Above the Algorithm: Value, Community, and Visibility in Your Digital Marketing

Friday 4 October 2024

By Marguarita McNally | Senior Marketing Executive at Women in Business.

You know that feeling after leaving a conference or workshop – you're either buzzing with ideas and a clear plan, or you're staring at a to-do list, wondering where to even begin. Well, that was me after The DM Sessions Conference.

It was a Friday evening, and my brain was on overload. Come Monday morning, though, it was time to reflect on the valuable key takeaways. (A prime example of how taking the weekend off can help to reframe your mindset and see the positives – my manager probably thinks that my laptop has been hacked by now. But it’s true).

Before I dive into the key takeaways, as I was flicking through the notes I’d made from the day, I realised that some of the points are things we’ve been gradually implementing through our digital marketing activities at Women in Business. Sometimes, we don’t need to start from scratch but rather keep doing what we’re doing, with a few tweaks along the way.

So, as you’re skimming through, let us know what we could improve on or what other membership organisations are doing well – promise we’ll take it professionally, not personally!

Takeaway 1: Value Before Sales

In today’s digital world, building trust and credibility comes before selling anything. Offering value to your audience is the best way to demonstrate your expertise and position yourself as a trusted source:

How to make it happen:

Create content that solves problems: We encourage our members to create and share their own content. Not only does this help solve other members’ challenges, but it also raises their profiles in our member news.

Share valuable resources: We love making the most of our partnerships. When leading organisations across Northern Ireland team up with us, we share the latest funding opportunities and resources with you.

Engage consistently: Building relationships takes time. Between Teams calls and 212 bus journeys, it’s something we have to keep working on. Why not get involved by sharing your thoughts on this blog through our social channels? Don’t worry, we won’t ghost you! x

Takeaway 2: Build the Community

When people feel connected to your brand, they’re more likely to support it. A strong community creates genuine loyalty, word-of-mouth (free!) marketing and advocacy.

How to build it:

Create opportunities for members to connect and interact with each other: Not to brag, but in September 2024 alone, Women in Business brought together approximately 550 women through 13 in-person and online events/ programmes across Northern Ireland.
Now is the perfect time to have a look at What’s On.

Encourage participation: Whether it’s through research projects, giveaways, or simply listening to feedback, the key is making your community feel heard. We recently circulated a member survey and collaborated with one of Northern Ireland’s most sought-after hotels, The Rabbit Hotel – the place to be. This resulted in our highest-ever response rate for a member survey, providing invaluable information that we’ll use to further develop the network over the next year.

Takeaway 3: Introduce the team behind the emails

People connect with people, not faceless brands. That’s why showcasing the real people behind your organisation helps build trust and authenticity. I know, I know, you don’t want to hear this when you have X number of products or services to sell. But give it a go when you can.

How to do it:

Get personal or go behind the scenes: Whether it’s videos or photos, showing your team in action helps humanise your brand.

Feature testimonials: Real stories from real people resonate more than anything. It can be as simple as whipping out your phone to ask some quick questions to participants of your recent programme to help promote the next one – cough – can you Imagine It?

Get personal on social media: Meet-the-team posts have been our top performers lately...

Throughout late summer/early September, we’ve been scheduling meet-the-team posts on Friday mornings, when the inbox is a bit quieter. And no, not our team in stuffy profile pics, but in their natural working environment with a snippet of information about our charity that tends to get lost in the noise of social media. The result? These have been the posts with the highest engagement over the past three months, with an average engagement rate of 5.92%. *Average LinkedIn engagement rate for non-profits: 2.1% (Hootsuite 2024).

So, Keep Doing What You’re Doing
Digital marketing isn’t just about ticking off tasks. Take a step back – whether that’s attending an event or submitting an awards application – and reflect on what’s working well, along with what could be improved.

I’m four years into my role at Women in Business, and honestly, it’s only been in the past year and a half that I’ve truly started paying attention to our analytics. And I’m not talking complex data – just the basic insights available across all our platforms. It’s crucial to carve out time (no matter how small your team is or how busy you are!) to sit down and really dig into the numbers. The team at Glowmetrics gave a great reminder during the conference: “If it wasn’t measured, did it even happen?”

So, before my manager starts to worry that my laptop has actually been hacked with my first ever blog, let me wrap up with two personal points that may or may not resonate with you:

Creativity is about changing the problem - Carrie Rose from Rise at 7 put it perfectly during the conference. Sometimes it’s not about finding new solutions but reframing your creative mindset towards the problem.

Don’t worry if you don’t know where the River Lagan is. It doesn’t mean you came up it in a bubble. And no, I still can’t be bothered with watching Line of Duty – I’m more of a Blue Lights fan. Sorry, @Part Three Digital.

Above the Algorithm
For me, conferences are such a great way to refocus and recharge. At the end of the day, it’s about rising above the noise. Focus on value, community, and visibility in your digital marketing. Your audience are real people, scrolling through their feeds, looking for that gem of information, inspiration, or maybe just a bit of nosy fun.

Highlight of the day? (Yes, the Bodega Bagels veggie option was a win!) But even better was the chance to connect with other Women in Business members, some of whom were able to attend, thanks to the generous discount from Emma at The DM Sessions – a reminder of how much we can achieve when we support and uplift each other through the use of social media and collaboration.

This is where I should insert a concluding call to action (with a newfound appreciation for people who write blogs for a living). So, if you’re a current Women in Business member, why don’t you express your interest in getting involved with our 2025 blog schedule?

Looking forward to reading your ideas and insights!

Friday 4 October 2024