Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

You’re reading this on a device, right?

Maybe your phone, possibly a laptop or even an iPad. But no matter where you’re accessing it from, one thing is true: we’re living in a digital world and online is where we find and consume content.

So, what’s a small business owner gotta do then? Embrace content marketing, that’s what.

Content marketing is a powerful strategy that can be used by businesses of all sizes to reach a wider audience, establish their brand, and ultimately be competitive in a busy market. Because your content is probably going to be consumed online, various formats should be used in order to reach your ideal customer where they’re at, and can include blog articles, videos, social media posts, and more.

Initially the thought of content marketing might make your throat clench, but once you understand what it is and the benefits it brings, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sooner.

The 3 Benefits of Content Marketing for Small Businesses

(1) It helps establish credibility and authority in your industry. By publishing consistently great, readable content, you position yourself as an expert and gain the trust of your audience. (And this trust turns into increased brand recognition and customer loyalty.)

(2) It’s cost-effective and doesn’t need a substantial budget. Whether you choose to create the content yourself or outsource, it’s a way more affordable option compared to other marketing strategies.

(3) It helps improve your website’s search engine rankings. When you consistently publish high-quality content that’s optimised for relevant keywords, search engines sit up and take notice. You can then enjoy higher organic traffic to your website, which should lead to more conversions and sales.

What is content Marketing? Understanding the Basics

To make content marketing work for you, it’s important to get a grasp of the basics.

Know you audience: Who are your ideal customers? What are their pain points and interests?

Set clear goals: Define your goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve with your content marketing efforts? Is it increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales?

What, where and when: Choose the right content formats and channels. Decide whether you’ll focus on written content, videos, or a combination of both? Which social media platforms will you use to reach your target audience?

The 6 Steps of Developing a Content Marketing Strategy

These are the steps you’re going to need to take from the time you decide to jump all in and commit to content marketing, right through to analysing your results for continued improvement.

(1) Set Clear Objectives: Start by setting objectives and measurable goals. What do you want to achieve with your content marketing efforts? Is it to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or generate leads? Knowing the end game means you can create content that aligns with it.

(2) Identify Your Target Audience: Understand who your target audience is. Do market research to learn about their demographics, interests, and pain points. This will help you create content that addresses their needs and makes them take notice.

(3) Create a Content Calendar: This is a huge step, because time taken to plan content in advance takes away the stress of sitting at a blank screen wondering what on earth to write. It’ll help you stay organised and ensure a consistent flow of material. Include key dates, topics, format and distribution channels in your calendar.

(4) Create High-Quality Content: Create content that’s valuable, engaging and that provides solutions to your audience’s problems. Use storytelling, visuals, and interactive elements to make your content more compelling.

(5) Distribute and Promote Your Content: Once created, it’s time to distribute and promote your content. Share it on social media platforms and send it to your email subscribers. Encourage others to share your content to expand your reach.

(6) Analyse and Optimise: Track the performance of your content looking at metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates. Based on the data, optimise and refine your content strategy to improve results.

5 Top Tips for Creating Engaging Content

When you take the time to create content, you want people to engage with it, right? This means capturing their attention and then driving them to take some action (to think further about something, to leave a comment, to sign up for news, to click a link etc)

Here are some ways you can make your content more engaging:

(1) Tell Compelling Stories: Storytelling makes content relatable and memorable. Share personal anecdotes, case studies, or success stories that will make your audience nod and go ahhhhhh.

(2) Use Visuals: Include high-quality images, videos, infographics, and other eye-catching elements to make your content look great. Visuals also aid readability as they help break up chunks of text and make content more digestible.

(3) Encourage Interaction: Ask questions, encourage comments, and promote discussions. Doing this makes people feel their that their voice matters and they belong in your space.

(4) Provide Value: Give readers valuable information, insights, and solutions to their problems. This builds trust, it establishes you as a reliable source of information and the principal of reciprocity also comes into play here.

(5) Optimise for SEO: Use relevant keywords appropriately throughout your content to invite search engines to find it and rank it. BUT make sure the focus remains on readability and giving great value.

Content Marketing and SEO

Search engine optimisation (SEO) plays a crucial role in content marketing. By optimising your content for relevant keywords, you increase its visibility in search engine results and can drive organic traffic to your website. Here are 6 key SEO pointers to consider:

(1) Keyword Research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the most relevant and high-volume keywords for your industry. Use keyword research tools to find keywords with a good balance of search volume and competition.

(2) On-Page Optimisation: Optimise your content by incorporating relevant keywords in the title, headings, meta tags, and throughout the body. Ensure that your content is well-structured, easy to read, and provides value to your audience.

(3) Link Building: Build high-quality backlinks to your content from reputable websites. This improves your website’s authority and visibility in search engine rankings. Guest posting, influencer collaborations, and content promotion are effective link-building strategies.

(4) Topical Authority: Backlinks are not always easy to get, so topical authority is emerging as a strong way to boost your SEO juice. Creating a significant amount of well written and interlinked comprehensive, informative content on specific topics will help establish your authority. And BINGO, this then helps improve your site’s overall ranking and visibility.

(5) Technical SEO: Optimise your site’s technical aspects, such as site speed, mobile responsiveness, and URL structure. This gives users a better experience and improves your search engine rankings.

(6) Monitor and Analyse: Regularly monitor your website’s performance using analytics tools to track data on factors such as organic traffic, bounce rate, and conversion rates. Based on the numbers, adjust your content strategies as needed.

Deciding to Outsource Content Creation or DIY

If you’ve read this far, aside from being in the running for a medal, you’re probably nervously wondering how the hell you’re going to fit content marketing into your already jam-packed day. I mean, is business owner, is busy, true?

Breathe out for a minute and pause, because you’ve got a couple of options and both of them have pros and cons.

Doing it yourself…

The first option involves doing the lot yourself. Biting the bullet, learning everything you can about content marketing and getting more efficient at it as your skills develop.

The advantages of this are clear

• you know your business better than anyone
• you have ready access to resources such as product images, customer reviews etc
• you are well versed in your brand voice
• you get to have complete control over the process and the outcome

BUT, it takes time, effort and a willingness to develop expertise in content creation and marketing.

Outsourcing it…

Choosing to send content creation out of house is your other obvious option. This could mean handing over responsibility for the entire process or working with freelancers/contractors to help with specific tasks. There’s no right or wrong way to outsource your content creation.

There are real bonuses when it comes to outsourcing, such as

• it frees up your time and energy to focus on other aspects of your business
• it allows you to tap into expertise that may be lacking in-house (such as SEO, graphic design, etc)
• you get outside eyes on your business and fresh perspectives are always great
• it helps you scale your content marketing efforts quickly without having to develop skills and strategies from scratch.

On the other hand, outsourcing means a financial outlay, and it may take some time to find the right people who understand your brand and and can deliver quality work.

Ultimately, your choice has to be be driven by what works best for your business and the resources you have on hand (that’s time and money). A combination of both DIY and outsourcing might also be a viable option.

6 Important reasons why you need to be Consistent in your Content Marketing Efforts

If content is king, then consistency is the king’s valet. Ad hoc content is better than no content, but consistent content is what kicks goals. Here’s why

(1) Builds Trust: Consistent content gives your audience something to rely on and trust in. It shows that you’re committed to providing them with valuable information and insights on the regular.

(2) Establishes Authority: Regularly published high-quality content establishes you as an authority in your industry. It shows you’re knowledgeable and passionate about your niche.

(3) Increases Engagement: Consistency keeps your audience engaged and interested in what you have to say. They’ll know when to expect new content from you, and are more likely to stay tuned in.

(4) Boosts SEO: Search engines favour websites with fresh, relevant, and consistent content. By publishing regularly, you give your website’s visibility and authority in search engine rankings a leg up.

(6) Creates Brand Awareness: Consistent content helps create brand recognition and awareness. You’re more likely to stick in people’s minds and have increased brand recall when they see you regularly.

(7) Engagement and Conversion: Consistent content helps you develop relationships with your audience over time, leading to higher levels of engagement and conversion. They’ll get to know you, like you and want to do business with you.

So what are you going to do? The next step is yours.

There’s been a lot of ground covered and I’ve given you an overview of the key elements to consider when creating a content marketing strategy. Now it’s up to you to take action.

Here are some potential things you could get cracking on:

• Research keyword tools and identify relevant keywords for your industry
• Conduct an audit of your website’s on-page optimisation and make the suggested changes
• Start promoting the content you already have
• Brainstorm ideas for comprehensive, informative content on specific topics to establish topical authority
• Set up analytics tools to track and monitor your website’s performance and adjust your strategies accordingly
• Create a content calendar that outlines your publishing schedule and planned topics for the next few months.
• Determine a budget and decide whether to outsource content creation or do it yourself

Remember, consistency is key, so set goals that are attainable and make a to-do list you can stick to. Content marketing can be a game-changer for your business if done well, so don’t hesitate to invest time and resources into it.

And of course, if you want to engage me to work with you on developing content marketing strategies, or even write for you, just holler. I’d be pleased to have an obligation-free discovery call to see where it leads us.