Tag: strategy

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Why Your Business Needs a Communications Strategy (and Not Just a Content Plan)

Guest blog by Joanne Parker from Joanne Parker Communications explaining the importance of a communications strategy.

Hands up, who has created a content plan for 2025?

If you have, you may be feeling quietly smug, safe in the knowledge that you know exactly what content you will create every week for the next month, six months, or even year.

Having such a plan in place is undoubtedly a great achievement, but without a communications strategy, you will likely miss a trick.

A content plan is not the same as a communications strategy. Yes, they’re related, but one without the other is like baking a cake without a recipe—you might end up with a cake, but it won’t be as light, airy and tasty as it could be.

Starting at the end

I often find the best way to think about strategy is to consider how you will know if your content plan is successful.

What are you going to measure?

Often, clients will say things like ‘awareness.’

Awareness of what? By whom? Where? When? With what message?

If you don’t have the answers to those questions, you could well be generating content for the sake of it.

What is a communications strategy?

Think of it as the big-picture plan that defines why you’re communicating, who you’re talking to, what you want them to do, and how you’ll measure success. It’s your guide to every piece of content, every campaign, and every conversation.

Why Isn’t a Content Plan Enough?

Here’s a scenario I see all the time. A business has a fabulous content plan. Posts are going out daily. The captions are witty, the graphics are slick, and the engagement is… well, it’s fine. But when I ask, “What’s the goal of all this?” I’m often met with blank stares or vague responses like, “To build awareness” or “To sell more.”

That’s where the problem lies. Without a strategy, your content is likely disjointed, inconsistent, or aimed at the wrong audience. You’re busy posting but not necessarily moving closer to your business goals. A strategy ensures every piece of content has a purpose, fits into the bigger picture, and helps you achieve measurable results.

Strategy First, Tactics Second

Imagine you’re planning a road trip. The content plan is your playlist, snacks, and stops along the way. But the communications strategy is the route you’re taking, the destination you’re heading to, and the map you’ll use to get there. Without it, you’re just driving in circles, hoping to stumble upon something interesting.

A good communications strategy answers these key questions:

  • Who are you talking to? Your audience isn’t “everyone.” Narrow it down. Are you speaking to busy parents, eco-conscious millennials, or CEOs juggling a million priorities?
  • What do you want them to do? Maybe it’s subscribing to your newsletter, booking a consultation, or changing their behaviour. Be specific.
  • Why should they care? This is where your messaging comes in. What problem are you solving, and why are you the best person to solve it?
  • How will you reach them? This is where the content plan comes in. Social media, email, blogs, videos—these are your tools, not your strategy.
  • How will you measure success? Metrics matter. Are you tracking clicks, sign-ups, sales, or something else? Without data, you’re flying blind.

Real-Life Example

Let’s say you run a boutique fitness studio. You might have a content plan that includes daily Instagram posts, weekly blog updates, and monthly email newsletters. Great! But without a strategy, your efforts might look like this:

  • Posting motivational quotes that don’t resonate with your audience.
  • Writing blogs about general fitness tips that don’t showcase what makes your studio unique.
  • Sending emails that don’t align with your upcoming promotions.

With a strategy, however, everything changes. You decide your target audience is busy professionals who want quick, effective workouts. Your key message becomes, “Fitness that fits your schedule.” Now, your Instagram posts focus on time-saving exercise tips, your blogs highlight success stories from working professionals, and your emails promote lunchtime express classes. See the difference?

The Benefits of a Communications Strategy

Here’s what a solid strategy can do for your business:

  • Clarity: You’ll know exactly what to say, to whom, and why.
  • Consistency: Your messaging will be cohesive across all channels, building trust with your audience.
  • Efficiency: No more wasting time on content that doesn’t serve your goals.
  • Impact: Every piece of communication will move you closer to your business objectives.

Creating a communications strategy doesn’t have to be daunting. Start by revisiting your business goals. Then, think about your audience and what they need from you. Outline your key messages and choose the channels where your audience spends time. Finally, set measurable objectives so you can track your progress.

If you take the time to map out your strategy, your content will work harder and deliver results that meet your objectives, helping your business flourish and grow.

Joanne Parker helps you create your communications strategy

Joanne Parker

Joanne Parker Communications

Tel: 07596719763

Email: hello@joanneparkercommunications.com

Website: www.joanneparkercommunications.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-parker-writer/

Arrange a meeting: https://calendly.com/jpcomms/getting-to-know-you

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4 easy steps to help you plan your marketing for 2022

A planner that will help you plan your marketing for 2022.
Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels

When the Christmas scramble is over, it’s time to turn your attention to a shiny new year. (If you’re really organised, the best time to plan for the new year is before your Christmas marketing even starts.) If you plan your marketing on the hoof and never feel as if you’re quite on top of it, I’m here to help. Here are my 4 easy steps to help you plan your marketing for 2022.

Map your services to subject areas

This might sound like I’m stating the bleeding obvious, but your content needs to talk about stuff you want to sell. The key is to cover relevant topics in a way that shows your expertise but also lets your customers know that you understand them. You can keep things really broad at this stage and come up with general subject areas. For me, this part of the plan includes blogging, website copy and content marketing. Once you’ve come up with those, start to think about the challenges that your customers face that you can help with. Shifting your focus to the things that your audience cares about will help you come up with topics. Which brings me to…

Break the big ideas down into smaller topics

Within every big subject area, there will be loads of smaller subjects. If you’re a beauty therapist, one of your key areas might be skincare. Your audience will have different needs depending on their skin type, individual problems or even the time of year. Break them all down into the smallest topics you can think of. If you’re writing content for December, your customers might be looking for Christmas gift ideas, ways to protect their skin in the colder weather or how to look after their skin during the Christmas party season when they’re wearing make-up more often. The narrower your topic, the more likely it is to be useful to your audience.

Choose a monthly focus

Marketing is pointless if it isn’t consistent. (You’ve probably heard me say that before.) We learn by repetition, and studies suggest that someone needs to see your message at least 7 times before it sinks in. When you choose a monthly focus for your marketing, it means that every piece of content sends the same core message. Even if your followers don’t see everything you share, the message sinks in, and they understand what you offer. It also makes it easier for you to plan your marketing each month because everything comes back to the same central focus. It also means that you can use my next tip much more easily.

Repurpose your blog

A blog is a wonderful piece of content because it’s endlessly reusable. You can take each blog post and break it down into individual tips to share on social media. You can use each tip more than once, creating different types of content. That could include image posts, stories, Reels or other kinds of video just for starters. Look at your analytics to work out what your audience likes and try out new things to see what reaction you get. It saves you time because you don’t have to constantly plan new marketing content or write new words for each individual post. Don’t worry about repeating yourself because no one sees everything you share.

Would you like to create a new marketing plan and brand-new content? I can help with that. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Alternatively, sign up for my mailing list here, and I’ll send you a free copy of my eBook ’50 blog topic ideas for your business’ as a thank you.

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How you can create a call to action that works

Call to action

Whenever you create a new piece of content for your business, you need to think about what you want it to do. I know that might feel as if I’m asking you to analyse every single little thing that you put out there (and I am), but it doesn’t have to be a pain. Your marketing has one really simple job to do. It needs to tell customers that you exist and convince them that you have something they need. I know it’s not that easy in practice, but it gives you a good starting point. There are loads of ways that your content can achieve your aims. It could explain the benefits of what you offer, educate your audience or just raise awareness of your brand. Whatever you want each post to do, you need to follow it up with a good call to action. Here’s how it works.

What are your goals?

A good marketing strategy should be linked to your overall goals for your business. You can read more about that here if it’s something you struggle with. When you have a vision for where you want to get to you can work out what types of marketing will get you there. It’s often a combination of things, like increasing your brand recognition, but also getting more people signed up to your mailing list. You can create a variety of different types of content for different reasons.

Clear ideas about what you want your marketing to do can also help you decide what kind of call to action you need.

Why are you posting?

At a more granular level, think about each post and why you’re creating it. This might sound overly time-consuming, but it’s better than the alternative. Having a plan means you know what you’re going to post when. When you don’t plan, you might find yourself panicking because you haven’t posted in ages, and people might think you’ve gone out of business. It’s the sort of situation that ends up with a half-hearted post that doesn’t reflect your business or win you any new customers.

Thinking about why you’re posting helps you to create a call to action. It also helps you with the next question…

What do you want people to do next?

There are loads of different ways that people could respond to your posts. They could like, share, or comment on social media or sign up for your mailing list. They might subscribe to your YouTube channel or send you a connection request on LinkedIn. You could leave it to chance. The only problem with that is that people are lazy. If you ask them to do something, they might not do it. If you don’t ask, they definitely won’t. That’s where your call to action comes in. If you’re trying to widen your reach, ask them to like and share your post. Ask them a question to get people talking. Tell them what they’ll get out of signing up for your mailing list, and give them a nice big sign-up button to make it easier.

Sometimes it’s not just what you ask but how you ask it that counts. There are tools and resources that will help you craft a good call to action, but they’ll only take you so far. Getting to know your audience is the key to creating a good call to action. Over time, you’ll get to know what gets you a good response and what falls flat.

If you’d like a chat to find out how I can write for you or help you plan, you can book a call here.

Alternatively, sign up for my mailing list here, and I’ll send you a free copy of my eBook ’50 blog topic ideas for your business’ as a thank you.

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Why you need to track your marketing data

Track your marketing data

Yawn. I know what you’re thinking. I’ve gone from creating mildly entertaining blogs about writing and marketing to suddenly deciding to bore you all to death. Unless you’re someone who loves numbers and digging into an analysis of the figures. If you are, thank you. I love you for understanding figures and data because that may mean you’re an accountant, and people like me need people like you. However, this blog isn’t really for you. It’s for the people whose eyes glaze over when you mention analytics. If you don’t know why you need to track your marketing data, read on. I may never teach you to love analytics, but hopefully you’ll see the benefits.

Numbers tell the truth

When you create content for your business, you’re bound to have bits that you’re really pleased with and others that feel a bit half-hearted. Some things will get planned ahead, and others will be ad hoc depending on what’s happening that day. If you’ve shared something on social media and it gets lots of comments, you might feel that it’s done well. However, your impression of how a piece of content has performed might not be accurate. Only the numbers will give you the real picture.

For example, a blog post that appeared to gather tumbleweed when you posted it on Facebook might have brought lots of new visitors to your website. Unless you’ve got Google Analytics set up, you won’t know. It might have brought you a new customer or two, but you’ve written it off as a failure.

Where do you focus your attention?

The way you analyse your data can be quite individual, but there are a few common features. The easiest way to look at it is by focusing on your goals. For example, if you want to increase the number of customers you have, look at where the existing ones came from. Did someone get in touch because they saw a post that dealt with a problem they’re having? Have they read your blog and followed through to sign up for your email list? If you want to build your social media profile, look at where you’re getting the most likes, shares and comments.

Of course, this isn’t an exact science. People might lurk for ages without responding to your posts at all. Then, before you know it, you’ve got a new customer. However, looking at what your audience did respond to gives you a general idea of what’s going down well. It can also tell you when something hasn’t hit the mark. I once did a campaign aimed at travel agents. The responses I got were mostly from VAs. They were lovely people, but I’d clearly got the message wrong somewhere.

Marketing data saves you time

You might still be wondering what the point of all this marketing data analysis is. The simple truth is, scattergun marketing doesn’t work. Even more importantly, you don’t have enough time to post here, there, and everywhere, hoping that something connects.

Your marketing data will tell you if your customers are coming from Facebook, LinkedIn or somewhere else. They will tell you if your audience loves quick tips but hates memes. It may even tell you that the blog post you thought was a dead duck brought masses of traffic to your website. The point is, your marketing data will tell you what to do more of to achieve the result you want, so you can focus on the things that matter instead of guessing.

If you want some help looking at your data and developing a strategy that gets results, get in touch. Or if you’d just like some ideas for new things to post so that you can start tracking your numbers, just click on the image below.

Need some help?

If you’d like a chat to find out how I can write for you or help you plan, you can book a call here.

Alternatively, sign up for my mailing list here, and I’ll send you a free copy of my eBook ’50 blog topic ideas for your business’ as a thank you.

Further reading

How to analyse your Facebook page post metrics

How to get an overview of your Facebook Insights

An absolute beginner’s guide to Google Analytics from Moz

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Why you need to keep your marketing tone consistent

marketing tone consistent

This is another one of those subjects where I’ll forgive you for reading the title and saying huh? The question should really be – when you look back over the blogs and social media posts you’ve written, do they all sound like you? When you keep things consistent, you’ll get better results from your marketing and your life will get easier.

Getting to know you

The phrase ‘know, like and trust’ comes out of my mouth with alarming regularity. That’s because it’s one of the key things you should focus on as a small business owner. It’s rare for people to see an advert or a post and respond immediately. Generally speaking, you need to build a relationship with your audience.

You’re probably already well aware of the importance of consistent visual branding. Using the same colours and fonts makes it easy for your customers to spot you in their news feed. It’s the same with your copy. People stop and read because they know what to expect. If your posts are generally chatty and fun, a sudden run of bland and boring ones will be a real turn-off.

Easy outsourcing

Do you have brand guidelines? That sounds very formal, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s basically having a strong sense of how you want to come across. I use the same colours throughout my marketing and choose images that I hope my audience will like. I also aim to write in quite a natural and friendly way. All of my guidelines are in my head, but if I were working with a graphic designer, it would be quite easy for me to brief them on the style I’m aiming for. They could also get a pretty good idea from looking at my social media feeds.

You might not be ready to outsource your design or writing to anyone else yet. But having a clear idea about how you want to come across will really help when you are ready. You can send a brief that says, “I aim to appeal to professional women and want my copy to be chatty and friendly.” Simple, right?

Consistent shouldn’t = boring

The last thing you want is to send your customers to sleep. Just because they want to know what to expect from your posts doesn’t mean they all need to sound exactly the same. Just because you mostly talk about light-hearted things, it doesn’t mean you can’t throw in something serious now and again. If anything, it gives the serious stuff more impact.

You can keep things varied by telling your customers something surprising. Cover the same topic in different ways. If you find that all of your posts start with the same few words, try some different ones. As long as it still sounds like you, it’ll be fine.

Review your marketing

Are you good at keeping your tone consistent? To find out, one of the best things you can do is to review what you’ve already done. When you read your blogs or look through your social media feeds, do they all blend into one? Maybe you’ve gone in the opposite direction, and everything sounds as if it’s been written by a completely different person. This can be a problem in bigger businesses where content is often written by lots of different people, but sometimes it can just depend on what mood you were in when you wrote it. When you’ve finished, think about how you actually want to sound. What will work for your audience?

Need some help?

If you’d like a chat to find out how I can write for you or help you plan, you can book a call here.

Alternatively, sign up for my mailing list here, and I’ll send you a free copy of my eBook ’50 blog topic ideas for your business’ as a thank you.

Further reading

If you need to do some work to help you work out who your marketing needs to talk to, start here.

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How you can use brainstorming to boost your business

Brainstorming

I know, I know – brainstorming is such a corporate word, you’re probably squirming already.  However, I’m afraid to say that it’s the best I have for this particular subject.  ‘Putting your heads together’ and ‘having a strategy session’ where you ‘think outside the box’ are equally bad as potential entries in buzzword bingo, and ‘coming up with new ideas’ is just a bit pedestrian.  I quite like brain dumping, but that means something a bit different for me.  So, what am I on about? If you aren’t already using brainstorming in your business, it’s probably time to start.  Call it whatever you like, it’s the perfect way to boost your business.

Get a new perspective

It’s easy to get stuck in a bit of a bubble when you work by yourself.  You decide exactly what you spend your time on and how you approach things.  If business is good, then there’s a good chance you’re taking the right approach, but you run the risk of becoming complacent and failing to anticipate change or adapt to it.  If things aren’t going so well, you could struggle to work out why. You might have had comments from customers, but dismissed them as unreasonable. Or perhaps another business owner made a suggestion, but you rejected it as unhelpful.

That’s when brainstorming can be really helpful. When you get a group of people together, they’ll all have different viewpoints.  Some will do things in a completely different way. Others will have things in common with you but may still have something new to offer.  Sometimes just having a range of opinions can be useful.

Challenge yourself

Offering yourself up for feedback can be scary.  That’s why it’s crucial that you find the right group of people to work with.  Brainstorming only really works when you’re completely open about the challenge you’re having, and you can’t do that with people you don’t trust.  Equally, sometimes it’s better if they aren’t close friends.  Your friends are (hopefully) only interested in making you happy.  Someone you don’t know as well might come up with a solution that works, but that you won’t necessarily like.  It’s not because they’re being malicious. They just don’t know that you don’t like ringing people up.

If you find yourself resisting what is logically a good idea, it can be an opportunity for personal growth.  Ask yourself why you feel that way. Are you rejecting an idea because you genuinely don’t have the right skills or couldn’t learn them? Or are you making the decision based on fear?

Brainstorming is magic

I’m part of a coaching group where each member gets a spotlight session. You can focus on a particular challenge you’re facing in business, and the group works together to help you find ways to solve it.  A typical brainstorming session involves making suggestions for specific solutions.  The spotlight sessions are a bit different in that the other members ask questions to get you thinking about the problem in a different way.

However you do it, brainstorming can completely transform your thinking. I’ve had lightbulb moments from being asked a question that completely turned my problem on its head. I just needed to approach it with an open mind.

If you think you need a bit of brainstorming perspective in your business, there are all kinds of ways to start.  If you’re a member of a networking group, ask if any of the other members want to get together.  Search for small group coaching (or just a good coach) in your area.  Even Facebook groups can be a good place to ask questions and get lots of different suggestions.  Just choose carefully!

If you’d like some time with me brainstorming your content marketing strategy, it’s yours!  My in-person brainstorming sessions give you half a day to talk about your business and find ways to get your personality, knowledge and values out of your head and into your marketing. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Alternatively, sign up for my mailing list here, and I’ll send you a free copy of my eBook ’50 blog topic ideas for your business’ as a thank you.

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How to develop your content strategy

content strategy

You know that you need a content strategy which aligns with your goals (and if you don’t read my last two blogs here and here). Actually coming up with one is a whole different kettle of fish.  If you haven’t got the faintest idea where to start, you’ve come to the right place.  Your content needs to take your goals and targets and flip them on their head so that you see them from your customers’ point of view.  Simple right? Here’s how you can develop your content strategy to make it work.

Start with your customer

I know, if you’re a regular reader, you’ve heard this one before.  Identifying your target market should always include a bit of work to find their interests and media habits. Essentially, it allows you to put your content where it’s most likely to be seen.

It also allows you to concentrate on the types of content that your target audience will like. If they’re on Facebook, you could post anything from text to images to video. You might assume video will always win, but some people find them annoying and prefer written content. Try a few different things and see what works.

Choose your focus

I talked about focusing on one service or product in my last blog, and it can help you to get your content strategy organised. Having a focus helps you to decide what you’re going to post on any given day. You can break things down by looking at the different ways that your services benefit your customers.

For example, I write blogs for people for all sorts of different reasons. They might be too busy to do it themselves. Some are just better at talking than they are at writing. Others need a different perspective on their business.  Write a list of reasons why people might need to buy from you, and you can write a blog post about each of them.

Diversify your content

The reason that I always recommend blogging is that it gives you a good chunk of content to work with.  Sometimes, coming up with a content strategy is daunting because you think you need to come up with a huge variety of stuff.  You really don’t. If your content strategy includes a series of blog posts, you can repurpose them.

You wouldn’t want to read out a whole blog post on video (I hope). However, you could do a short video highlighting the key points or giving a demonstration. For example, if you sell skincare, you might write a blog about protecting your skin in winter. Then you can do a video showcasing the moisturiser you talked about, so people can see the benefits as well as reading about them. You can use quotes from your blog to share links and images on social media and even put them in your email marketing.

What do you want people to do next?

When you come up with a content strategy, you’re basically encouraging people to engage with your business.  Every piece of content should have some kind of call to action.  That could be posting a link to your blog on Facebook because you want people to read it. When they click through, what then? You might include a link to let people contact you, but what if they’re not ready? Asking them to sign up for your mailing list could be a good intermediate step to let them find out more.

Whatever you create, ask yourself what you want your audience to do next.

Have you got your content strategy planned? If you need some help, click here to find out more about my strategy planning sessions.

If you’d like some time with me brainstorming your content marketing strategy, it’s yours! My in-person brainstorming sessions give you half a day to talk about your business and find ways to get your personality, knowledge and values out of your head and into your marketing. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Alternatively, sign up for my mailing list here, and I’ll send you a free copy of my eBook ’50 blog topic ideas for your business’ as a thank you.