If you’re a small business owner, then chances are you’re in need of a content marketing strategy (if you don’t have one already). Content Marketing is the most cost-effective way to reach potential clients and to serve your current customers. Communicating with your audience effectively allows you to influence your customer’s behavior. According to HubSpot, 82% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing (and it’s working).
Unlike paid advertising, content marketing gives your audience something of value. You’re able to take your brand and your story and give it life and make an impact on others. But the question is, how do you create engaging and meaningful content, and where do you begin?
The biggest mistake seen are brands make is that their content is too generic and repetitive. It’s important to take your brand’s content and create an emotional connection with your audience by demonstrating what you believe in and what your brand is all about. Make sure the content you create always represents the voice you are trying to establish for your small business.
So where should you start? You can never go wrong with written content, especially a blog like this one! Blogs are a great way to provide your audience value by giving them new information and showing them your brand personality. The goal is not to sell your customer, rather establish yourself and your brand as a friendly expert that they can go to. Find a topic that fits within your brand and write about it. But remember you don’t want too broad of a topic so be specific. This type of content will be more engaging and is more likely to be read and shared which is the goal! HubSpot also reveals that 56% of marketers who leverage blogging say it's effective and 10% say it generates the biggest return on investment, and yet many businesses still don’t know how to execute it properly. (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics)
Valuable content drives traffic to your website, boosts Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and builds trust with existing and potential customers. Whether you’re distributing content on social media or through more traditional channels like email, all channels should be working together to drive people to your website.
In addition to blog posts, another type of content that’s especially effective is original graphics. Infographics with statistics, quick facts, and testimonials are more engaging to users and easier to digest. It’s okay if you aren’t the best when it comes to graphic design…there are many online resources like Canva that are there for that exact reason. When creating content, make sure that it’s share-worthy. The more shares a post has, the more engagement and recognition you’ll get.
So now that you know what to create, how do you stay on top of all of this? It’s not rocket science, but it does require time and effort especially if you really want to grow your business. Here’s some tips to put together to help you get started.
- Each month create a content calendar. Plan out what you're going to post and when.
- Get into a publishing routine. Once you create the content, spend a day scheduling it so you don’t have to worry about it. *Pro tip - you can use a scheduling tool like Buffer to help with this.
- At the end of each month track monthly stats and see what’s working for you and what’s not. This way moving forward you can focus on what's working and how to improve.
Whether this is a refresher or new to you, keeping these in mind when going about your content marketing strategy will steer you in the right direction.