Your business is up and running, and you’re ready to start driving traffic to your website and convert readers into customers.
You’ve created a beautiful website, set up an email opt-in list, created your social media handles on every platform that resonates with your ideal clients…things are looking good. Apart from one thing. You’re not seeing much traffic or many conversions.
This is where content marketing comes in and saves the day. For a small business, content marketing is essential. It’s also a lot cheaper than traditional marketing methods and generates far more leads. Something every small business needs!
Of course, in order for it to be successful, you need to put the effort in.
If you need a little (or a lot) of guidance with your small business content marketing, then pull up a chair and get comfy. This is everything you need to know.
Why is content marketing important for small businesses?
Content is the best way to let your audience get to know you. It allows you to add even more personality, value, and appeal to your business and it has the opportunity to take your audience on a journey. Supporting them with any challenges they might have, offering solutions, and eventually turning them into converting customers.
Content marketing has never been more important because on average, a person consumes 11.4 pieces of content before making a buying decision.
That’s because people need to trust the brand that’s selling to them. And content, such as blog posts, is a brilliant way to build that trust. Why? Because blogs and other content marketing aren’t about selling. Their purpose is to provide value, information, answers to questions, entertainment…
Long gone are the days of Madmen and “shove it down your throats” advertising. Constantly selling to your customers isn’t cool anymore. In fact, it can be downright annoying and a real turn-off.
Content marketing should never be confused with advertising. It isn’t about directly selling your product. The aim is to:
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- Educate
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- Inform
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- Nurture
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- Win them over
This way, your customers will quickly become consumers. It shouldn’t be about the end product, but about your audience. What do they need? What do they care about? How can you help them?
7 steps for successful content marketing
Now you know exactly what content marketing is and why you need it, it’s time to get to the nitty-gritty and actually create your small business marketing plan.
Here are seven easy steps to nail your content marketing.
1. Start a blog
All businesses need a blog.
Whether you’re a giant corporation or a one-person band. A blog is one of the best and most effective forms of content marketing.
It gives your business a voice, it provides valuable content for your customers, it makes you an authority in your industry, and it helps you stand out in today’s digital marketplace. Not only that, it can help drive traffic to your website, boost your visibility online, raise your website in the search engine result pages, and help you build trust with your ideal audience.
Your blog needs to do these things:
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- Be optimised for Google (SEO)
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- Be written in your brand’s tone of voice
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- Understand who your ideal audience is and write for them
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- Feature internal and external links
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- Be consistent
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- Be relevant
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- Have a content plan (don’t just post willy-nilly)
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- Feature a CTA (call to action)
When it comes to writing great content for your small business blog, you need to be patient and persistent. It can take a few months for you to start seeing results, this is a long-term play. And it works.
2. Make a lead magnet
A lead magnet is essentially a piece of content you offer as a freebie or for a very small fee (but with very high value).
The purpose of it is to get people to give you their email addresses so you can add them to your email list. And once they’re on your list, you have the opportunity to convert them to paying customers. This is done by taking them through a sales funnel. If they choose to download your lead magnet, they are already warm customers. You can keep their interest and their attention by creating valuable emails catering to their needs.
This form of content marketing is highly effective because they’re already telling you they’re interested in what you have to offer. Just remember to keep the lead magnet and the following emails informative, valuable, and interesting. Especially as you warm them up.
3. Invest in SEO
As a small business owner creating your own content, having a solid understanding of SEO basics is crucial.
Successful content marketing means optimised content marketing. Understanding how to research and include long-tail keywords will provide a great user experience for your audience, and elevate your content in search results.
Take some time to hone your SEO skills and create a strategy to research relevant keywords that are going to push your business. Creating high-quality content also helps boost your SEO efforts. Ensure you keep it long-form, clear, and fluff-free. Keep your content formatted, make use of your headers, and make it skimmable and easy to read.
4. Optimise for mobile
When you have written a great piece of content, you need to make sure it’s optimised for mobile. The more mobile assets you have, the better it’ll serve your clients and readers. That’s because the majority of content is now consumed on a mobile device.
So, if your content looks bad on a mobile screen, then chances are people aren’t going to bother to read it. User experience is everything. If you don’t have the budget to invest in apps or other mobile extras, then do whatever you can to ensure your content is mobile-friendly, easy to read, and simple to navigate.
5. Repurpose content
Repurposing your content marketing efforts is a great way to get more bang for your buck.
Your high-quality, engaging content should be shared with as many people as possible, and repurposing is the easiest and most cost-effective way to do this.
How can you turn that inspiring blog post you wrote into several pieces of engaging content?
That blog is filled with helpful information, valuable content, great ideas that will make interesting graphics and quotes, and so much more.
Just think about how you can repurpose it to get even more ROI on your investment. Turn it into a social media series, transform it into an Instagram Live, could you repurpose it and bulk it out and turn it into a lead magnet or newsletter? You’ll be amazed at how much you can create from one piece of brilliant content.
6. Get on featured snippets
A featured snippet is that little information box you see at the top of a Google search engine result page.
A featured snippet provides a snapshot answer to a user’s question. If a user is satisfied with the answer the snippet provides them with, then they’ll stop searching. If it’s your snippet they’ve spotted, then you’ve just won yourself a potential client.
Now, there isn’t a secret formula for getting featured. But these tips will help:
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- Create user-friendly and easy to read content
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- Structure your data. This helps Google understand the content better when it comes to scanning it
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- Optimise your content using SEO best practices
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- Answer specific questions and create a step-by-step post
7. Don’t forget to share
Now that you’ve created some truly epic content, it’s time to share it.
Yes. You can wait for the organic traffic, which will come, but it’s good to give it a helping hand. Include your content in your social media plan and share it out over the course of a few days or even weeks. If it’s evergreen content then even better, as you can reshare it again months and even years later.
Encourage your readers to engage with the content and share it. If it’s content that has been created with them in mind then it’ll always appeal to them. You can also share the content in your emails, newsletters, videos. Sharing really is caring.
Make your small business content marketing a breeze
The secret to creating successful content is to always keep your customers in mind. And to understand how your services or products can help them.
When it comes to planning your content marketing strategy, consider what you want to achieve with your content. Is it to make more sales? Drive leads and traffic? Grow your audience? Once you know this, it’ll be so much easier to create the right content for the right audience.
And, remember. Keep it educational, informative, nurturing, and valuable. If you need some help figuring out your content plan, then click here, and let’s get your plan sorted!