Embracing the new: How to identify new communication channels

written by Aimee Stammers

Social media is forever changing; both in the way we use it and the evolving nature of the platforms available. It’s a great supportive tool for engaging your audience, but it should only ever be part of your marketing strategy. Now, more than ever, is the time to embrace alternative means of communicating with your potential customers because there are so many different ways you can gain exposure and build awareness; some of which you may find more enjoyable than Instagram!

The best strategies encompass multiple routes. The key is to identify those that give you access to your target audience AND allow you to feel confident and relevant when using them - there’s no point focusing on strategies that you dislike or find frustrating as you just won’t use them effectively or consistently.

STEP ONE: Define your audience

Every business will have sub-categories of potential customers because people are attracted to your brand for multiple reasons. You need to identify all those different reasons; to understand precisely why people want and need your product and why they would specifically purchase from your brand. Essentially, this comes down to really knowing your brand values and assets.

STEP TWO: Tailoring your message

Curate your communication based on the knowledge of your audience to suit a) their reason for wanting or needing your product b) their current knowledge of your brand, and c) the way in which they consume or use your products.

Then, consider how you can reach these multiple audiences in the real world, away from social media. Focus on connective interests, daily rituals, lifestyle and environment to seek alternative ways to engage.

FOR EXAMPLE: With client Juice HQ, who deliver nutritious cold pressed juices to customer’s doorsteps, we identified their audience could be broken down into three main categories; each using the products and service for slightly different reasons and with a varying understanding of the product’s benefits and the company’s ethos and service.

Therefore, each sub-audience demanded a slightly different message requiring specific, relevant route of delivery, resulting in a strategy of newsletters, collaborations and flyers to complement their on-going social media efforts.

STEP THREE: Meet your audience

Lockdown saw people glued to their phones, and online was everything, but now everything has shifted. People are enjoying meeting in real life and valuing actual experiences, so it’s vital, (and much easier) that you now get out into the world and meet your customers face-to-face. Be it at big national events such as trade shows, design fairs and exhibitions or via smaller, more niche ideas such as craft markets, pop-up shops and retail experiences.

With a careful research and thoughtful execution even the smallest of activities can reap rewards. On the most basic level being at an event allows you to advertise your brand and for people to see your products. Attending or hosting an event isn’t only about brand visibility, crucially meeting your customers allows you to learn more about them; to really chat with and engage your audience person to person.

Plus, demonstrating in person the benefits and physical attributes of your product, to be able to personally convey the passion and dedication you invest in your brand, and ultimately the true value of your product is the best way to build those brand relationships.

FOR EXAMPLE: Natural handmade soap brand Evergreen Soap Company was founded just prior to the pandemic, they had a clear idea of their brand values and knew their product was well received, and so they wanted to expand their audience base.

Continued...Together we created a plan that identified multiple different customer groups based on their brand values, and in the past 6 months they have attended eco-festivals, craft and design fairs and collaborated with relevant businesses, promoting their products, business and brand to strategically targeted suitable new customers to a great effect.

“It has been so great for us to get out there generally and meet old and new customers. It’s amazing how many people have already seen us / heard about us / bought our soap, so great to connect on a personal level.” Alastair, Evergreen Soap Company.

STEP FOUR: Get creative!

There are many ways you can present your brand to target audiences without actually having to be there. Seek out opportunities to showcase your product, or display your logo, or demonstrate the benefits, the uses and values of your brand in a real and tangible way. Essentially, look for ways to get your audience and customers involved and experience your product, process or passion.

FOR EXAMPLE: A local music coach created a branded stand for air guitars right outside a venue that often held live music events - it was a cool, funny and memorable way to put their name in front of interested people.

Joining forces with other businesses that already engage your target audience can also be effective if you look for ways that will promote shared values and interest or benefit the consumer.

This could be as simple as offering a sample as a gift in a goodie bag or sharing space for a pop-up event. Or, perhaps there’s an opportunity to collaborate on content via photoshoots or articles for posters, websites and newsletters.

Content will always be a fundamental part of your marketing and newsletters are a really powerful way to connect to your customers. Not only are they a direct route to people already familiar with your brand, but they allow you to sell to previous customers, making it easy for fans of your products to buy again and again.

FOR EXAMPLE: Creative Studio Create 98 wanted to increase their communication, but they were unsure as to the best route and how to ensure their messaging was relevant. We devised a newsletter strategy that allowed them to consistently update their large database of the many courses they offered in a way that was both easy for the reader to consume and action, and straightforward for the business to produce, resulting in a weekly marketing schedule that saw a great uptake.

Social media will always be a useful tool for communicating with your audience, but it should be used in conjunction with other channels that you control and bring you direct contact with the people that buy your products. Your marketing needs to get people looking, thinking and remembering your brand and the more formats you use to do that, the better your outreach will be, the better your customer relationships will be and ultimately, the better your sales will be.

WEBSITE: aimeestammers.com

INSTAGRAM: @aimeestammers

PR: What’s best for your business?

Hiring someone to do your PR can feel like a big step for a small business. As things shift into the online environment where there is a platform or an app for pretty much everything, with that often comes the (self) expectation that we can ‘do it all’. And generally, yes - we can do a lot. We can take pretty good pictures with our phones, chat openly and honestly on Instagram about the story behind the brand, and we can interact with our peers on LinkedIn, but with the choice of channels and platforms available, it is easy to misdirect energy.

Whether you feel you can manage PR in-house or hire a PR service to fill in the gaps on your PR skills, it is clear that PR related activities go beyond what most small brands think.

“Too often people think of PR as publicity, or press coverage, when actually PR considers where to tell your story based on your target audience. It includes speaking engagements, launch strategy, guest posting, social media, email newsletters, blogs, podcasts and collaborations and partnerships. So, when it comes to choosing where to focus, it’s worth considering what feels most enjoyable and easiest to maintain, because consistency is key to getting PR results.”, says Bridie Hinson, founder of Why You Create.

So how do you know what’s best for your business? If your budget is very limited and you have time to learn and do most of the legwork yourself, then a PR subscription option might be for you.

Companies such as PR Dispatch provide self-learning PR platforms where you can learn and feel supported by the community. Focusing predominantly on product placement features, the team behind this platform helps you gain exposure online and in print.

If, however, you need specific support and expertise, then working with a PR agency might be a better solution for you. For interiors brands, Byrne Comms is a PR and marketing agency working across the interior, design, craft architecture and luxury lifestyle sector. The agency specialises in developing unique brand stories and working with the team delivers press feature results in highly respected mainstream and industry press, both online and in print.

For lifestyle brands (fashion, home, beauty) there are endless options and PR service providers available to you, but Platform Creative stands out for us. They specialise in developing brand exposure predominantly through editorial content and storytelling, and therefore deliver results associated with such press features. As with everything else these days, there is also the in-between. If you only need to learn how to create your own PR strategy, then hiring a PR consultant for a one-off session might be for you. One of them is Why You Create who works with creative businesses helping them to learn PR strategy.

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Pr Service Providers

PR Dispatch prdispatch.com

IG @prdispacth

Byrne Communications byrnecomms.com

IG @byrnecomms

Platform Creative platform-creative.com

IG @platform_creative_

Why You Create whyyoucreate.com

IG @whyyoucreate

STUDIO/ESTILA studioestila.com

IG @studioestila