The Generator Project - Supporting businesses from across Greater Manchester
Goal
My official title
My Actual Role
Year
Sector
Service Development Coordinator - Enterprise Officer
121 business support
Project management support
Comms and marketing lead
Site management
Event management
Stakeholder engagement
Partnerships and outreach
Ongoing
Public
The Generator project was funded to help businesses across Greater Manchester start and grow. It offers access to affordable and flexible workspaces, a wide range of events and workshops, and business information sessions. I joined the project in its early stages, and my role involves, among other things, contributing to its successful delivery by designing services and offerings that align with the project’s goals, attract service users, and monitor and communicate impact to funders. One of the key challenges is working with limited resources, including a small communications and marketing budget, and limited human resources.
I can’t possibly cover all aspects of my role here, so for the sake of relevance to this portfolio, I will focus on communications and (organic) marketing. Please feel free to reach out if you’d like to hear more about the other areas of my work.
Market Research and Competitor's analysis
After profiling our target audience and researching the market, one of the key actions I took was to understand the competition, their activities and the experiences of their users, in order to inform our positioning and key messaging. I primarily did this by conducting a competitor social media audit and analysing their Google Reviews. This was combined with insights gathered from feedback provided by early users during our soft launch period.
This is how I presented the outcome of the Google Reviews analysis.
Building an engaged online community
Much of our initial communication and marketing efforts aimed not only to raise brand awareness but also to develop an engaged community both online and offline. The content we produce is designed to align with that goal.
As a first step in establishing our online presence, I created a Google My Business profile for the project, along with social media accounts on platforms where our target customers and other key stakeholders were most likely to be. I ensured that each profile was fully optimised and aligned with both our branding and our funders’ branding guidelines.
I oversee our social media activities, which includes developing the strategy and content plan, monitoring performances and analytics, and collaborating with two other team members who produce the content. I provide guidance, proofread and edit their work, and also create content myself.
Here are some of the content pieces I have personally created for our social media accounts.
Maximising Existing Channels
Leveraging our existing networks is also a key part of our strategy. This involves collaborating with cross-functional teams, including the Council’s communications team and local libraries, to increase our reach. Our events and services are promoted on digital screens and noticeboards at Central Library, some of our social media posts are reshared by official Council accounts, and updates are included in existing newsletters, among other channels.
Leveraging partnerships
Partnerships are also a key part of our marketing strategy. This includes hosting events organised by strategic partners and bringing together participants who fall within our target audience groups. It also involves engaging with partners through speaking opportunities, which in turn opens doors to increased online exposure. For example, speaking at the Women Leading in Business event not only introduced dozens of women in business to our space, but also led to our brand being featured on Alliance Manchester Business School’s social media channels, increasing our brand awareness.
We’ve also been harnessing user-generated content (UGC) and collaborations with our users, allowing for more authentic content that shares their experiences from their own perspectives.
Communicating our impact
When it comes to communicating our impact to key stakeholders, I produce quarterly highlight reports for senior management and write press releases. In addition to collecting written feedback from users about their experience with our services, I also initiated and now produce (film and edit) a series of case study videos. These videos are primarily created to demonstrate the project’s impact to our funders, but they are also shared on social media, serving as social proof to encourage others to use our services.
Here are some of the case study videos I have produced.
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