Integrity-Focused Marketing: How to Make Impactful Social Media Content
This blog post is for you if you’re uninspired by the content you’re creating for your social media pages. It’s for you if you think the word “marketing” is a dirty word. It’s also for you if you just want to find more ways to keep your promotional practices in line with your values.
I’m Amanda, and I’m a copywriter for spiritual entrepreneurs and conscious businesses. Simply, that means I write promotional content for companies with heart.
I create email campaigns, website copy, blog posts, and social media content designed to align your business with your soulmate clients and customers. I mix the practical with the powerful, the magic with the mundane, and I boost engagement for my clients by understanding what their audience needs.
How do you create content that resonates with your audience?
We can answer this question with more questions that help us narrow down our focus. Your business has a unique voice, a special energy signature that will attract your ideal customers and clients (the people who can benefit most from your work). My job as a marketing professional is to help you use that voice and that energy signature — to help you shine your light.
Who is your target audience?
Some of us in the spiritual community shy away from using “target audience,” and I completely get it. Your audience isn’t a target, and they aren’t your prey. They are real people with real concerns that your business solves.
That being said…
You have to know who your audience is, what they struggle with, what they need, and what their strengths are to create offerings that resonate with them and to use your marketing to find and speak to them.
Do you know who your audience is? If not, ask yourself and them these questions:
What is the core problem or issue they come to you to solve?
Which of your offerings is their favorite?
How does your product or service enhance their life?
What free resources could they benefit from having?
How do they like to engage with you?
Do they like long-form content or bite-sized updates?
Are they big on a particular social media platform?
What do they value in an email newsletter?
Which blog topics are most popular with them?
Once you have a clear sense of who you serve, you can begin to serve them better and tailor your marketing efforts to fit them.
What are the services or products you offer?
This is a pretty obvious one, but what you offer influences what sort of content you create. You’re already creative with your products and services — let your marketing be, too. Is there something related to the functionality of your product that your audience could be interested in? Is there a way to answer frequently asked questions with the content you create to market your business?
Some creative ideas for content that feels genuine and authentic:
A reel that demonstrates a product or service offering
A day in the life — in picture or video form
A list that helps your audience prep for their session
Educate your audience on a topic you’re an expert in
Share a hot take
Offer book or podcast suggestions
Collaborate with another complementary business and cross-promote
Post a review
Share a relevant personal story that relates to your work
Give a helpful tip
The goal is always to be helpful and honest. Lean into your strengths; don’t be afraid to show your expertise. You are in this business for a reason, and your audience wants what you have to give.
Why are you doing what you’re doing? What is the mission of your business?
I saved the best for last. These two questions are the oxygen and heartbeat of your business. Your audience can’t feel you if you don’t know these answers.
You may have heard of people-first business vs. profit-first business. In my work, I focus on people-first marketing. Obviously, one of the goals of a business is to make sales, and I’m not going to ignore that when I create marketing materials.
But, I promise you, there is a way to do business that focuses on serving instead of taking. When you serve, you create a cycle that allows you to receive as much as you give.
People-first marketing keeps asking WHY, keeps focusing on WHY, and keeps answering WHY.
Why are you writing that blog post?
Why write that email blast — what’s the goal?
Why is that offering right for your audience at this time?
Why are you doing business?
Why do people need what you’re selling?
Why does someone’s life get better when they use your product or service?
People respond to why.
In consultations, I’m always telling people, “Focus on the why not the what.”
Here’s an example of what I mean.
I absolutely love the skincare brand Biossance. They are cruelty-free, and they’ve created technology that mimics squalene, an ingredient that normally would have to be extracted from shark livers. Their squalane is vegan and just as effective as the squalene sourced from sharks. In addition to saving sharks with their technology, they participate in other initiatives to conserve our oceans.
The what is the vegan squalane in their products.
The why is ocean conservation and the protection of sharks.
Their marketing must be good, because I know all this about their skincare brand as a consumer. Beyond the fact that my skin looks and feels amazing when I use their products, I feel good about every purchase because their mission is deeper. They make sure I understand their why when I buy from them.
Remember to answer WHY when you’re creating your social media content.
If you’re able to do this every time you show up in the online space, you’ll be able to create a following of people who resonate with your brand and stick with you for the long haul.
That’s why integrity-focused marketing works. It doesn’t just go for the quick sale. It builds a relationship with the people on the other end of your posts.
This is why I am so passionate about what I do. I get to be a cheerleader for businesses that are actively making the world a better place. The hours I spend in a week working have value to me because I am a part of building the type of world I want to live in.