Create a buzz on a budget

Thanks to the rise of social media and digital journalism, brands must now act like publishers and create content that engages with their consumers. If you’re an SME, chances are you don’t have a huge amount of cash to throw behind a big budget, multi-channel emporium of content.  

However, don’t let that hold you back - you can still create valuable content that your audience will love and, as a result, boost your business. It’s really not as expensive as you might think...

Newsjacking and real-time marketing

You don’t need a dedicated team like Oreo had during the Super Bowl to create great content which plays off the back of news stories and real events.

Godfrey Bloom, UK Independence Party MEP, recently sparked nationwide outrage after using the term “Bongo Bongo Land” to refer to countries receiving government aid. An independent music shop in Scotland responded to Bloom in an open letter stating:

"We are a lover of the bongos and sell many from our humble music shop, Rainbow Music in the bonny city of Dundee. It was to our surprise and bemusement that you wanted to cut foreign aid to Bongo Bongo Land, as we were not sure as the specific geographical location of such a place and we thought you were referring to the places where Bongos' are made and played. We were unaware that we were eligible for foreign aid it has made us further confused."

The shop also offered the MEP a pair of Cuban bongo drums “to wind down after a hard day of representing the people.”  This was quick, relevant to their business, humorous and cost next to nothing to do- however, it successfully received press coverage across the UK via Scottish Television (STV), The Metro and others.

Videos and images

Images and videos dramatically improve the chances of your content being read and shared. According to PR Daily posting videos on social media channels can increase engagement by over 100%. Similarly, a recent study of online news content by marketing agency Skyword found that stories receive 94% more views when accompanied by a relevant image.

Check out The Dollar Shave Club’s launch video. Not only is it cheap and cheerful, it successfully managed to secure the startup $1 million in funding from the likes of Andreesen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins.

It’s all about being in the right place at the right time

New social media channels pop up continuously but that doesn’t mean you should be creating content for all of them.  Instead, think carefully about what channels your audience is using the most and stick to them, saving you both time and resources.

Co-operative Electrical has decided to use the app Snapchat for their latest marketing campaign aimed at students. Not only will they be one of the first organisations to do so but given that the majority of Snapchat users are between 13 and 24, they have successfully identified a platform which their target audience uses and created content to suit it - this particular campaign may be slightly more challenging given that Snapchat deletes content within 10 seconds of being opened.

Similarly, think about what times your target audience is most likely to be online. After all, there's no point pumping out great content if your audience is neither online or frequent users of the social media channels you’re publishing to.

Find out how Mynewsdesk can help you create a buzz on a budget.