Content marketing is crucial for small businesses. Due to the lack of marketing resources available to small businesses, content marketing produces some of the highest ROI per marketing dollar spent. Furthermore, it is also a long-term strategy that can yield dividends for years to come after it is implemented.
If you’re wondering how you could take advantage of this marketing channel, here’s what you need to know about content marketing, and why it is a must-have for small businesses
What is Content Marketing ?
The Content Marketing Institute, defines content marketing as a marketing strategy that focuses on the creation and distribution of high-quality content. It implies that if you consistently provide valuable and relevant information to a niche audience, they will be more likely to invest in your services and trust you.
For example:
A skincare company might write a blog post about a 5-step skincare routine for acne with their products concluding with a CTA that links to the brand’s e-commerce site.
How do we assess that this content is important and relevant, well there are a few key indicators:
- There is a demand for it: The content created addresses people’s day-to-day pain points, such as offering a solution to people who suffer from acne. It highlights the necessary steps for treating acne with skincare products that are helpful to its potential buyer. Thus, people want to consume this article through a variety of channels.
2. Niche segment: The purpose of content marketing isn’t always to make content go viral, although it’s always good when it does. It’s rather about establishing a relationship with an audience in just the right way so that they recognize your brand as an authority on a particular subject matter. You want to be known as the best brand for treating acne, then ensure that your brand is committed to creating content that highlights a detailed routine specifically for people with acne and your content is consistent and constantly satisfies the needs of this targeted group.
3. Develop a relationship with your readers. Another goal of content marketing is to build relationships with a defined audience in order to attract and retain them. Think of your favourite brands, have they shown a heightened commitment to educating you or providing the necessary tools for growth? well it is a carefully curated content marketing strategy.
A guide to content marketing for small businesses
Before creating a small business content marketing plan, you should first prepare your existing digital assets to support it. It is important that you must perform extensive research to better understand the audience you intend to target. To accomplish this, you’ll have to do the following:
- Obtain customer preferences through field surveys
2. Conduct a comparative social media analysis of potential competitors
3. Perform a keyword search
4. Analyse the content profiles of other industry leaders
All of this will provide you with the data you need to develop a well-targeted content marketing plan that is likely to connect with the proper audience. But that’s not all there is to prepare.
It is also vital to prepare your company’s website and social media accounts to host and promote the content you will develop. This entails optimising the site for conversions in order to maximise the impact of the traffic generated by your content. It also entails seeding your social media audience with the knowledge that high-value content will be arriving shortly. The audience will be prepped to consume the information, making it significantly easier to launch your initial content campaign.
After making the necessary preparations, the next stage is to develop and execute a content marketing plan while keeping the following factors in mind.
Promote and position your brand as a expert resource
If you want your leads and customers to regard your small business as their go-to source of information in your industry, you must generate detailed content that covers all bases. That means that all the information you publish should serve a clear purpose or answer a specific issue. This will help to develop your brand as an expert voice that clients can rely on to provide reliable information
Also, it’s critical to prioritise quality over quantity in your content development process. Do not attempt to fill a release calendar with more content than you can consistently provide while maintaining a high quality level. If you do, your lower-quality material will detract from the performance of your high-quality content and can undermine the brand’s expert image in the eyes of the audience.
Develop shareable content to amplify your social presence.
Another important part of a good content marketing plan is to create shareable content that social media followers will want to share with everyone they know. This not only increases your small business’s social media presence by attracting new followers, but it also increases the success of your future content by creating a built-in promotional network for each new piece.
Again, this is a function of establishing trust with the audience you want to attract. Once in place, your small business’s social media accounts may work as a brand-promotion machine, with social media feeds always brimming with relevant, entertaining material tailored to audience requirements and tastes. This ensures a consistent supply of vital traffic to your small company website while expanding your reach well beyond your core clients and followers.
Your content strategy will not happen in a vacuum; it’s also worth remembering that producing a substantial amount of high-value content provides you with a competitive advantage over competitors who aren’t providing the same to their audience. It enables you to turn the traditional business-customer dynamic on its head by starting each new customer connection by positioning the company as a helpful force in the client’s life.
Instead of simply pressuring them to buy, you might present yourself as a trustworthy expert. In that sort of connection, the client is significantly more open to additional brand messaging and efforts to convert them. After all, you’ve given them value in exchange for their participation and loyalty.
Reference external resources
Another great technique to produce content is to include references to other well-known businesses wherever feasible. There is a likelihood that they will share content material with their own audience, raising your small business’s visibility and potentially attracting more followers who would otherwise be inaccessible.
Establishing that type of reciprocity with more established businesses can also increase the SEO worth of the content you’re producing. Search engines like Google emphasise content that includes connections from other high-authority sites and pages since it highlights that other important content providers considered your company’s content fascinating enough to mention. In other words “flattery will get you everywhere, so be strategic with your brand mentions.”
Iterate and refine.
Content creation requires consistency. Don’t release one or two pieces and call it a day; instead, establish a content sharing routine that works for you. In time, you’ll build a consistent foundation of valuable and relevant information that will leave your readers well informed, and engaged.
And as you share content, measure your results to find out what works and what doesn’t. Then tweak your content strategy using the insights you get so you can continuously improve your process and results.
As you can see, having a great content marketing plan has certain advantages, and we’ve only scratched the surface!
A content marketing plan for a small business has the potential of developing a self-sustaining marketing ecosystem that will help you boost your brand’s visibility and punch above your weight. And it helps to cement your brand in the minds of the right audience ensuring a continual stream of leads and prospects.
However, we recognize that not everyone has the time to spend generating content for digital marketing. If you fall into that camp, don’t let it weigh you down. You don’t have to be at a disadvantage; feel please reach out to us and we will get the ball rolling.
