Bilth Studio is a filmmaking, graphic design, and social media marketing company looking to contribute to the creative industry and help SMEs promote their business online.

About The Speaker:

Margaret Blankson works as a Communications Assistant in a civil society space, where she creates communication materials to engage a wide range of audiences; the local Ghanaian youth and a significant section of youth in Africa and the diaspora.
Over the years she has volunteered in child education and family welfare.
She is therefore skilled in project coordination and engages with an audience of varied socioeconomic backgrounds.
These experiences shape her perspectives in writing and creating communication content fit for various audiences and media channels.
Margaret is an alumnus (2019) of the African Youth and Governance Convergence organized by the Youth Bridge Foundation, where she received training in leadership and governance for the African context.
She is a freelance copywriter and CEO of Istoria, a copywriting start-up that helps startups to define and communicate their brand value for continued relevance in their respective industries.

Objectives:

By the end of the session, we will understand:
1. The 'content myth'
2. Importance of content to startups - know your brand
3. The way forward
4. Receive a parting gift

The Importance Of Content To Startups

Breaking the Content myth

So, in my journey so far with content especially in the startup space, I have realized that content is the stories one tells about their brand CONSISTENTLY in different refreshing ways.
Whether one uses a video or picture meme, the end game of content is to keep your brand in people’s minds but always different so you don't also get boring.
Content is not a set of popular posts on social media. It is simply demonstrating what your brand is and how distinct it is from other brands.
That said, the start-up owner must understand his or her brand to keep demonstrating its uniqueness.
So, in content creation, kindly bear the above definition in mind fellow start-up owners.
I believe we can delve into the importance now. Before that let's rectify an earlier point.
By stories, I mean what people can relate to, what people can easily understand. We all love to hear stories; it's human nature. Stories appeal to our emotions and elicit reactions. So, think of your content as such.
A digital marketing guru I know once said, "we don’t create viral content, rather we create content and hope it goes viral.
That is to say, we create content that will appeal to our audience and cause them to share until it goes viral.

Now to the main thing...

Importance of content to startups:
1. Usually startups can't afford other means of communicating their brands. e.g., TV, Radio ads, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) charges to make one's website easily identified on the web.
2. It creates an avenue for you to build your brand consistently.
Creating content is a discipline because content demands that you are intentional (we will see how to do that shortly)
3. It helps you to 'sell.'

By selling, I mean the service or product and most importantly the brand itself. Content helps your audience to decide to buy into your brand or not.
That's why it has to be relatable and shareable (refer to Bilth social media platforms on content on 'how to create shareable content).
As a growing business, resources can’t be readily put into traditional media ads, etc.
Hence, content helps the start-up owner to still advertise their business at costly rates.
Since we have established that content creation means creating stories that demonstrate your brand value or uniqueness, it requires the start-up to plan and do it well.
That disciplines you and helps you to take your brand seriously because you realize that an issue with your content affects your brand.

I hope we all know about customer loyalty?
Yes, Content is one way to achieve that for your brand. The goal is to sell a product but you do that subtly.
Content helps you to sell the persona of your brand. Whether it is caring, quality, etc.?
e.g., Verna water creates content that tells us they care so part of our monies goes into social interventions.

The Way Forward

Usually, for startups, we create content for Social media, Websites, or through blogging.
Have objectives for the content you create.
Are you informing? Creating awareness? Educating? Selling?
If you ask me, all the others are selling. As we explained in the importance in content no 3.
You can create content plans monthly, weekly, e.g., Month One will be for awareness creation, Month Two for education, etc
This way you can track what works and what your audience likes.

My Parting Gift:

1) What's the story behind your brand?
2) Can you name a few examples of brands you admire?
3) Are there any particular adjectives you want people to associate with your brand?
4) Where do you see your brand in 10 years?
5) Who exactly is your ideal client?
7) Who are your direct competitors?
8) What are your ideal customers' biggest pain points?
9) Why should your target audience choose your services above your competitors?
10) Are there any audience you aren't currently reaching that you want to reach with your brand?
11) What are the expected deliverables for this project?
Let these questions help you relook at your brand and understand it well so that you can create stories out of them for great content creation.

Margaret Blackson