Expanding Your Reach on the Internet
EXPANDING YOUR REACH ON THE INTERNET
Here at Catch Creative, we understand that the first hurdle for any business is brand visibility and recognition. By implementing the right techniques the benefits of the internet can help your business reach its audience effectively. Here are some simple steps to start increasing your brand recognition online.
• Targeting Your Audience
Firstly, it is important to identify your target audience. It is impossible to reach everyone effectively. Trying to reach everyone will mean you will inevitably miss the consumers most likely to want to reach you. After identifying the demographics (age, gender, occupation, etc.) you would like to reach, figure out how they use the Internet: what they use it for, which social media platforms and kinds of content are their favourite.
• Identify and Create Content
Once you’ve identified your target audience and what kinds of things they would like to see and share, you can decide what kinds of content you’d like to produce for them. Various studies have shown these kinds of content to be received well: infographics, quizzes, images, news, lists, interviews.
Infographics can be difficult and expensive to make, so those may be ambitous, unless your team has a graphic designer with the time to research and create them. Quizzes from other sources that are relevant to your brand can be shared, and images that are on brand are always more engaging than plain text. Just make sure you have the legal rights to an image (Google can filter image results by “labeled for reuse”). News articles are one of the most shared kinds of content on the internet, especially on Facebook and Twitter. Acting as an informant for your audience could improve your image of reliability and reputation. Just be sure that the news you’re sharing is from a credible source and does not include incorrect facts (this could damage your reputation). A “Top Ten” or “Best Of” list is always well received. If you can craft one and put it on your blog it can direct traffic there and see views build up on both platforms. Finally, interviews with team members, professionals, or pleased clients are always a solid, reliable testimony and again improves your reputation.
You can also recycle old content you’ve already created. Maybe it was only posted on Facebook, and you can find a way to format it for Twitter and Instagram. Try to update old content with new information or by focusing on a different aspect of it. Every piece of content tells multiple stories. For example, a short video clip saying, “Have A Great Day” over a cityscape could have originally been posted to send a motivational message to followers. Some time later it could be recycled to serve as an example of one of the best places to get video footage of a city.
As a general consideration, audiences tend to enjoy insightful or entertaining content the most. This is why infographics and news articles do well; they provide perspective on an industry. Images, videos, and quizzes can engage a viewer’s attention and perhaps bring a smile to their face or a question to their mind, encouraging them to dig deeper, maybe starting with your website.
There are so many kinds of content, and if you work hard and get creative, you can find content that is well within your means to make. It is fun to see that content succeed on the Internet.
• Organise
Deciding which pieces of content go on which social media or Internet platform is important. Some mediums lend themselves better to specific platforms and others are fairly universal. For instance, a photograph is pretty universal which a video will probably do best on Facebook, as people in general have more time when they are scrolling there rather than Twitter or Instagram. This is not to say that you shouldn’t post a video on Twitter or Instagram, but perhaps to post a catchy, shorter clip from the video, and link to the full version to direct traffic to multiple platforms.
• Partner Up
There is a reason there are cliches like “two heads are better than one.” Teaming up with business partners can help you reach twice the number of people you usually would. Tagging a business or person you’ve worked with on Twitter or Facebook will draw their following to you, especially if they share the post and/or create their own post as well. Open communication and discussion of these activities and efforts with partners presents the most opportunity for expanding both organisation’s reach on the Internet.
• Track
Finally, track your progress. Facebook and Instagram have functions for business profiles to check the kinds of people they are reaching. Keep track of your analytics and identify areas for improvement. Pay attention to the kinds of posts that do well, and try to do more of those or modify them in ways that could maximise their reach even further. Also notice the kinds of people that share your posts, and see what other kinds of things they are sharing for inspiration.
• Bonus
If budget allows, you can boost posts on Facebook for not too much money. Choose the posts you like the most or are the most proud of and take advantage of modern technology!
Remember, try to be as creative and original as possible, while staying true to your brand and message. Combining strategy, authenticity, and trying new things is the magic balance for a successful Internet presence.
If there are any tips or tricks you have known to be helpful, please contribute to the conversation and share them with us! Tweet at us @catch_creative.
info@catch21.co.uk | 0207 250 8308 | 07968094349
Catch Creative, Can Mezzanine, 49-51 East Road, London, N16AH
Catch21 limited trading as Catch Creative, Company no : 07584788
