November’s Business Breakfast was held at Frome Town Hall on a mild autumnal morning which soon became animated with the sharing of a delicious banquet from Mrs B’s Caring Caterers.
It was a full house this month with guest-speakers Kate Foster and Dawn Denton offering their advice and guidance on the use of Social Media to enhance our business presence.
First up was Kate from “Wisdom and True” who has been in marketing for over twenty years and has a passion for creating “content” (pictures and ideas) that educate, entertain and inform.
Kate Foster
Kate advised that there are three things to think about when creating content:
Awareness: Your brand - what do you do (service and products) and why should people listen to you?
Community: Engage with people who care about the same stuff as you (subjects close to our heart)
Create demand: Inspire people to take an interest in your products and buy them.
What’s your brand’s story? Your passion and purpose? What have been your successes and challenges?
Kate suggested that the trick is to basically have an open and honest conversation with your community (whilst keeping it professional). Post testimonials (with permission) and perhaps write a blog about your unique perspective on things, which could be just the solution some people are looking for.
What do you have in common with your community? What can you share? Perhaps invite people to engage with you by launching competitions, asking questions and starting conversations about the things you all care about.
Next up was Dawn Denton from Frome Diary who illustrated skilfully the need for interesting content by opening with her own personal story of how she grew up with apartheid in South Africa, engaging the entire room with the portrait she'd painted of shocking racist behaviour.
Dawn Denton
23 years on, this story has formed the foundation for another of Dawn’s projects, ‘Celebrate South Africa’, which aims to highlight the good in her country and inspire other South Africans.
Dawn also suggested creating an ‘avatar’ which is fundamentally an online user who has the needs of your ideal client. Imagine they have a name and speak their language. What is your brand fulfilling for them? Where do they come from?
Relating another story of how a toilet paper firm created an app for finding clean toilets in the area to stand out from the crowd, Dawn encouraged us to think about how we can simply be useful. Endeavour to inform, educate and engage; solve problems, establish credibility and above all, share your personality!