Our latest Design / Build / Market event held in February focused on blogging and social media and was the most successful yet! We opened the doors to over 50 people, and chowed down on some delicious food from Pinkmans, courtesy of Good Sixty. With an excellent talk from Emily Perkins at Oggadoon and fantastic knowledge from our expert panel, everyone was able to gather insider knowledge from those in the know. Here’s a recap of everything that happened:
Talk: “The Future of Blogging (or, can I delete Twitter yet?)”
Emily Perkins, creative content manager from Oggadoon shared some great insider tips on how you can utlisise blog posts to accelerate your business:
Demonstrate expertise: This is the #1 ingredient for successful content and blogging. You are the expert: blogging is about expertise, not world knowledge. Whether it’s fashion, learning a new language or cyber punk Lego builders (yes. really!), remember that you have something unique to offer.
Offer something free: From free e-books to product giveaways, try to give your readers something genuinely tempting and of real value. Consider your target audience when deciding what freebies to give, and this will inevitably help drive traffic and retain readers
Be bold & brash and provide a gateway for further conversation: Make your readers feel welcome and they’ll engage in conversation with you. Picking a controversial topic to write about can also encourage conversation, but keep in mind that people may not agree with you, so make sure you welcome divergent opinions.
Reveal and showcase your case studies: Case studies are a building block of marketing a business for improved lead generation and increased sales. Their purpose: winning new customers by demonstrating the success that existing customers have already experienced. A case study lets you show off what you do better than your competitors and what your customers love about you. At the same time, case study content helps inspire trust, and provides authoritative content in your niche, which is good for both SEO and your online reputation.
Pull back the curtain to your office: One of the main reasons for writing a blog is to give clients and customers a more human angle on your working environment. A good way to emphasise this is to write a blog about your office environment and the people who work there.
The Expert Panel
We had a wonderful panel of experts from the blogging and social media world. They included:
• Sonja Jefferson, Founder, Marketing coach and content strategist at Valuable Content
• Stacey Tylisczuk, Digital Specialists Recruiter at ADLIB
• Neil Elliott, Co-Founder of Patternbank, an online textile print studio and trend forecasting site.
Each panelist came from a different background in the blogging world and they all brought something new to the discussion. We learned about businesses that started out as a blog and how it propelled their business into what it is today, as well as how to use social media in your recruitment strategy to connect with prospective employees. Whatever stage you are at, there was something for everyone.
And much more…
We want to thank everyone who was involved in this DBM meetup, from Emily and the other expert panelists, to all those who attended. Also we want to give a big shout out to Good Sixty who provided our delicious spread from Pinkmans – it went down a treat!
Our next event will be focused on apps and we aim to answer questions such as which app is best for you and the advantages & disadvantages of native vs hybrid apps. It’s happening on 26th April, 6.30pm at the Engine Shed. We’re likely sell out, so grab a ticket while you can!
If you have any ideas or feedback on our Design / Build / Market series, please email us at [email protected].
