If you want your business to thrive and grow you need to invest time and money into great marketing and an integral part of your marketing is content creation.
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Generating ideas and producing quality content can be time consuming and it can be difficult to know what and when to post. Social media presence is vital for your business to thrive but your posts need to be engaging and relevant if you want to see results.

What is Content Creation?
When we talk about content creation we are specifically discussing written or visual content (images or video) based on topics that would appeal to your target audience. This content could be in the form of a blog, email marketing, social media posts, websites and landing pages.

All content needs to be relevant and interesting - your aim is to build engagement and provide information to your followers/audience.

Social Media
Creating content for social media requires a bit of thought - each platform has its own rules, e.g. Twitter has a character limit if you have the free account and to get the most out of Instagram you need to make sure your images are at the correct size/aspect ratio.
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Websites & Landing Pages
Landing pages are a great tool to have in your digital marketing strategy - the main purpose of a landing page is to convert visitors into leads or leads into customers.

Unlike a standard website page, a landing page is a stand alone page without all the distractions of links and navigation, its sole aim is to collect contact information from your visitor in exchange for something such as an offer, ebook etc.

Content for landing pages needs to be compact, concise and have the all important call to action!

Email Marketing
Newsletters and email marketing are a great way to engage with your customers, let them know about what’s happening in your business and share personalised offers.

Why you Need a Content Creator?
If you struggle to come up with amazing content for your social media channels, blogs or email newsletters then take heart- you are not alone. Running a business is hard enough without trying to keep up with digital marketing and the need to keep feeding the beast known as the algorithm.

• Content creators are able to think objectively about your business- something it’s difficult to do if you’ve nurtured your business from scratch. They will be able to see the weak points in your marketing plan and come up with creative solutions.
• They will do the research for you - finding out what your audience is interested in to ensure the content you post is relevant to your followers.
• A dedicated social media manager can free up your precious time by handling your social media for you- from writing great content to scheduling it for the perfect time to gain maximum engagement.
• They can come up with creative ideas for amazing content.
• They can handle the technical side of adding content to your website, across different social media platforms and producing email newsletters.
• They will be able to ensure a consistent tone and voice is used in all your content- strengthening your brand and building trust with your customers.

Do you struggle to come up with exciting, interesting and relevant content?
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Contact us to find out how we can help.

You can’t have failed to have noticed the buzz surrounding the recent launch of ChatGPT. Initial excitement may have waned a little but with version 4 recently made available to paying subscribers, it is certainly making its mark. Its release took the world by storm as us mere humans watched in awe as the AI spat out written content based on carefully constructed prompts.

First thoughts for those who rely on creative jobs in order to earn a living may well have been ones of dread and fear, afterall, if AI can write content or produce images in a fraction of the time it takes a human, is there any need for the human to have this job at all?

It’s a complex question and the answer will no doubt change as time goes on and AI becomes even more intelligent. But, for now at least, although AI is absolutely a tool that can aid the creative processes of many jobs it is a tool that still requires the human touch.

Using AI For Content Creation
Struggling for ideas for content creation? It can be hard to be able to keep up with the constant need to post content and AI is a great tool to help when you’ve got writer's block. Just one prompt can yield multiple ideas for content, saving you valuable time and allowing you to get on with the writing/creating part.

With design and art, AI can create ideas you might not have thought of. Instead of seeing AI as a way of producing the finished piece, it could become more a part of the ideas process, speeding up the initial ‘thinking’ part before you execute the final design.
AI is a great tool that is advancing at great speed. But we need to be sure what we are posting or creating is safe and legal.

Plagiarism
One obvious yet often ignored problem with using AI for content creation is the risk of plagiarism. If you ask a chat bot to write you a blog it will scrape content from multiple sources and will not provide citation. If you choose to write content in this way you run the risk of plagiarising published work.

Misinformation
Because AI doesn't provide evidence or citations you have no way of knowing if what it has written is actually true. We are all painfully aware of the dangers of misinformation so to avoid posting false information it is very important to check anything written using AI.

Content creation is a huge part of a brand’s identity. In order to build a loyal customer base, brands rely on having a unique voice and message that conveys their brand ethos. If this voice isn’t consistent or the messages don’t match the brand values then customers will lose trust.

In order for AI to produce unique content it needs to be told how to do it. No matter how good AI is it still needs to be trained to be able to write in the unique voice of an individual business. For small businesses in particular, that unique voice and message is what will set you apart from your competitors.
When creating content and designs for your business you need to ensure you are delivering:

• Personal touch
• Unique voice/message
• Stand out from competitors/big brands
  
  

This will help protect your brand and ensure your customers continue to put their trust in you and your business.

AI for Design
There has been a lot of backlash from artists and creators surrounding the training of the technology, as it scrapes images from the internet and mashes them together to answer the prompts. Artists rightly protest their work being used without consent or credit.

As well as potentially infringing copyrighted work there is also no way to copyright any work produced by AI- so even if it produces something you want to use as a logo for example, there would be nothing to stop anyone else using the same image for their logo.

Adobe’s hotly anticipated release of Firefly may answer some of those concerns as they have trained their technology on Adobe stock images, openly licensed content and public domain content where copyright has expired. In a bid to help creators produce great designs regardless of their skill levels, Adobe’s Firefly could be a tool that allows users to improve their working practices. It has to be noted that it is not currently possible to opt-out of data set training for content submitted to Stock, although Adobe do say they are looking at ways to make this a possibility in the future.

Personally, I’m a little worried that AI will make it harder to tell what is fact and what is misinformation eg. when doing web searches or reading ‘news’ on social media platforms.

AI is constantly evolving and is definitely here to stay, but for now, is it best used as a tool to help optimise our workflow to avoid running the risk of producing soulless and generic creative work.   And, if content is wholly written by AI do you think it should be credited as such so that readers can verify its accuracy?

Written by Louise Lockhart at Creative Remedy

If your relationship with Instagram is in need of a boost then now is the perfect time to spend some quality time getting to know how to nurture your Instagram account and cultivate the perfect partner for your business.

Take Time to Connect
Instagram is a great way to boost your brand and engagement- you can post photos and videos of products and services, interact with followers and gain insights into their preferences.

1. Listen to your audience Your followers and customers will all publish a wealth of content that gives you all the information you need to create a detailed picture of your customer.
2. Looking Good Videos are a fantastic way to showcase your products and services, you can upload tutorials and product demonstrations and get immediate feedback from your followers.
3. Communication is Key Posting regularly with interesting and relevant content will really boost your engagement and your followers will like and share your posts so you reach a wider audience.
   
4. Build Trust  Brand loyalty requires trust and Instagram is a perfect tool to do this.
   

Our Top Tips for Keeping the Love Alive
 
Keep it professional- A business account is free and will give you much needed insights to help you tailor your content and post it at the right time for maximum reach.
 
Show you care- Post regularly and consistently with interesting and relevant content and make sure it is clear and communicates well.
 
Get your Hashtags On- Use up to 30 hashtags in every post. Make sure they are relevant to the post and make sure you always add brand specific ones to your posts. Research the most popular hashtags relevant to your business and make a list specifically for you and your key products and services.
 
Sell Yourself- Make sure your profile has all the information about your business clearly describes what you provide or offer. Use a great profile picture and make sure you include your website url!
 
Stay true to yourself (and your brand)- You want to try and mirror your brand identity as much as possible so try and use similar colours, fonts and images as used on your website and branding. Be sure to keep your voice and tone consistent too. Only use the best photos and videos, Instagram is a visual platform so use it to your advantage.
 
Share the love- Actively engage with your followers. Your best advocates might already be posting amazing content that is relevant to your business. Consider collaborations for maximum return for both parties.

Give yourself a makeover
Your LinkedIn profile is the first thing your new contacts will see so make sure you stand out for all the right reasons. First impressions really do count! Be sure to update regularly adding any new skills and accomplishments. Don’t be shy, make sure you include a picture to truly personalise your profile, it will make you appear much more approachable.
 
Show your business some love
By creating a LinkedIn Company page you are giving your customers and contacts all the information they need to learn about your business, your products and the services you offer. It’s free for anyone to set up company pages and having one really will benefit your LinkedIn profile.
 
Share the love
The more connections you have on your Company Page the more people will see your published updates. With InMail Don’t just connect to anyone, make sure you know them or have at least some synergy. Be sure to add any employees as they are far more likely to share any posts you make. Promote your company page on your website, in your emails and blogs to help try and encourage more people to follow you.
 
Communication is key
It’s easy to keep in touch with your contacts especially using LinkedIn messaging. You can use it to organise meetings and keep in touch with your connections. Sometimes a friendly chat is all it takes to reconnect with a business acquaintance.
 
LinkedIn is just as important as all other social media platforms, in fact in the last year it has seen huge growth with lots more people engaging on here daily. In platform advertising could transform it further. Show it some love and reap the benefits!

Why do I need a website?
Think about why you want a website (not just because everyone else has one) and then think about what you want to achieve from it. Everyone wants to sell products or services and inform their customer and attract new ones, but other than these reasons why do you want a website?

The answer to this question will inform all your choices about how to develop your website. Always refer back to this when making every decision, having your target audience in mind.

An example
I would like a website to be able to display my finished designs and it needs to let people sign-up for my newsletter.

Q: What colour should my website be?
A: Who is my target audience and how can I appeal to them through my choice in colour?

A good plan to a website that succeeds is broken down into four parts:

1. Website Research
2. Website Build
3. Planning
4. Marketing

1. Website research

• Your target audience
• Your competitors
• Search engine marketing (SEO)

Before you start any business or even begin to think about your website, take a look at your target audience, your competitors and this is the time to be thinking about your search engine optimisation. Any keywords relevant to your industry and service should feature in the written content of your website.

2. Website build

• Navigation
• Content
• Structure (map/tree)

The website structure form the outline build of your website, this includes your navigation (how many pages to feature on your website). A tree or spider diagram can be drawn up to map out all the pages on your website. Your website content needs to be identified, from text to images and other media such as video.

3. Planning

• Design
• Functionality
• Specific requirements

People often make the mistake of starting with the design and shifting the content around to match. A better way is to collate all your content, develop the structure then think about the design when you know of everything that needs to be included. Functionality is anything that has a function for example email newsletter sign-up or a contact form. Specific requirements covers anything that isn’t strictly off-the-shelf e.g. a message board or a booking facility.

4. Marketing

• Publish
• Promote
• Measure your success

You publish your website and promote it through networking, word of mouth, on your business card, you direct people to it through emails but how do you know what content people are looking at and where they are spending their time? We install Google Analytics on every website we build, it is a FREE tool from Google and helps you find out much more than you will ever need to know!

Have you found any useful tools that could help others, plan, organise or build their website? Share your finds here: