Are you a small business looking to attract more customers? Creating a strategy for engagement is a great way to start 2021.

Small businesses need to put out a sustained effort to engage their audiences throughout the year. You can do this by getting their attention through content that delivers value to their lives. If you’re consistently putting out information that helps solve their problems and make their lives easier, they will continue to come back for more.

However, before you get started, do you have a solid understanding of what your target market looks like? It’s important to define a specific group of people that your business wants to attract. Doing so makes it much easier to create content tailored to their wants and needs. Some things to consider when defining a target audience include:

• Lifestyle

• Income levels

• Where they live

• Age

• Interests

Once you’ve figured out your audience, you can start to create content that they will find valuable. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, you can craft your content messaging to resonate strongly with your exact audience.

Small Businesses as Thought Leaders

Following this strategy will eventually position your small business as a ‘thought leader’ in your space. What is a thought leader you ask? A thought leader is a person or business that is recognized as an authority in a specific field.

People search for thought leaders and reward them for their insights. In fact, thought leaders are often invited to share their thoughts in conferences, webinars, and other events.

With some effort, you can definitely position your small business as a thought leader within your community. Doing so will build trust with your target market and increase the visibility of your business against competitors.

For example, if you have a small natural food store, try creating content sharing the health benefits of certain foods you offer. Highlight ways to stay healthy and active that your audience would appreciate.

Here are some ways you can start working towards thought leadership:

• Create a blog with informative articles

• Share insightful social media posts

• Create video content and share it online

• Guest post for established blogs

• Interview experts complimentary to your business

Over time, your follower count will rise across the board if you put out quality information. To ensure that this happens, you can do the following:

• Make a concerted effort to sign up customers and prospects to your email list. Offer an incentive if you can

• Similarly, encourage your target market to follow you on at least one social media channel

• Keep writing blog posts that remind Google your website is relevant and boost your chances of showing in search engine results

• Reach out to others in your industry and gain exposure to their followers by providing value

• Experiment with a variety of content to see what resonates with your target market and what doesn’t.

• Measure your efforts over time to see where growth is occurring