- Bernie J Mitchell, content marketing expert for coworking spaces, shares 5 key ways operators can ramp up their marketing in 2020.
- Bernie encourages operators to experiment with video and consider dropping unengaged subscribers from their email lists.
- Above all, posting good content online regularly will build better results and reduce the amount operators spend on marketing in 2020.
According to his website, Bernie J Mitchell is โThe Content Marketing Guy for Coworking Communitiesโ. But that tongue in cheek title doesnโt quite do him justice.ย
Bernieโs involved in so many coworking-related things it’s impossible to list them all. To give you an idea, hereโs a handful:
- London Coworking Assembly
- European Coworking Assembly, home of the Coworking Values Podcast
- European Freelancers Week
- London Write Club
In other words, he knows a thing or two about coworking communities and how to promote them.
I caught up with Bernie to pick his brains on what he thinks will be the biggest marketing trends of 2020. He quickly (and quite rightly) pointed out that โtrendsโ is a bit of an annoying term because the same ones get regurgitated year after year.
So Iโm using the word โhacksโ instead. Which is still a bit annoying but hopefully less so.ย
Here they are:
1. Experiment with video in 2020
Video is much easier to do now and people expect less than you think, explains Bernie.ย
โIn 2019, more people started using video on LinkedIn โ including my friends Aaron and Christina who run a podcasting company.ย
โEvery Tuesday without fail they publish a three-minute video that I subconsciously look forward to.โย
โI started creating my own videos this year too. I hated doing it at first but now I just sit here with my tripod, know Iโll look geeky and get on with it.ย
โIโve seen a 50% increase in people taking action, like RSVPโing to an event or filling in a form after watching a video compared with reading an email.โ
If you donโt feel comfortable posting publicly on the likes of LinkedIn, Bernie recommends sharing videos with an internal audience first — people you already have a relationship with and who you want to connect a message to.ย
2. Be honest about your space
โAs a freelancer, Iโm not bothered about how many coworking accolades or local business awards youโve won, these donโt close the deal for anyone.
โNor am I enchanted by you being the biggest, largest or anything โest.โ
โWhat matters to me is the type of person Iโll be sitting next to.ย
โI want to see whoโs working in the space and if theyโre too perfect Iโll be put off,โ explains Bernie.
Freelancers and small businesses are more likely to join if the people working there can help them further their career, support them in learning new skills and help them grow.ย
So, focus on creating honest content that showcases the inner workings of your space. Bernie recommends The Workerโs League as a good example on Instagram.ย
โThere are silly things on there all the time and it can be very funny. But it also shows whatโs actually going on in the space.โ
โTell The Truth: Honesty Is Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool by Sue Unerman and Jonathan Salem Baskin is a good book for anyone who wants to dive a little deeper.ย
โOne of its key messages is that honesty saves energy and establishes trust quicker.
โPeople are always looking to establish a feeling of community and trust is key. In fact, trust is the most important part of a long term consistent business.โ
โIf you start off pretending and building a veneer youโll build a weak foundation of trust,โ Bernie adds.
3. Be genuinely inclusive and prove it
Bernie suggests that prospective members donโt give a hoot about the backstory of your coworking space. Instead, theyโre eager to find out if theyโll fit into its current narrative.ย
People want to be able to visualise themselves in the space.
โThis is where inclusion and diversity comes in,” says Bernie.ย
โMy friend and coworker, Kofi, runs a project for young people in Hackney London called Urban MBA. Weโre helping introduce his students to the world of freelancing and coworking so they can start to build contacts and get a foot in the door.ย
โThey wouldnโt necessarily think to join a coworking space because they donโt see themselves in the marketing content.โ
4.ย Aim for 1000 true fans
Coworking operators dabbling in email marketing will find this one so useful.ย
Bernie explains:
โNo one wants to sign up for your email blast, nor your self-promotional, self-important or last-minute event salvage emails.ย
โInstead aim to send an email like Cat Johnsonโs Coworking Out Loud every week.
Catโs email is current to our industry, has actionable advice and keeps the connection to her open.ย
โEVERY time I talk about email with a coworking space owner they say they donโt email because they donโt want to annoy people.
โBear in mind that you only want to talk to people who are interested in what youโre doing. So, if people unsubscribe thatโs good because theyโre not interested!ย
โI always end an email with something along the lines of โhit reply with what book youโre reading this weekโ. Itโs a good way to open a dialogue and youโd be surprised at how many people respond.โ
Bernie explains that after a decade of collecting contacts, his mailing list was 2,500 strong. Then one day he decided to send an email asking people if they wanted to unsubscribe.ย
He suggested 10 reasons for unsubscribing, including: โYou donโt know who I amโ and โif you are only reading this out of politenessโ.
In two days, 1,000 people unsubscribed.ย
โI was ****ing myself as I sent it, but my engagement went up massively afterwards.โย
5. Curb the spending
โBefore you spend loads of money on social ads or SEO, the best and most cost-effective SEO you can do these days is post content to your site, so get the basics right first,โ says Bernie.
โIโve met so many people who are spending up to a grand a month on SEO in an attempt to rank higher when they could blog regularly and move up the rankings organically.
โTools like Yoast enable you to work out how to make your blog posts more SEO friendly. Hemmingway and Grammarly are great for building your confidence as a writer.
โFinally, donโt feel like you need to advertise. Some of the best coworking spaces Iโve visited are the ones people have referred me to, not the ones Iโve seen on ads.ย
โThink about it: if your content is good, why would you have to pay to get people to watch it?โ
And because weโre feeling generous, hereโs a cheeky bonus tip.ย
Donโt be a jack of all trades, master of none.
โAs tempting as it is to try new things, youโll build towards better results if you post content (thatโs not rubbish) every week on the website for your coworking space than if you try to do a bit of everything.โ
Sign up to Bernieโs newsletter for marketing tips & tricks โ but only if you want to, not out of politeness!
