Month: May 2018

I’ve never called myself a blogger, even though I write blogs. Why not? Because, let’s face it, the word blogger has a bit of a bad reputation in some circles. I still see people looking for bloggers and influencers and it works really well in some industries. In other places, well…

What is a blogger?

Personally, I have nothing against bloggers. I just don’t want to be one. If you work in the travel industry you’ll hear an awful lot about influencer marketing. It’s common in other sectors too, for example if you want to promote a product in a market where there’s a strong blogger presence.

This kind of marketing works incredibly well where there’s a relationship between the blogger/influencer and the customer. Influencers tend to be people who have a strong social media following in a particular niche. For example, you might have someone who loves to travel off the beaten track or get involved in adventure sports. Equally there are lots of ‘Mummy bloggers’. Some of them are just funny but others will write sponsored posts for products or experiences they love alongside their more personal posts. These relationships work because a blogger’s followers trust them to only talk about things that they’ll enjoy and a business can tap into an audience that will like what they do.

On the other hand, there’s huge potential for it all to go wrong…

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There’s so much marketing content out there it could make your head spin. You could spend your entire life reading blogs from one expert or another, or signing up for endless courses that promise to tell you the secret of a successful business.

The great thing about all of this is that you can find the answer to virtually any question. You can also find people who are expert in their field to teach you what you need to know. The downside is that it can put you off putting anything out there yourself.

It’s natural to compare yourself to others, but it’s not healthy if it stops you from making progress. You look at all of these experts and think “I don’t know as much as them. What could I possibly have to say that will help anyone?”  Great question.  The answer is – loads.

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Sometimes it can feel as if marketing is one big front. You set out your stall to persuade people to do business with you. The idea of showing them behind the scenes seems completely counterintuitive. There’s no way you could show people the cogs working, is there?

I’m not saying that your marketing has to be a warts and all account of your business. For one thing, it would get repetitive. My days are mostly spent sat behind a keyboard, even if the work I’m doing varies. Some days are frustrating, long or just plain boring. However, giving your customers a glimpse behind the scenes could be a powerful communication tool.

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If you’ve been reading about marketing for any length of time you’ve probably come across the concept of know like and trust. If you haven’t, here’s your introduction.

Who do you trust? Hopefully you’ve got at least a few friends and family members that you can rely on. But who else? What about big business?

Now you might be thinking, “hang on, I don’t trust those big corporations”. And yet we all behave in a way that shows we do. We buy our clothes from high street chains, get our electricity from one of the big five suppliers and eat in McDonalds. People queue for hours to be the first to get the new iPhone. There was uproar about the way our Facebook data has been used but most of us are still on the platform.

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