Unpacking Their Value for your Small Business Social Media Planning

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, we are all constantly seeking creative ways to engage with our audience and boost our brand visibility. One strategy that has gained popularity in recent years is using awareness days, also known as national or international observances or holidays as part of social media content planning. But are these awareness days just hype, or do they offer genuine value to small businesses? Let’s take a deeper look into this topic to understand their potential impact on your social media strategy.

The Power of Awareness Days

Awareness days are designated occasions that draw attention to specific causes, issues, or themes. They vary from the well-known International Women’s Day and Earth Day to more niche observances like National Coffee Day or National Pizza Day. These days offer several benefits for small businesses:

1. Content Relevance: Awareness days provide a timely opportunity to create content that resonates with your audience. Aligning your social media posts with relevant days can make your brand more relatable and engaging.
2. Trend Relevance: Joining the conversation on trending topics can help your content gain more traction. By participating in awareness days, you can tap into existing online discussions and reach a broader audience.
3. Showcasing Values: Many awareness days revolve around social or environmental causes. Participating in such observances can showcase your business’s values and commitment to making a positive impact.

The Potential Downsides

While awareness days offer several advantages, it’s crucial to consider the potential downsides before diving in headfirst:

1. Oversaturation: Some days have become so popular that they risk oversaturation. Your content might get lost in a sea of similar posts unless you find a unique angle to stand out.
2. Relevance: Not all awareness days will align with your business. Posting on unrelated days can come across as disingenuous or opportunistic. It’s vital to select the ones that resonate with your brand and target audience.
3. Planning Challenges: Keeping up with awareness days can be time-consuming. Small business owners often have limited resources, so planning and creating content for numerous days can be overwhelming.

Maximising the Value of Awareness Days

Here are some tips to ensure you don’t fall into the hype trap:

1. Content Strategy: Prioritise the days that align with your brand’s values and resonate with your audience. Develop a content strategy that outlines how each awareness day fits into your overall social media plan.
2. Creativity: Instead of simply acknowledging the day, find creative ways to participate. Share unique stories, create engaging visuals, and provide valuable insights related to the observance.
3. Consistency: Don’t limit your engagement to awareness days alone. Maintain a consistent social media presence throughout the month. Awareness days should complement your regular content, not overshadow it.
4. Measure Impact: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your awareness day posts. This data can help you assess the actual impact of these observances on your brand’s online presence.
5. Quality Over Quantity: Focus on a select few awareness days that genuinely matter to your audience. It’s better to create high-quality, meaningful content for a few of the days than to participate in many with shallow posts.

So, in my opinion, awareness days are not just hype. They can be valuable tools for a small business owner looking to enhance their social media strategy. However, the key lies in strategic planning and thoughtful execution. By aligning your content with the right days and consistently delivering meaningful messages, you can use these days to boost your brand’s visibility, connect with your audience, and showcase your business’s commitment to important causes. Remember, it’s not about the quantity of awareness days you participate in; it’s about the quality of your engagement.

If you need help with planning out your monthly content, why not consider booking a Social Media Content Planning Session with me over Zoom?  Email me at karen@littleacornmarketing.co.uk for more information.

 

*image credit canva Nov 2023

‘Content’ is such a buzzword these days – it is a concept surrounded by myths and anecdotes. There isn’t a small business owner who hasn’t been told “you need good content.”

Yet, when you dig a bit deeper you find that ‘you need good content’ creates a lot of confusion and anxiety and, as a result, no one really understands why they need good content or, even, what is really meant by ‘content.’

So over the next few blogs, let me unpick that for you. Let me show you how to Make Content Work For You.  And let’s start with the absolute basics.

What is Content?

Google the word content and you get a range of definitions (depending on how you pronounce it). The two that are closest for our purposes are:

• the material dealt with in a speech, literary work, etc. as distinct from its form or style.
• information made available by a website or other electronic medium.

Frankly, I’m not mad keen on either of these. They don’t really help you work out what you need to do, so I’ve found a better one. Content is:

anything which adds value to an audience

Okay, we’ve got a definition – and we’ll be coming back to that in a moment to make it more meaningful for you, but let’s pause for a moment and consider another really important question

Why does content matter?

There are broadly four reasons that content can help you if you are in business or running a charity or wanting to make a statement for any other reason:

• Visibility: by producing a regular supply of content, you are showing up to show that you have something to say in your market
• Attracting new customers: people may not know that your product exists so you have an opportunity to explain hat you do and how you do it in a way that appeals to them
• Differentiation: This is really important in markets which are over-crowded. Why should someone chooses you over all the rest? Answer: Because of the value you offer – and content is explaining that.
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), if someone searches online, the more new content you have the higher up the list you appear

So, we have what and we have why. Now let me debunk the three biggest myths about content so you can start to think about how content can work for you.

Myth 1: My content has to appeal to everyone.

Your audience is unique to you, so tailor your content to that audience. Don’t try to make it universal . By doing that you risk alienating the very audience you sought to cultivate. For example, if you’re writing a computer guide aimed at IT experts but waste time on basics, you risk the expert audience getting bored and switching off even though they should be your primary concern. They want to the nitty-gritty technical stuff. And yes, your average home IT user will be baffled – but that doesn’t matter.

What does matter is knowing who your audience is. And it won’t just be your customers.

Let’s take another example. Let’s say you make printed football shirts for youth teams. In this case the audience is diverse. We have:

• Customer- The team manager who is buying shirts for his team
• Prospect- The manager of a team which needs new shirts.
• Supplier- Who has provide shirts in all colours and sizes
• Community- The people of town in which the team plays
• End user- The children who wear the shirts
• ‘Connected users’- The parents who have to wash the shirts
• Staff- Your team who take orders, make and pack the shirts
• Regulators- The Football Association who have rules about football strip

Your situation will have just as many potential audiences and many more. So think it through and identify them.

Myth 2: Value is about money

If content is anything that adds value to your audience you could be forgiven for thinking that’s all about financial value. In this context, however, value is anything which your audience might find useful. Let’s take the previous example of football shirt printing and think what value you can add to your audience.

• Entertain- Feature videos of football being played, football memes, the latest scores, etc.
• Give ideas for other users- Maybe some users don’t play football, but the shirts look good off the pitch too.
• Inform- Show the ‘connected users’ how to wash the shirts so the colours don’t run
• Educate- Demonstrate what the manufacturing process for the shirts is
• Support- Post images of the local teams to help them find sponsorship
• Align – Show what your values are as a business so others with similar values feel a connection

It is always worth working out what are the different values you can bring for your own specific audiences. Knowing what they want will really pay off.

Myth 3: Content is written

Content is anything which adds value to the audience.

It can, of course, be written in blogs, social media posts or articles, but it can also be:

• Audio– Podcasts, radio, songs
• Video– Facebook Live videos, Youtube clips, DVDs
• Visual – Photos, infographics, memes
• Personal – You in person at a networking event, training course or presentation

It can be Anything…. REALLY Anything

Going for a cup of coffee and a chat is content!!!

What you should be getting from this is that your skills are the basis of the content.

If you own a restaurant, your recipes and techniques are the content.

If you install kitchens, advice on adjusting doors is content.

If you’re a Content Alchemist, advice on developing content is content.

Now that we’ve gone through these myths, I hope you feel more confident to go out and produce your own content. You might even have gained some new ideas for your next content project. If you have, post them below – I’d love to hear them.

 

Want more help with your content. Visit my blog for more hints and tips.