Digital content expert Hannah Darkins tells us what it takes.
Building an engaging online presence is something a lot of business owners might struggle with. Being an expert in your field doesn’t necessarily teach you content, design or marketing skills, and there’s a lot of unseen work that goes into growing a brand’s online audience.
Founder of digital content creation studio The Unfold, Hannah Darkins says building a captivating online presence is pivotal to your brand’s success.
“It’s almost the most important thing in the age we’re living in. You’re missing out on a whole customer base if you’re not focusing on your digital content.”
The Unfold work with brands on styling and photography projects, creative direction and content creation for digital platforms. Through her work every day, Darkins sees the importance of building your brand’s digital identity.
“If you are a product or a store, especially an online store, a strong online offering is integral, you need to have that presence,” she says. “Particularly with food. People are looking to eat your food before they’ve even set foot in a venue.”
With this in mind, Darkins offers her top tips for brands wanting to improve their online presence.
“Wherever you can, position your customer as the hero. Instead of talking about how good your offering is, position your wording and your visuals to show how your offering helps the consumer survive or thrive,” says Darkins. “There’s always room to talk about a product’s functionalities and selling points, but that shouldn’t be your focus. Include your customer in the product’s journey, rather than having them as an outsider looking in,” she says. “It doesn’t mean every post needs to be about the problem you’re solving, just have that as your main direction.”
“Content needs to be both engaging and intentional. Generally, customers want you to tell them what they need to do, and it needs to be really clear,” says Darkins. “To capture people’s attention, there’s a demand for content to be interesting and innovative – the copy and the visuals need to be aligned.”
“Our focus as consumers fades so quickly, it’s around three seconds and then you’re either giving something your attention or you’re not,” she says. “So you don’t want to make your content too hard to digest or too difficult to decipher what you’re trying to communicate. Make it as easy as possible.”
“Build a real identity around what you are. That means consistency with tone of voice and visuals, and consistency across all your platforms so people can see your work and identify it in a crowd,” says Darkins. “Content needs to represent your brand values and philosophies. This creates familiarity with the customer that leads to long-term loyalty,” she says. “They know what you’re about, they know what to expect and you’re consistently providing that.”
“When consumers look at a brand, they demand transparency about a product and where it’s coming from. You can see through brands if they’re not being honest,” says Darkins. “Don’t try to be something that you’re not. Be authentic about what your brand is and have a certain amount of awareness about who you are,” she says. “Even if you’re pivoting or taking a new direction, constantly ask yourself who you are, what you’re about and if the direction you want to take is aligned with that.”
“Small-business owners have to wear a lot of hats. Wherever possible, outsource what’s really not a strength of yours. Work to your strengths and don’t be afraid to get help where you need it,” says Darkins. “It’s not worth wasting your time and energy trying to do everything yourself if your output is average. Know your strengths and weaknesses and outsource wherever possible.”
Photography: Courtesy of The Unfold
