business they love.

Website – www.contentlydriven.com

Group for tips – https://www.facebook.com/groups/727417801245179

Insta – https://www.instagram.com/contentlydriven/?hl=en

FB – https://www.facebook.com/contentlydriven

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gemma-lumicisi/

Instagram For Biz – It’s All In The Stories

Feb 15, 2021 | Advertising, Business growth, Content, Marketing, Social

When you go to Instagram (IG) do you head straight to stories? [My hands in the air] I DO! Reels might be the new kid on the block sure, but IG Stories is getting the most attention, and the perfect spot to be sharing branded business content.

Statistics (from 99 Firms) show that 500 million users now use Instagram Stories every day and one-third of the most-viewed Instagram stories are from businesses.

As a graphic designer and business owner, I have been helping businesses showcase themselves using Instagram stories, yet I see so many underutilising the platform. Your social media and visuals represent your business and customers will ‘judge’ you (and your competitors) based on that. Having a set of pre-designed Instagram stories will help you plan your content (save time) and build a connection with your community.

Are Instagram Stories Really That Good For Business?

Stories are great for interacting with your community and sharing your knowledge, with behind the scenes, off the cuff tags, shares, interest. And it’s also the space to tell the world about your business and the value you add to their life/business.

By sharing eye-catching branded content, you create brand awareness & encourage engagement with your audience, and in turn this will give you a greater chance of appearing in your followers’ feeds and help you stay front of mind for when they’re ready to buy.

It may sound like a lot of work (and a little daunting) but the time you put into your social will be lessened by developing evergreen content, that can be used on a repeated cycle. It’ll bring value to your stories, to your audience and it will stop you from feeling flustered about what to post.

Making The Most Of Instagram Stories For Business

Develop a series of graphics that showcase your point of difference and what you stand for [eg. eco friendly, deep dive discovery, vegan specialist, selfcare expert, holistic approach]. Show how you solve your community’s problem through your unique services, products and the experience you provide.

This can all be shared through a collection of evergreen stories which are key sentences representing your business and its values. Sharing branded testimonials backs this up and if possible, include an image or video of a client sharing the testimonial. If you have a lead magnet or freebie create a graphic for your stories that showcase the value to your followers.

Share graphics that contain original imagery including your products, you and your team, as this humanises your brand and people want to know who they’re doing business with. How regularly should you share evergreen stories is up to you, I say weekly, just remember not everyone will see your story and you can rotate between evergreen content shared.

Remember to always think creatively to grab consumers’ attention. One way to do this is utilising music and basic animation libraries in apps like Canva, InShot & within Instagram. If this all seems too time-consuming work with a designer [hello] and copywriter [Hello] to craft the right keywords and graphics, showcasing the quality service you offer and your point of difference.

Video Is KING! Use It Creatively

I know this might sound daunting but stay with me. There are ways to get around video shyness and still share video content. You can use a mix of photo’s, graphics & a little pre-recorded video and or voice over, and stitch these together. The free version of InShot will allow you to trim and adjust speed of content.

To maximise your story time on display, ensure your final video length is 60 seconds [Instagram will let you publish 4 frames at a time in stories [15 seconds x4].

Here are some examples of what you could video in a creative way:

share how to style an outfit, a room a product in it’s environment.
demonstrate a task.
share the environment you work in.
explain how or why to use products you use to service clients needs.
share customer experiences through their eyes,
take your audience on a journey in your story.
share behind the scenes timelaps in your field.
share client unboxing, receiving goods.

Encourage Engagement And Create Conversation On Stories

Interact with your community by asking your followers questions (using the Instagram question icon) relative to the problem you are solving and gather feedback to build more content, engage by responding in direct messaging and develop connections with members of your community.

Create polls that are fun, informative and connected to events in the calendar year. This will help boost your ranking with followers who engage with your content and identify who you’re connecting with.

Must-Dos On Instagram Stories

Design in Story dimensions (1080 x 1920 pixels) and utilise vertical space.

Keep wording short and sharp with business tags or instructions ‘link in bio’ or ‘new post’. Make it easy for your audience to find out more and access your goodies.

Download evergreen stories to your phone. Save to a folder for ease of access and for posting on the go.

When you upload evergreen content, save it to an appropriate Instagram Highlight. To do this, click on the love heart icon when viewing the story and select the highlight you wish to save the story in for safe keeping. This allows followers and newbies to your page to access this information easily, without leaving the platform. Highlights is another great space to showcase your business and the value you add.

Add a compact logo when sharing stories on the go (png file format is best if the logo requires transparent background). You want people to recognise your brand easily which will help you stay front of mind.

Don’t feel overwhelmed creating a set of evergreen stories, chip away at one a week and slowly build content that you can reuse.

Evergreen Stories Build Trust

When sharing evergreen stories on a regular basis, you are building trust with your community, you will be front of mind when the time is right for your audience to reach out to collaborate. Creating social media graphics is time consuming, so by building evergreen stories you’re using the platform strategically adding value to your business.

I hope you find this article helpful. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic and what you found most useful. Feel free to connect with me below.

About the Author

Photo of graphic designer Kelly Mevel

Kelly Mevel is a designer with 20 years experience working in the graphic design industry. She has worked with brands such as Ikea, New West, Nike, Australia Post, Giordano and Target Australia in her corporate days.

Since starting her own business she works with amazing small businesses who are ready to invest and extend their brand story and social media profile. She has been working with service and product-based business including copywriters, child psychologists, interior stylist and more.

She designs with purpose, creating visuals that engage with her client’s communities and further develop a brand story that can be carried through all the business’ visual touchpoints.

To connect with Kelly go to:

www.instagram.com/jamcreatives_

www.jamcreatives.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/jamcreative8

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-mevel-2905091a0/

*Statistics: https://99firms.com/blog/instagram-stories-statistics/

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