We Live Online

It’s a bold statement, but for an increasing number of our population, it’s the truth. Our daily lives are managed by technical gadgets and apps, and we’ve become so dependent on technology, it’s become an integral part of our daily lives.

On the plus side, technology can make life easier, more convenient, safer, and arguably more enjoyable! We shop, we work, we bank, we pay bills, we order food, we buy and we sell. We donate and raise money, and we give things away for free.

We give and share opinions, and we read and make decisions on reviews from people we don’t even know. We communicate with friends and strangers all over the world, and we form relationships with people we are likely never to meet face to face.

We access locations anywhere in the world, and see the world (virtually of course!), find map directions and plan our own routes. We self diagnose, track our daily physical activity and set our own health goals. We gamble, we play, we compete, and we try to stay up to date.

Thanks to our online devices, we are informed, educated and persuaded. We are also sometimes deceived. The more we depend on them, the more essential to our lives they become.

For businesses of every size, it’s important to have a presence in an online world that is honest, trusted, recognised, valued and stands out in the crowd.

Whether its a social media channel, an online blog, a simple website, or full e-commerce selling tool, it’s important your business is seen and heard in a consistent manner, with a tone of voice that represents what you stand for, what you are selling and that engages your customer.

Creating any online activity can be a guessing game, who to target, what to say, how to be seen, how to ensure engagement, make sales, and establish a loyal base and customer following.

We’ve got six tips we like to follow when deciding the best form of online engagement or campaign for businesses of all sizes:

1. Set out clear goals at the start.

• Decide what you want to say. Is it one clear message or multiple offerings.
• What does success look like for your campaign.
• How will you monitor and evaluate success in order to achieve it.
• Be realistic about any financial investment and the return it will have.

2. Clearly define your audience.

• What is the demographic of your audience.
• Where do they live, what is your target engagement area.
• How do they best engage online, what channels are they using.
• When are they online.

3. Research the competition.

• What is their offering and how are they engaging online.
• What does success look like for them.
• How often do they engage and what is their level of content.

4. Create your own campaign.

• Whatever your message, stay consistent with your visual style and tone of voice.
• Make sure you have a personality.
• Adapt what you say to suit each online channel audience.

5. Make it easy to be found.

• Use SEO and keywords to ensure you are seen.
• Target your audience with paid for activity.
• Engage with others: like, comment and share.

6. Analyse and refine the results.

• Create a calendar of events and monitor activity.
• Understand trends and what works in your business sector.
• Don’t be afraid to admit what doesn’t, use it to learn and build from it.

At Blumilk, we have over 23 years experience creating engaging online campaigns that really work.

Chat to us and see how we can help you stand out in an online world.