How To Fall Back In Love With Content Marketing

February 9, 2022 Shannon Collins Insights, Social Media  

Creating stand-out content is crucial if you want to maximize your brand’s online presence and the power of your digital touchpoints in 2022. From providing value and encouraging positive brand sentiment to improving organic search visibility and domain authority, the potential benefits of creating great content are limitless.

However, we know that the prospect of creating high-value content can be intimidating, so we’ve created a quick run-down of some of 2022’s top content trends and our tips to help you (hopefully) fall back in love with content creation this year.

 

It’s (Still) All About Video 

It’s probably not news to anyone that video is set to continue to dominate across all social platforms in 2022. From Instagram Reels and TikToks, to Youtube Shorts, video should definitely be on your radar. In the last few years, and especially since TikTok’s boom in 2020, short-form video has proven to be the most engaging content you can produce for your brand. 

Reels on Instagram are highly favoured by Instagram’s ever-ambiguous algorithm, meaning they are much more likely to gain traction and reach than any feed posts and stories you create. If you want new eyes on your page, you really can’t ignore video. How to embrace it? Have a scroll on your TikTok FYP and Instagram Reels tab, and look out for trends and sounds that you can make relevant to your product or offering. Being timely and relatable is key with short-form video. 

 

Get Your Audience Involved 

We all know that engagement rate should always be your number one KPI when accessing content performance and an effective way to increase engagement with your brand is to add in interactive elements to your content. Your target audience will be more likely to be compelled by content that allows them to interact and have their voice heard. Think about it, we all consume so much content in a day, sometimes all the images and text blur into one. 

Some ways you can implement this include creating an engaging quiz on your site or utilising the interactivity features on Instagram stories to get your audience talking. 

 

LinkedIn Is Cool Now

LinkedIn is not boring anymore. Every quarter, the platform reports huge increases in monthly users and engagement on the platform. It’s time to stop overlooking LinkedIn as stuffy or only relevant to ‘the suits’.

If you’re a b2b or service-focused business, don’t underestimate the significance and potential power of your teams’ individual LinkedIn profiles. Your people should be your best ambassadors, and their presence on Linkedin can help communicate your company culture and also help build and nurture relationships with current and prospective clients. Because of the ‘human’ nature of the profile, LinkedIn is a great platform for value-driven storytelling, which will continue to be extremely valuable this year. 

If you need some inspiration, our Head of Agency, Paff, nails their Linkedin personal content. We’re probably biased but the reach and engagement on their posts speak for themselves! 

 

Leverage User-Generated Content 

User-generated content, whether organic or produced through collaboration (e.g. influencers), should be an integral part of your content strategy. Firstly, utilising UGC allows you to streamline and cut down on the resources involved in the content creation process. Secondly, and most importantly, UGC is very well received by audiences. It can boost your credibility and extend the potential reach of your organic content considerably.

So many brands and businesses have lots of untapped UGC waiting to be used… If you feel like you need some more fresh content, there are also lots of ways you can encourage UGC. For example, you could host a giveaway where followers have to post content to enter or start to share messaging encouraging customers to tag you in their content and use branded hashtags. 

 

Don’t Give Into the Overwhelm 

Our biggest piece of advice when planning your content creation strategy is to find where your target audience spends the most time and nail your strategy for this platform first. Do you get the best engagement on Instagram reels? Amazing, get filming. Is your email open rate way above industry average? Great, get typing.

As much as it’s important to be agile and reactive, spreading your brand too thin often means that you’re compromising on value and ultimately, content performance. Always start with your strongest platform and don’t be afraid to focus most of your energy there until it’s running like clockwork.

 

If you need a little extra help staying up to date with all things social, make sure you give us a follow on social or send us an email at [email protected]!

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How To Create An Impactful Influencer Marketing Campaign

November 8, 2021 Shannon Collins Influencer Marketing, Social Media  

It’s no secret that it is becoming increasingly difficult to make a splash online. With the ever-changing trends and algorithms, even the best content can often fall flat. When it’s harder than ever to stand out on socials, how can you get your business in front of new eyes and potential customers? If your goal is increased brand awareness, online profile growth, and sales, then influencer marketing might be the answer. Although it may seem daunting, the reality is that a strategic influencer marketing campaign can generate incredible results for your brand. 

 

Recently at PFM, we completed an influencer marketing campaign for our client, PriceRunner. We collaborated with a host of Scottish influencers to create a campaign which demonstrated how easy and valuable price comparison really is. We challenged our influencers to create a moment with PriceRunner, showing that price comparison is not just about saving money, it’s about creating and enhancing life experiences. 

As well as some killer content, the #KitOut campaign generated: 

  • 21% increase in IG followers for @pricerunner_com
  • 52.9% increase in brand searches
  • 293k reel views
  • 68k average story reach per influencer

Sounds great, right? But where do you start? To make things a little easier, here are our top 3 tips for creating an impactful influencer marketing campaign. 

 

1. Be Picky 

Do your research and make sure you choose the right people to represent your brand. Followers are great, but engagement metrics are the real indicator of the quality of an influencer’s audience. You can find a host of free platforms and calculators online to help you evaluate these metrics. We love using Not Just Analytics and Social Blade.

As well as making sure they have great metrics, it’s also a good idea to have a look at some of their previous brand work. Is their content high quality and do they show lots of enthusiasm? How have their followers engaged with previous campaigns?

 

2. Have a Strong Concept 

When you find your people, make sure you give them an exciting concept to work with. Influencers are content creation experts and they know their audience better than anyone. They will be thrilled to receive a brief that allows them to get creative and put their own spin on the campaign. The best campaigns tell a story: try to think of a campaign that not only brings your products/service to life, but also speaks directly to the influencer’s audience.

 

3. Don’t Stop There

Now that you have all of this amazing content, it’s time to get the most out of it. The initial campaign is just the first step. Afterwards, it’s crucial to think of other ways that you can repurpose the influencer’s content to maximise your investment. You could reshare the content on your organic platforms, include it in upcoming paid ad campaigns and use it to create long-form blog content for your website – the potential reach and impact is huge! 

 

Need some expert help to make your next influencer campaign a success? Get in touch with me at [email protected], I would love to chat! 

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Starting a New Job Remotely – 5 Steps to Success

June 2, 2021 Shannon Collins Industry, Insights, Working Remotely  

Hi PFM website, Shannon here! Earlier this month, I joined the account management team at Pilot Fish Media. Even though I had become accustomed to WFH life in my previous role, starting my new role was my first experience of working from home as a newbie.

Shannon & her puppy, Enzo!

It was a brand new experience and definitely intimidating at first. Luckily for me, I wasn’t the first to go through the onboarding process online, and the team was so welcoming. I am happy to report that my first few days with the team have been very smooth-sailing, and I am settling in quicker than I could have hoped!

We’ve all experienced the strange mixture of nerves and excitement that come with a first day in a new job. Overthinking your outfit so you look like you’ve made an effort, but not too much. Loitering casually outside for 45 minutes because you hugely overestimated your new commute. Sitting in on your first meeting and nodding enthusiastically while internally you struggle to figure out what on earth all these acronyms they keep using mean. 

However, in many industries, first days are looking a little bit different in 2021. Many of us are taking new steps in our career without even stepping out of our front door. These new first days bring with them a whole new set of uncertainties and can be equally if not more daunting than that first walk into a brand new workspace. 

Here are 5 tips to minimise the nerves and set yourself up for success when starting a new role remotely.

Testing… 1… 2… 3…

Ask ahead of time what workflow and communication tools you will be using in your role. You might find you are using brand new systems or systems that you haven’t touched in a long time, so it’s a good idea to have them all set up and ready to go ahead of time. Spend some time in the days leading up to your start date familiarising yourself with them and making sure your computer is all set up properly. The last thing you need on your first day is unnecessary technical difficulties. 

If this is your first time working remotely, you should also put a bit of thought into your at-home workspace. As tempting as it may be, working from the sofa is not going to be productive. Make sure you have a well-lit, comfortable space with as little disturbance as possible. 

Make Friends 

Make an effort to get to know everyone on your team. Group calls can be intimidating at first when you are just figuring out the dynamics and the team culture. Take initiative and set up 1-to-1 calls with as many of the team as you can in your first few days. Ask them about their roles and their experience with the company so far, but also just use the time to get to know them as an individual. These quick catch-ups are great icebreakers and will make participating in group calls a lot less intimidating. 

Jump in

Your first days in a new role are mostly dedicated to finding your feet and settling in. The likelihood is that at the start, you could find yourself with a lot of free time. When you’re working from home, this can be demotivating, and you might feel disconnected from the team when you aren’t experiencing the buzz of the office. 

Solution: take initiative and ask for tasks and feedback. If you spot something that you could assist with, offer to help! You can’t learn and establish yourself within a team until you really start to get involved. This is also the perfect opportunity to ask your manager if there is any reading and training that you could be completing to help set you up for success in your new role. 

Routine is Key

From day one, create a sustainable routine. This will allow you to feel productive but also make sure you’re establishing a great work-life balance from the get-go. When working from home, the lines between work time and downtime blur very easily. Try to time block your day, including a lunch break. If you get in the habit of sticking to a schedule from the beginning, it will be much easier to maintain this as your workload grows. 

Gluing yourself to your desk will not allow you to be your best self. Take regular breaks and get outside!

And Finally, Relax! 

Give yourself a pat on the back. You were hired for a reason, and it is completely normal to feel like a spare part in your first few weeks. As long as you show up, take initiative and give it your all, things will fall into place much sooner than you might think.

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