Businesses succeed by winning customers.
Political campaigns by winning votes.
Footfall drives commerce and elections.
(And some might say, the two – politics and business – are one in the same…but perhaps that’s another discussion for an entirely different article.)
Communication to generate a following
Swaying both votes and buying behaviour comes down to:
Communication.
Most importantly:
- How you communicate;
- What you communicate – and
- When you do it.
And lastly, let’s bear in mind that the most fundamental prerequisite for all of this is:
Reach.
After all, nothing gets communicated unless you’re practically able to reach your intended audience.
Examining the previous examples of commercial and political campaigns (both with the common cause of winning support),
Campaginers adopt the one-two punch approach of:
- Formulating the campaign message – the hook for winning the attention interest, desire and favourable action of audience members.
- Delivering the campaign message – the mechanism for transmitting the campaign message so it is clearly heard by those intended to hear it.
Whilst formulating the right message to persuade your audience to act, takes a certain type of skill to get right…
…delivery presents its own peculiar challenges and often proves costly.
When we talk delivery, we’re talking about reaching a disparate community of prospective customers either via:
(a) an existing channel, or;
(b) a newly implemented channel.
An existing channel comes with the benefit of traffic immediacy, but at the cost of paying the channel owner retrospectively for all their hard work in gathering together a commercially valuable audience.
Piggybacking promises instant results, but they’re charged at a premium.
Plus, there are limitations and constraints on use…simply because, you don’t own the channel.
You have to follow the channel owner’s rules.
However, the DIY approach offers all the long-term benefits of ownership…
…compound, recurring… offers ownership over the source of your traffic and media attention.
Yet, at the risk of stating the obvious, making your own channel takes patience to build over time.
But for the aforementioned benefits, well worth the investment.
Owning your promotional channel
Here’s a quick example of owning your channel in arguably the most competitive digital marketplace:
Publish Industry Studies
“In my experience, industry studies are THE best type of B2B content that you can create.
And there isn’t even a close second.
For example, few years ago we published this (page loading speed) industry study on our blog.
To date, that single piece of content has brought in 59,653 total visitors.
It also got shared on social media 4002 times.
Last but not least, 675 different websites have linked to that study.
So yeah, the traffic and shares that you can get from industry studies are great.
And when you publish a high-quality industry study, YOU can be the source that other blogs [channels] in your niche reference.” – Brian Dean, Backlinko (Blog)
Now, I know that example was digital marketing and not poultry,
But the fact remains:
Communicating quality information to the ‘right’ people can become a phenomenal promotional driving force for any business.
This brings me to my next point.
The compound benefits of owning your channel, far outweigh the immediate promotional gains (which are still good).
This compounding-plus-point is much like the power of WoM (word of mouth) in marketing:
i.e. the constant ripple or even waves of inbound new customer interest and enquiries that abounds when you simply do well at what you do and…people talk.
Generating buzz
When you own your channel and enrich the conversation within your niche through well-documented, value-adding discourse…
…people appreciate your efforts and share.
Word spreads and so does your business.
The key to all of this though is understanding who within this branch of your value tree or chain has the most vested interest to share your intellectual property.
The shortish answer:
Other channel gatekeepers.
The even shorter answer:
Journalists.
In other words, people whose business it is to share quality information to targeted audiences who value it.
Partnering poultry journalists to compound word of mouth
Journalism by nature is a constant pulse. The way of life that never stops and is unrelenting.
The more a journalist produces, the more top-of-mind they are and anticipated by their audience who listens more keenly.
Therefore, the most prolific journalists are the most valued by partners wanting a piece of the action.
And to be prolific, journalists need a constant flow of new subjects, topics and sources to reference within their prose…
…think pricing, statistics, opinions, qualified advice, quotes etc…
Researching to find new topics to cover is time-consuming.
But far more convenient for the journalist is useful, quality content that finds them.
This is where you come in.
Your targeted audience of potential poultry buyers and commercial partners in your marketplace already listen to someone, somewhere for updates and insights.
Whilst this isn’t you – yet – it is indeed reachable, if you know how…
Do this now
Become the source that poultry journalists will love to reference and promote in 7 steps
- Discover the most well-suited and popular poultry-related channels that your most valued market segments of decision-makers will listen in.
- Become a listener yourself. And get a feel for what works already and mastermind value-added themes you might contribute to the conversation.
- Publish a daily journal of research, plans, thoughts, findings, experiments, results, conclusions, happenings etc. related to the starting up or running of your poultry business (write it naturally, like you’re speaking to yourself). Use a blog as that vehicle to gain organic reach of an audience most effectively.
- Compile journo-friendly reports that could quickly and easily be digested by industry journalists.
- Share them with journalists in your space that ‘gate-keep’ the most appropriate channels, whom you think will have the largest vested interest in using the information offered.
- Rinse and repeat constantly (watch your audience grow and enquiries roll in).
- Don’t forget to be patient – the results aren’t instant, but they are LONG-LASTING (and a source of premium asset value and goodwill for your business).
Now, over to you…
Are you looking to start a poultry business with low capital and need low-cost promotional help?
Are you prominent within your market and get quoted regularly?
Either way, I’d be interested to hear from you.
Leave a comment below…or respond by email.
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