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When you are starting a business online, or completely new to marketing, it can seem like an overwhelming task. Most people wonder how they might fit into a seemingly jam-packed online world. However, there is always room for new fresh talent and that is where you come in! Whether you’ve got an offline business that needs to move online, or a new online business, I’ve got some tips below to suit either.

Offline Business – Shop/Market etc

If you are an established offline business who wishes to move online there are a few assessments you can make before changing. By making these assessments you will be able to build possible profiles of expected customers to your social media pages and market to them:

What is your current brand personality?

How do you currently present yourself? Are you a fun, quirky business who interacts with their clientele on a daily basis. Are you a local small business, known in the community and supported? Or are you a brand that is busy in a town and doesn’t have a ‘community’ that you’re aware of? Make a list of where you feel your business currently stands.

What type of business do you have and who is your usual audience/consumer?

Consider the age profile, gender, possible interests, whether they are parents, professionals, teens etc. Build some sample profiles based on these. You will use this to decide how to market to them via your content and imagery. If you research what these groups like and dislike, it will help you to understand what they will need from you.

What do you want your tone of voice to be?

Tone of voice is very important with a brand. Your tone of voice can be consistently humourous. Ryan Reynolds is a fantastic example of this, check out any of his Aviation Gin advertisements. You may like to show your brand stands for activism and adopt a serious tone. Ben and Jerry’s ice cream brand do this. While their product is colourful and delicious, they use their platform to stand up for Black Lives Matter, global climate change, amongst many other issues worldwide. If you decide your brand will do similar, this will show your audience where you stand on day-to-day issues and you will attract a like-minded audience.

You can be colourful, stylish and personal like the beautiful Irish jewellery designer, Chupi. Her marketing team do stunning work with consistent branding throughout and a great eye for detail. You can decide to be inclusive and appeal to specific niche audiences. everymum.ie would be highly community based. They build their brand using community voices to connect with parents, mums particularly, through copywriting or posts led by members. This is a great way to get the community involved and have your brand name spread!

Online Business

If you are already online and finding it difficult to get established, assess the following and see if there is more that you can do:

Fresh Content

Yes, I know it’s a lot of work to put content out every week, nevermind every day, but that is key to keeping your audience reading and engaged. Blogs and videos going out nearly every day will keep your brand name and logo top of peoples minds. Check out the analytics on your site once a week and know your best performing articles. Rewrite the best performing articles, add a good image and republish it once it is up-to-date. As a result, when you are re-posting it, it will look different but still has the same attention grabbing heading and content inside.

Read Next: 5 Ways to Boost Your Content

Content Strategy

Content strategy is key to an online business. All content including copywriting, video, imagery and the overall website should be assessed regularly. Planning the content strategy in the overall yearly business strategy is good practice. Then revisiting it every quarter should help you know where you stand and where your business should go. Each month maybe take a day and flesh out your content. This is great practice and social media or content calendars are great for keeping track of what you’ve planned for the month.

Having an online business is not an easy task but it is hugely rewarding. Once the work is put in and kept up-to-date you will reap the benefits! If you would like to discuss any of the above, feel free to contact me at info@ciaramorgan.com or book in for a free 20 minute consultation.

Featured Image credit: Brooke Cagle/Unsplash.com