Quality content marketing is an art, but you don’t need to be Rembrandt
As a small business owner, it’s likely that you struggle with finding time in your schedule to devote to marketing. You know you need to market your business in order to grow it, but the specifics of successful marketing tactics elude you – or the logistics paralyze you.
In the modern marketplace, marketing has branched far beyond billboards and banner ads. Today’s savvy consumers expect a deeper story from businesses, and content marketing is one important way to meet that expectation.
The following basic principles will help you take some of the mystery and fear out of content marketing:
Quality content starts with understanding your customers
At the heart of understanding your customers is the basic truth that each and every one of them is a human being. Of course, you want those human beings to buy your product or service, but the way to reach them is through meaningful information – not a cold sales pitch. Every time you write a piece of content, from a new page on your website to your latest blog, ask yourself what useful or meaningful tidbit of information you can share. Think in human terms – not sales transaction terms.
Successful content marketing is rooted in strategy and planning
This principle is where we suspect a lot of small business owners get bogged down. They envision long, drawn-out strategy meetings and months of back-and-forth revisions to a strategic plan, but a content strategy doesn’t have to be that heavy. In fact, it should be flexible and fluid enough to meet your changing business needs, current events, business news and more.The key is to determine a handful of core messages that you plan to share with your audience (look for more on this topic in future blogs). Then, commit to some concrete tactics, such as posting two blogs per month and four social media posts per week, that tie in with those core messages. Don’t overthink it, but do put it in writing. Statistics show that the most effective content marketers have a written content strategy.
Content is key, but it can’t stand alone
There is a lot of buzz about content marketing right now, and rightly so, but marketing a small business requires an integrated approach. Your website, social media presence, direct mail, e-mail marketing and much more all work together to create a marketing ecosystem.
You don’t have to do it all yourself
We know many entrepreneurs who are driven to success, and these successful people are willing to take on many roles and put in extra hours to make their businesses work. At some point, however, each of these business owners that they can’t do everything as a one-man (or woman) band. Recruit members of your staff to help plan, develop and execute your content marketing strategy. Otherwise, take the load off yourself and your people and outsource your content marketing to a skilled marketing professional or firm.
Make 2016 the year you commit to producing quality content on a regular basis. Get a working plan in writing and get started.
If you would like the help of a professional integrated marketing team, contact Campfire Digital. From website development to content creation and social media, we’ve got your small business marketing covered.