AI has reared its head again lately, particularly with the launch of ChatGPT – an incredibly impressive tool that might just be the most intelligent form of AI we’ve seen to date.

Naturally, this has got people asking the question: can AI replace human writers?

In this article, we’ll take a look at ChatGPT and answer that question.

What is ChatGPT?

A lot has been written about ChatGPT already so we’ll keep it light.

In a nutshell, ChatGPT is a chatbot. Think of Siri and Alexa – you ask them questions in a conversational manner, and it hopefully gives an answer that’s correct and demonstrates it understood the question.

ChatGPT works similarly but with text.

Of course, it’s not the first tool for this but it is remarkably impressive. People have excitedly taken to Twitter explaining that ChatGPT has written things in different code languages, opening the possibility of it being used to create software, for example.

It’s also shown a capacity for understanding feedback, such as if its initial response wasn’t accurate or sufficient. Or, if it did give accurate information but you’d like it presented in a table instead of a block of text.

And that’s the crux of what makes ChatGPT so intriguing and impressive: it doesn’t just fetch answers like Alexa, it has taken a clear step forward in how helpful it can be.

Take this example from Twitter, of somebody using it to create a weight loss plan – starting with a calorie target, then a breakdown of the macros to eat, a shopping list, and a workout plan. There’s still a question mark over how accurate it is and how quickly you could get the information from Google, but it’s clear why this is an exciting and captivating progression.

https://twitter.com/anothercohen/status/1599531037570502656?s=20&t=AmAtdL7gXQ77l-9Qnk9VaQ

To hear the advocates speak, you might start to worry that ChatGPT will have almost everyone out of work in a few months.

But will it?

Is ChatGPT overhyped?

Nobody wants to be like Steve Ballmer when the iPhone was released:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U

That reaction will live on in infamy, as a man who failed to see his business failing to see the evolutionary change ahead.

Human writers could do the same: “We’re selling millions of phones and Apple sells no phones and it doesn’t appeal to businesses because it doesn’t have a keyboard.”

Except, of course, we all know what happened next.

So the big question is, will ChatGPT, and AI more broadly, replace human writers?

The answer is nuanced.

Over a longer period of time, will AI eventually be good enough for businesses to use it in various capacities, reducing the need for human writers on everything?

Yes.

Here and now, is it good enough to replace writers for everything?

No.

Is it good enough to replace writers for some tasks?

Yes.

What are your expectations of AI?

First, let’s acknowledge that not all AI tools are equal. Where ChatGPT seems to be a vast improvement, most commercial AI writing tools are still rudimentary. Or, to be blunt, they’re not good.

But there are a few that produce decent output.

And instead of being dog-eat-dog competition with human writers, the reality is they can co-exist and writers themselves can use them. Some have shown promise for creating good headlines and blog outlines, so it’s certainly conceivable for humans to leverage that as additional support.

They’re not quite there yet for producing entire articles though.

Which brings us to the most important point:

AI is only as good as the operator

Some clients hire writers because they know what they need but they need extra support.

Other clients need help with strategy too, meaning they aren’t best positioned to spot “bad” content or they will have questions to understand why something was done.

What AI hasn’t yet demonstrated is an ability to answer those questions or produce content without clear instruction.

It’s one thing for a subject matter expert to give detailed instructions and say “Hey, look how impressive this output is!”

But what happens when someone without that same level of understanding opens an AI tool and gives it basic, unclear instructions – something like “The business is finance and we want a blog about retirement.”

The output isn’t going to be nearly as impressive. Nor will the tool answer questions on why it made certain decisions. And it certainly isn’t going to ask you questions about what the goals are for this content, then create a detailed plan, the content outlines, inter-linking pages as part of a topic cluster approach, create different types of blog content, and know how to break “finance” down into different topics for readers at different stages e.g. “When to start planning for retirement” and “How to approach your pension when you’re two years away from retiring.”

In conclusion

AI is here to stay.

In the future, it will probably be good enough to replace a number of the tasks that human writers are currently needed for.

But that’s not to say it will make us entirely redundant, and the tools currently available don’t pass the sniff test for being good enough – yet.

Right now, they appear to be more of a tool for writers rather than direct competition.

One caveat to that: not all writers are equal. Sadly, there are lots of writers who simply aren’t very good – creating articles that aren’t clear, aren’t easy or enjoyable to read, are poorly researched, or won’t make any positive impact on your business. Those people will be the first to be wiped out by AI, and there’s an argument to be made that some AI tools can already threaten them.

For more experienced writers, though, it’s a different story.

If you want to work with people who know how to create content that makes a positive difference to business, content that readers find helpful, engaging, and makes them take action, and who can explain their approach, we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

We’re going to let you in on a little secret.

Ready?

Your customer doesn’t want to be blatantly sold to.

They don’t want buy me NOW crammed down their throat.

They want to get to know who you are, what you do, and see how you can help them before parting with their money. They want to discover how your product, services, or expertise can improve their lives. Building up their trust in you, before committing to being a paying customer.

And this is where content creation and blog writing come in. 

Small business content writing is all about making a connection with your audience. By making your business a credible and knowledgeable resource on topics that your customer is searching for, you’re more likely to get discovered by them – and keep them.

But creating a winning content marketing strategy and dedicating time to researching and content writing takes a lot of time, effort, understanding, and expertise. And, as a small business owner, this just might not be feasible for you to take on alone. 

In this article, we’re going to talk through why small business content writing is so important, and why outsourcing to a content agency might be the answer to your prayers. 

Small business content writing is a must

OK, we hear you.

You’re probably thinking, well, I’ve already created my website and I sometimes send out emails and post on my social media, isn’t that enough to get seen?

Well. No.

Those things are important, but regular content writing is where the real magic happens.

And, yes. It is a lot of extra work, but the benefits of a solid content marketing strategy far outweigh the work involved – especially if you outsource your content to a reputable content agency.

That’s because content marketing is a crucial tool for reaching potential customers and getting Google to notice you. And, as a small business, you might be working with a smaller budget, which means things like paid ads might not be doable. Content such as blog writing can maximise your ROI and help you stand out in a competitive market.

Unlike conventional old-school marketing and advertising (you know, the kind of stuff that forces itself on an audience like an annoying door-to-door salesman), content marketing is based on choice. Your content is created to engage, help and serve your audience by answering questions, providing value, and being genuinely useful.

And quality blog posts are one of the best ways to achieve this.

Why content writing is essential for your small business

Let’s have a look at some of the most important factors you should include when you’re planning out your content.

Customer research

Before you start working on your blogs, you need to know who you’re writing for.

Because it doesn’t matter how amazing your content is, if it doesn’t appeal to your ideal audience’s wants and needs then they just won’t be interested, and your content will remain in the dark, lonely crevices of the search engines.

Your content needs to connect deeply and profoundly. It needs to answer those questions they have niggling away, providing them with the help or entertainment they need. And in order to do that, you need to do some deep diving customer research.

Creating a kind of customer avatar – your dream client.

You can email surveys and questionnaires to existing clients, or even create a fun Q&A on your social media to see what makes them tick. There are also plenty of places you can go online to get some valuable insights and give your content an edge. Yes, it takes time, but once you nail it, it will serve your content for years to come.

• • Amazon reviews – find a product on Amazon that’s in the same niche as your business and read through the reviews. They will tell you what the customer loved and didn’t love about it helping you write content that addresses those things specifically

• • Online forums – think places like Google Answers, Quora, Reddit, Facebook groups, etc, where you have online communities discussing your particular topic. They can be an absolute goldmine

• • YouTube comments – find videos aimed at your community and read the comment section. They can tell you exactly what your community wants

• • Answer the Public – a great (free) online tool that gives you every useful phrase and question people are typing into Google about a certain topic

• • Google Trends – similar to Answer the Public where you type in a search term and it spits out data about how it has trended over time, letting you know how relevant or popular it is

Spend time researching your ideal customer, and pretty soon you’ll have all the insights you need to write blogs that will make them purr. 

Relevant keywords

You’ve heard about SEO, you might even know a thing or two about it, but do you understand enough to make your content optimised for your customers and Google?

Writing the best content for your audience is all about understanding what they need. Now you have spent time researching who your ideal client is and what makes them tick, you need to know what they’re searching for on Google, so you can create compelling, engaging, and valuable content that they’ll love.

Keywords are one of the best ways to do this. Keyword research, based on what you know about your audience, will help you nail down the words, phrases, and questions, allowing you to create a content marketing strategy focused on what they need. 

You can use free, freemium, or paid keyword research tools, or even just good old Google to find your keywords. Make a list, as long as you want, and use that list to start generating blog titles and other content ideas. 

A great headline

Your headline is the first – and maybe even the only – impression you’ll make on a prospective reader. Without it, the rest of your content may as well not even exist.

A great headline should catch their attention, communicate a message, create intrigue, and make a promise of a benefit to the reader. 

Never underestimate how important your headline is.

Legendary copywriter Gene Schwartz often spent an entire week on just the headline and opening paragraph of his sales letters. Why? Because persuasive writing takes time. The better your headline is, the better the chances are of getting your content read.

As a rule, headlines should:

• • Be USEFUL to the reader

• • Provide a sense of URGENCY

• • Convey the idea that the main benefit is somehow UNIQUE

• • Do all of the above in an ULTRA-SPECIFIC way

And when you write your headline, make sure that your content delivers on the promise it makes. If your headline is How to Write Like a Professional Copywriter in Under a Week, make sure that is what you’re giving your audience.

Making promises in your headline and underdelivering in your content (hello clickbait) will cause your reader to lose trust in you…and before you know it, they’ll never bother to read anything you write again. Let alone buy from you.

Structuring your unique content

With blog writing, nothing can turn a person off quicker than being faced with a long page of chunky text, huge paragraphs, and massive sentences.

Your reader will see all that and think nope, that looks like way too much hard work to read. I’ll read something else.

We’re naturally skim readers. Our brains don’t process huge chunks of text well. Our eyes need breaks.

Even what we did just there.

Short sentences. Small paragraphs. It makes this post so much easier to read, right?

Structure your content using headlines and subheads, make sentences bold and italicised when applicable. And don’t forget the power of breaking your text up using lists. Bullet point and number lists help format your content, creating nice, bite-sized pieces of information that can provide a real benefit for the reader.

And when you format your content like this, your reader will like it, and so will Google. The Google bots find SEO-formatted copy like this easy to scan and index, helping it decide where to place you in the search engines. 

Blog writing can boost your business in no time

Content marketing, such as blog writing, is a great way to organically reach potential customers, making it a vital part of your marketing and business strategy.

Providing value to your ideal audience is a winning way to grow your audience and increase overall sales.

If you want to get a jump on creating unique content for your business, but you don’t have the time or know-how to make it work, then you don’t have to be at a disadvantage. Our team of professional and highly-experienced content writers is on hand to help. Get in touch and let’s talk about how one of our content packages can help turn your content confusion into content clarity. 

You know that content marketing is important for SEO.

It helps you get noticed by both the Google overlords and your ideal customer. 

But implementing a great content marketing strategy doesn’t happen overnight. And there are a number of things you need to know and understand in order to make your SEO work. 

So, where do you start? Read on, because we’re here to show you how to perfect your SEO and implement it to create an effective content marketing strategy. 

Why is SEO important for content marketing?

Or should that be, why is content marketing important for SEO? The truth is, you can’t create effective content without considering SEO and your SEO is kind of pointless without a great content marketing strategy. 

Which is why both need a hell of a lot of consideration and effort.

Content marketing is a way of reaching your audience and communicating with them in a valuable, interesting, and entertaining way. It helps you build a relationship with your dream audience, earn their trust, and (hopefully) their loyalty and business. In addition to this, content marketing helps with SEO. 

A good content marketing strategy involves growing and generating traffic through user-focused content that is both high-value and educational, helping to draw in your audience’s interest and engage them with your content. 

So, what does this have to do with SEO?

SEO and content are interconnected and complement each other. Without creating high-quality content (the kind Google likes and rewards) you can’t realise the full benefits of SEO and how it can elevate your business. Motivating your audience to hang around longer, improving your rankings and traffic, and creating a loyal fan base. Creating consistent optimised content helps achieve this. 

Why is SEO valuable for your content marketing strategy?

Google processes almost 7 billion searches a day.

That’s a lotta Googling!

And when you’re busy Googling “what is SEO” Google is hard at work filtering out the wheat from the chaff to give you the most useful and relevant results for your search query. And those are the ones that make it to the top of the SERPs (aka the search results). 

But, they don’t get there through a popularity contest. 

They make it to the holy grail of page one by being ranked as the most useful and valuable content on the web for that particular query. This means when the content was created, it was done so with the user’s intent in mind. The number one rule in SEO. The user and their experience must come first. 

According to Google, you need to make sure your content is:

• Useful and informative. Add as much valuable and relevant information as possible
• More valuable than other sites and provides more helpful information
• High quality. Your content should always be specific, unique, educational, entertaining, and high-quality. Focus on your reader’s experience first and foremost
• Engaging and readable. Bring your reader into your world and make it a personal and interactive experience
• Credible. Add links, reviews, testimonials, do your own research, and create a writer’s bio to boost your reputation and trustworthiness. You want to show your readers that YOU are an authoritative voice in your industry

OK. So now you know why SEO is vital for a great content marketing strategy. Let’s have a look at some ways you can perfect your SEO strategy to give your content the boost it needs.

5 simple ways to boost your SEO strategy

You don’t need to be an SEO guru to create an effective SEO strategy. Just follow these simple and easy-to-implement tips.

1. Know your keywords

Before you start creating your kick-arse content, you need to know which keywords your ideal audience is using to find solutions to their problems. Problems you can solve.

This means getting busy with keyword research. 

You can do this by using a keyword research tool (there are free, freemium, and paid-for tools to choose from) or doing your own simple research on Google. Step inside your customer’s shoes and think about what you would type into Google to find a solution to your query. 

Google is great for keyword research as it gives you ideas for what other people have searched for in relation to your search. Make a list of all the possibilities and keep going until you have a solid list of words and phrases that you can use in your content. 

2. Know your goals

Another super important step to help with your SEO and content creation is understanding your goals. What do you want to achieve with your content?

Is it to ramp up your traffic? Attract a new audience? Improve conversions? Create engagement? 

Whatever it is, there’s a content plan for it! Blog posts drive traffic to your site, email marketing improves conversions, social media posts create engagement. When done right, of course. 

When creating your content strategy, ensure you have your goals in mind. They will help shape your writing and give you a clear outline and definition as to what you want to achieve with your content. 

3. Know your audience

You know the old saying, “If you try and sell to everyone then you’ll sell to no one.” Well the same is true with your content. 

If you try and create content and include keywords that are too vague, then you’re going to end up reaching no one. In order to create an effective content marketing strategy, you have to know your audience.

And we mean really know them.

Your content has to provide value to their specific needs. Remember the first rule of SEO? Write for your audience. How are you going to do that if you don’t know them?

This is where creating a customer avatar really comes in handy.

This vital research will help you understand your ideal audience’s goals and values, demographic information, challenges and pain points, objections and roles, the way they like to speak, the brands they like…essentially, it’s a detailed profile of your ideal customer. And when you understand your customer and know them, you’ll have a much easier time creating optimised content for them. 

4. Update your content

How often do you update your website?

Having a regularly updated and refreshed website helps boost SEO rankings, especially when it comes to keywords and relevant content. 

If you want to increase your site’s popularity and drive more traffic, you need to give people a reason to keep coming back. What does this mean? As well as producing high-quality and keyword-targeted content, your content marketing needs to be relevant, recent, and fresh. 

Regularly updated content is viewed as one of the best indicators of a site’s relevancy. Audit your content frequently and make any necessary updates to improve it. 

5. Make your content mobile-friendly and easy to navigate

People consume most of the digital content they read on a smartphone or tablet. 

And because of this, every piece of content you create, including your website, needs to be mobile-optimised and simple to navigate on a small screen as well as a desktop. 

Text needs to be broken down into easy-to-read chunks. Use SEO strategies such as headlines, subheads, links, and optimised images to make your content easy to skim and take in. Mobile SEO focuses on the same integral themes – high performance, great user experience, and high-quality content. 

Creating a great content marketing strategy takes time

But it doesn’t have to be hard. By understanding how an SEO strategy can boost your content marketing efforts, you’re already halfway there.

Remember, you don’t need to be an SEO guru to get started. Just having a basic understanding of SEO will pay off massively. And as long as you put your audience front and centre of your content, you really can’t go wrong.

Need a little boost creating awesome content that speaks to your ideal customer? Then we’d love to help. Take a look at our content packages, and let’s chat about how we can help you rank on page one. 

If you’re not using SEO to boost your content marketing then you might as well say cheerio to your chances of ranking highly on Google.

That’s no exaggeration. Using search engine optimisation is a must for getting your content noticed and seen. This, in turn, gets your business seen by those you’re trying to reach. Giving you the best opportunity to build a trusted following and…

drumroll…

conversions.

But, what do you do when you don’t have the time or know-how to create epic SEO-driven content?

Outsource!

By outsourcing to a great content marketing agency that understands how to write content to get you ranking highly, you’ll soon start showing up on page one – making your target audience click, read, and hanker for more!

Benefits of outsourcing to a content marketing agency

When you don’t have the time or expertise to create consistent, quality content for your business, you have three choices:

1. Ignore it and lose out on the plethora of benefits content marketing can bring your business, including ranking highly in the search engines.
2. Try and do all the research, planning, and writing yourself (as well as run your business) and get completely floored by the overwhelm of it all.
3. Outsource to a professional content marketing agency and reap the benefits without having to break a sweat.

Let’s look at one of our favourite reasons why you need to work with a content marketing agency – expertly written, quality content that is customer-focused and search engine optimised. 

SEO will help expand your business online, and professional content writers know how to do it. As well as being experienced writers, they will also have access to a whole heap of tools and resources to make your content fly up the search rankings.

This can include things such as content research tools, SEO optimisers, grammar and plagiarism checkers, competitor trackers, automation tools, and more.

Suddenly, a writer isn’t just a writer, but an expert all-rounder who knows how to harness the power of keyword research, flawless formatting, and quality-written content that speaks to your ideal audience and follows all the rules to rank highly on Google.

SEO tactics to help you rank highly

In order to get your content to rank highly, your content agency will know all the ins and outs of effective search engine optimisation.

Outsourcing content marketing takes this weight off your shoulders, but it’s a good idea to be familiar with some of these practices, so you have an understanding of what SEO is and how it can help your content rank highly.

So, let’s have a look at some of them.

Extensive keyword research

In order for your content agency to create captivating and valuable content for your business, they’ll need to know which keywords you want to rank for.

Some agencies offer keyword research as part of their service, while others will take the keywords you’ve researched and work with them. But, what is keyword research?

Keyword research is SEO bread and butter and it’s crucial for creating useful content that your audience is searching Google for. Not only does it help you identify how popular certain search words or phrases are, but it shows you how competitive they are, and how likely you’ll be to rank for them.

Keyword research also helps you map out ideas for content by showing you the kind of topics your audience is interested in, and what queries they have, so you can create awesome content to help them. 

You can use free or freemium tools to help you in your search, as well as spend a bit of time doing some good old-fashioned Googling yourself. Once you have an extensive list of words and phrases to target, you can start planning your epic content.

Valuable blog posts

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: a blog can be one of your greatest marketing assets, and one that’ll help you (if done right) get noticed by Google and be seen by your target audience. 

Blogging boosts your brand awareness and helps generate more traffic to your website. When outsourcing content marketing, the writers you work with understand the importance of creating great content for your blog. They know that blogging improves your SEO in many ways by increasing the number of pages on your site, updating your website regularly, and providing internal and external links – which are all great for SEO.

A well-written and quality blog also increases brand awareness and helps build trust with your ideal audience. And the more your audience trusts you, the more likely they’ll be to purchase from you.

Formatting for SEO

Weaving keywords seamlessly into your content is just one aspect of on-page SEO. A great content agency will have writers who understand that format and structure are everything when it comes to both Google and your audience.

No one likes to read a huge, long chunk of text. 

When you click on a site and see this, your brain automatically thinks, nope. I can’t be bothered to read this. So you click off and carry on with your search.

This is where SEO best practices such as headlines and formatting come into their own.

Utilise your H tags and the headline hierarchy. We’re skim readers by nature, so your content needs to be skimmable and scannable. Think short, easy-to-read sentences, break your content into bite-size paragraphs, and use headlines, titles, and lists to make your content easier to read. 

These tactics allow the eye to flow down the page, helping readers to get the information they’re searching for quickly and easily.

Outsourcing to a content marketing agency can save you time and effort

When you’re busy running a business, the last thing you need is to spend hours upon hours learning about SEO and content writing. Especially if writing isn’t your strong suit or you just don’t enjoy it.

Working with a dedicated content agency can send your SEO soaring, taking the pressure off of you and allowing you to get back to what you love. 

If you’re ready to kick start your content and get your ideal audience clicking on your website, then take a look at our content packages and let us do the hard work for you. 

If you’ve ever wondered how content marketing works, you’re not the only one.

Content marketing can cause confusion.

What is it?

How does it work?

Is it just social media?

This uncertainty can make managers reluctant to spend money on it. Although it’s a highly effective form of marketing, tracking the ROI can be trickier than some other types of marketing. With paid ads, for example, you can directly track your spend with your leads and conversions.

By comparison, content marketing generally takes longer to start driving results, and tracing the customer journey from finding you to buying from you typically has more steps. This shouldn’t put you off though: it’s entirely possible to monitor the success of your content marketing and to calculate its ROI. Plus, unlike paid ads, the impact of content grows over time – meaning the more you publish and the longer a piece is live, the more views you’ll receive.

How content marketing works: the principles

According to the Content Marketing Institute:

“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

Unlike running adverts, most content isn’t designed to explicitly sell. Rather, you’re publishing information to help your audience. Your content answers their questions, enhances their understanding, and ultimately provides value to them. This is the stage where we turn to Google with a question, and read a blog or watch a video to get the answer.

This is an advantage of content marketing over paid ads: the latter is primarily a tactic for selling to people who are ready to buy right now. This means instant sales, but a smaller audience because most people aren’t ready to buy at that specific moment. (This isn’t to imply ads aren’t effective, just that their purpose is complementary to content rather than a direct replacement.)

Content works in a different way: we, as potential customers, seek out specific information at different stages of our buying journey. On day one, we might be researching the benefits of something or how to accomplish a task – like which tyres to put on a car or whether life insurance is needed.

After that, we may start looking into the different types and comparing one brand against another.

We continue this process, gradually increasing our knowledge until we’re ready to make a decision.

The content marketing funnel

This process of acquiring more knowledge and becoming more familiar with a service, product, or company is known as a funnel, and it’s a crucial part of effective marketing.

Unfortunately, it’s also where a lot of marketers go wrong.

Often, content marketers will only consider one stage of the customer journey, and it’s usually the stage of the customer being ready to buy. There’s logic to this: by talking to people who are ready to buy, you’d hope for quicker sales. 

The downside is you completely ignore a much wider pool of potential customers.

With a funnel, you have content that addresses the different stages a customer goes through:

• Informative content that answers top-level questions, for people who are curious about something but aren’t yet ready to buy
• Content for people that have a problem and are exploring ways to solve it. “Problem” can be anything from a leaking hosepipe to wanting a six-pack
• Then you have content for people who are actively looking for a solution. This is where they’re weighing up their options, and your content will put you on their list of choices
• The next stage is where they’re starting to make a decision. This content goes into more depth, because the customer is deciding not only which solution they want, but which company they think is best
• Finally, the stage where they’re ready to buy

By creating content that helps people in the earlier stages of the funnel, you earn goodwill and trust. Those potential customers will come back to you each time they want to learn more, and the trust increases the chances that you’re the company they’ll turn to when they’re ready to buy.

On the other hand, if you only appeal to people who are ready to buy already, you have two problems:

1. You’ve alienated a large pool of potential customers
2. You’re talking to people who have likely been following content from other companies and built trust with them. Your content now has to work incredibly hard to win those people away from their preferred businesses.

The takeaway: consider the different stages your buyers go through and create content for each of those stages. This will make you more relevant, more useful, and help you to always have a fuller pipeline.

How to automate content marketing – and its results

By this stage, you might be thinking this sounds like a lot of work. But actually it doesn’t need to be.

The beauty of content marketing is that much of it can be entirely automated.

You’ll need to regularly create and release new content (which can be outsourced to save you time), which is what will help new people discover you.

This new content can link to previous pieces and put people into your funnel, and with automation  you only need to set it up once.

Let’s say your content is your blog. You publish new posts, and each post has a call to action to download something or join your newsletter. The download you offer only has to be created once and can stay on your website for as long as it remains relevant. Ideally you would also have an email sequence created, and when someone downloads that resource or joins your newsletter, the sequence is automatically triggered and sends them a series of emails on your chosen schedule. These emails can include more information about you, links to additional resources to help them, and a call to action to talk to you or buy from you.

In other words, this automated funnel turns visitors into buyers without you having to do any additional work. Plus, you’ll be able to see the performance analytics for each blog and email, so you’ll know exactly what people read and clicked on to become a paying customer.

That’s content marketing in a nutshell! If you’d like to find out more or talk about your own content strategy, get in touch today.

When you want to go online, do you normally use your laptop or your smartphone?

Chances are, you reach for your phone.

More than 90% of internet users use mobile devices to go online. So, what does that tell us from a business perspective? That mobile marketing strategies are essential to help your business get noticed and grow.

And having some great mobile marketing strategies in place will help your content marketing efforts soar.

Why are mobile marketing strategies so important?

Having a solid content marketing plan is crucial for any business to get you seen by your ideal audience. And as more than five billion people own mobile devices, having mobile-friendly content should be a priority. 

Especially as most people make purchases after using their smartphone to get more information about a service or product. That’s a lot of additional sales!

Now, before you panic, don’t worry. A lot of the time there are simple techniques or changes you can make to your current plan in order to win over the mobile crowd. And by doing this, you’ll have the benefit of reaching a far bigger, wider audience – improving your brand awareness and increasing those conversion rates. 

Mobile marketing strategies to help your business thrive

A solid mobile marketing strategy needs to consider multiple channels in order to reach as wide an audience as possible. But which channels you use, and what type of content you create, depends on the audience you want to target.

Ready to start adapting your content to make it mobile-friendly? Just follow these 5 mobile content tips and start reaching a wider online audience.

#1 Make it readable and snappy

Your site needs to be mobile-friendly, and Google will penalise your ranking if it’s not. How your site looks on a desktop is completely different to how it looks on a small, mobile screen. 

This should really be your first step when considering a mobile marketing strategy. 

All the menus and content need to be displayed well for users, and the content needs to be formatted to make it easy to read, skim, and navigate. This often means making headlines and content shorter and snappier.

#2 Loading time needs to be speedy

Nothing turns people off of a website more than a sloooow loading speed. You click on a link to take you to a website and if it takes longer than a second or two to load, you just lose your patience, hit the back button, and scroll onto the next option on the search engine results page.

Right?

A slow site will drive people away. Before they’ve even had the chance to read all the awesome content you’d created. And since 2018, Google has used page speed as a ranking signal for mobile search as well as desktop search. 

So make sure you check your site’s speed and audit it for any speed-related issues. 

#3 Embedded links on social media

Social media is a funny old thing. 

Just when you think you’ve got it sussed, along comes Facebook with a name and attitude change, or there goes Instagram mixing up its algorithm forcing you to create Reel after Reel. But one good thing that Instagram has come up with is a new feature that allows you to share links on your Stories.

Why is this so good for your mobile marketing strategy? Because you can instantly share content, blog posts, articles etc on your social media, giving your follows immediate access to your content. So, what are you waiting for? Get sharing!

#4 Mobile-friendly emails

If email marketing is a part of your content plan, then ensuring your emails are optimised for mobile is essential. As the majority of people check their emails on their smartphones, the last thing you want them to see is a clanky and difficult-to-read email that you designed for desktop viewing. 

Some of the main points to consider when creating mobile-friendly emails are:

• Keep your email under 600 pixels wide
• Use a larger font size than usual
• Design your email in a single-column template
• Make your call to action compelling and distinct
• Don’t stack links (it just looks messy and off-putting)
• Keep your subject lines short
• Break up text so it doesn’t look too chunky and difficult to read

And, most importantly, test your email on different mobile devices so you get a clear idea of how it will look to your audience.

AdWords to drive traffic for mobile users

If you use AdWords, have you optimised them to reach mobile users? If not, now is the time, because you can use Google AdWords’ targeting options to ensure you drive traffic specifically for mobile use. 

You can choose 3 different ad types to target those smartphone users, depending on your needs. There are mobile preferred ads that allow you to customise your messaging specifically to people on smartphones or tablets. Then you have call-only ads. These are designed to encourage people to call you rather than pop over to a website. Then there are click and call ads, which allow people to either click or call, depending on which option they prefer. 

So, nip over to your Google AdWords account and start optimising. 

Mobile-friendly content is the way to go

With the majority of the world’s internet users using smartphones or tablets to access the online world, creating mobile content is a must!

By coming up with mobile marketing strategies to support your business, you’ll be able to reach more people, help them find more information about your business with the long-term goal of converting them to customers. 

Sound good? Then get in touch! We specialise in creating content that mobile devices love, helping you to achieve your goals. 

Busy business owners, this one’s for you!

The time has come where you’ve finally admitted it.

You need help.

You can’t possibly do everything yourself and, more to the point, you don’t want to. You started your business with a dream of making a living doing what you love. What you didn’t envision was the amount of work it would take to push your business online. The website, the emails, the list building, the funnels, the social media posts, the blog posts, and everything in between.

Yep. We’re talking about content marketing, and it’s essential for pushing your business forward, getting Google to notice you, and making your dream audience swoon at your feet. But, like most things, it takes a lot of time, effort, and skill to get your content marketing right.

So, what can you do? 

Outsourcing to professional content marketers is the secret sauce to cooking up killer content for your biz. And if you’re not sure where to start, or what you need to look for when choosing the right content marketers, then never fear. Our guide has everything you need to know.

Why outsourcing to content marketers is a game-changer

If you ever feel unsure about what content to create, how to choose content topics, or how to write in a way that both Google and your ideal audience love, then outsourcing to content marketers is the golden ticket you need.

But showing up day after day with fresh, enticing, valuable, informative, and shareable content is difficult. It’s time-consuming. And it’s a heck of a lot of work. 

It’s important though. Studies show that blogging can lead to 55% more website visitors! And, more importantly, professional content marketers know how to do it well. 

Outsourcing to content marketers comes with a plethora of benefits. As well as having a professional create your content, you save money by outsourcing instead of employing, save on overheads, are able to keep control of the tone and message of your content, and a whole lot more. 

Choosing the right content marketers

Knowing why outsourcing your content can make such a difference, it’s time to choose the right content marketers for your needs.

There are a few essential qualities that you need to look for when choosing the right content marketer for you. But first, you need to assess your content marketing goals and what your desired outcomes are.

Take into consideration elements such as the size of your business, your industry, your audience, and your circumstances. Now, think about what you want to achieve with your content. Is it:

• More followers and engagement on social media?
• A larger email list to grow your following?
• Engaging, educational and valuable blog posts?
• To rank higher on Google for your chosen keywords?
• Increase conversions?

Or, maybe a mix of all of the above?

Once you know your goals, you’ll be able to convey them to your outsourced content marketer clearly, ensuring you’re both on the same page, and the valuable words will start flowing. 

To make sure you choose the right writers for your goals, here’s what you need to look for.

Satisfaction guarantee

Does the writer or agency offer some kind of satisfaction guarantee with their work? Ask them if they have a refund policy if the work created doesn’t match up to your initial conversation about your needs. Some agencies offer a refund or guarantee with their work, which is a good sign that they care about their client’s needs first and foremost, and have absolute confidence in their work. (Crosshairs Marketing’s service guarantee promises to pay you if you’re not happy with the first piece of content we deliver).

A solid reputation

Before you speak to the writer or agency, have a look online and check out their website. Read testimonials and reviews and have a browse through their portfolio to see if it clicks. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for online, just ask! See if they have relevant content that matches up with what you’re looking for. If something doesn’t feel right, or they don’t have references or testimonials, then move onto the next.

Professionalism

How do they appear online, on Zoom, or on the phone? Are they reliable and do they show up when you need them to? Do they have a solid background of experience? Do you feel comfortable with how they present themselves and their work? Having a professional and knowledgeable writer should be one of the main priorities when outsourcing content marketing. 

Project management

When working with an outsourced writer, it’s crucial they adhere to deadlines. As such, having proven project management skills are a must. Setting up an editorial calendar such as a Trello board that you both have access to will help keep deadlines in check and communication lines open.

Communication

No one likes to be ghosted! When you’re working with an outsourced writer or agency, communication is key to ensure goals are met, questions are answered, and messaging is clear. That being said, there will be boundaries to take into account (no 9pm or weekend WhatsApps, okay?) But having good communication will help you feel in control and keep your content plans on track.

Subject matter knowledge

A great content marketer should have a wealth of experience writing for different industries or niches – unless they are very niche specific. As such, the writer you choose should understand your industry, product, or service, and have experience in the area that they can bring to the table. But, what if you click with someone who doesn’t have an in-depth knowledge of your industry? As long as they can demonstrate work that matches your needs, then they could still be the diamond you’re looking for.

Brand voice

Your business is unique. As such, you have a brand voice, tone, and style that is yours and yours alone. You don’t want to lose that. It’s what makes your business your business. An experienced content writer should be able to match this. To give yourself peace of mind, ask to see examples of their work where they’ve crafted content matching different brand voices. Good writers are chameleons and their words shouldn’t sound like theirs, but the client’s they’re writing for.

Create the right content and they will come

When outsourcing content marketing, it can feel like you’re putting your life in someone else’s hands. That’s why choosing the right writers to create the best content is essential.

And when your content speaks to your ideal audience, serves their needs, and shows up consistently, then you’re on your way to pushing your business to where you want it to go.

Still unsure of which content agency is right for you? That’s why we’re here. Get in touch and let’s chat about how our team of experienced and professional writers can start creating content that converts.

When you started your business you probably didn’t realise the sheer scale of extras that came with it in order for it to be a success:

• Promoting and engaging on social media.
• Writing emails and newsletters and building your email list.
• Planning and writing regular blog posts.
• Creating an awesome and inspiring content plan to help you rise in the Google ranks and draw in your ideal audience. 

The list goes on and on.

You’re brilliant at what you do. But when it comes to content marketing, you could probably use a little help. 

If you’re feeling the burnout and overwhelm of trying to do it all yourself, then it might be time to outsource your marketing. 

Not sure if outsourcing is for you? If any of these questions sound familiar, then it could be time to outsource your marketing.

Why is content marketing so important for a business?

Content marketing is one of the best ways to reach and attract your ideal audience. When you get your content marketing right, it helps build trust, show you’re an authority figure in your niche, answer your audience’s questions, improve conversions and generate leads.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Here are some more reasons content marketing should be on the top of your agenda:

• Improves brand reputation
• Builds relationships 
• Influences conversions
• Brings new leads in a cost-effective way
• Demonstrates your authority and knowledge
• Sets you apart from your competitors
• Improves your SEO efforts

The goal is to create content that attracts and keeps your target audience, positioning yourself as an industry leader. And, of course, the end game is to drive customer action. 

Content marketing helps brands showcase their value, all while building trust with their audience. And in order for your content marketing to be successful, you need to know and understand who your audience is. What kind of content makes them tick, speaks to them, solves their problems. 

But there is a lot of work involved when it comes to creating a great content marketing plan. Which means it takes up a lot of time. If time is something you’re short of (who isn’t?) then you might want to outsource your marketing to a professional content marketer.

If these questions feel familiar, outsource your marketing

Content marketing is vital for your business. But you won’t get the outcome you need if you don’t have the time or skills to make it happen. 

Answered yes to any of these questions? Then outsourcing will help get your content to where you want it to be.

1 Are you short on time?

When you’re a business owner, spare time is a luxury you just don’t have.

And as your business grows, you’ll get pulled in a million different directions, with more and more priorities and tasks stacking up. This normally means content creation ends up at the bottom of your to-do list pile.

If you need to write a long-form blog post, plus the social media posts to accompany it, and the email to support it, you can see how the content overwhelm can quickly creep up on you. 

We get it!

Researching, writing, and publishing quality content consistently can be a full-time job in itself. And there are only 24 hours in a day…which get guzzled up with other tasks pretty quickly. 

If you’re missing out on lead-generating opportunities such as blog posts simply because you don’t have enough time…it’s time to think about outsourcing. 

2 You can’t afford to hire a full-time content writer

This is a problem a lot of small business owners face. You want to create consistent, quality content, but you just can’t afford to hire a full-time writer.

Outsourcing your content creation is a lot cheaper than hiring a full-time writer. Instead of paying a full-time salary, IT equipment, holiday pay, sick pay, insurance, training, overheads, etc, you’re purely paying for the content you need, and nothing else. 

This makes it a much more affordable option. And if you work with a professional writer, you’ll be able to maintain a high quality of work and a consistent brand voice.

Win-win, we say!

3 You struggle coming up with fresh content ideas

Publishing content on a regular basis makes it very difficult to come up with fresh ideas for your content plan. Having a fresh set of eyes and opinions can make a huge difference to the look and feel of your content.

Outsourcing helps bring new ideas and skills to the table, as the professional writers you bring in already have a wealth of experience creating top-notch content. And the experience and knowledge they’ve previously gained will give you those creative ideas when you’re feeling frazzled and stuck. 

4 Does SEO leave you feeling puzzled?

One of the main advantages of outsourcing a professional content writer is harnessing their knowledge of SEO. 

SEO, or search engine optimisation, is how Google and your dream audience find you. When you optimise content, such as blogs, for SEO, it makes them easier to find and easier to rank higher on Google. 

Professional content writers write for the search engine results pages, as well as your ideal audience. After all, if your audience can’t find your content online, then all that work just goes to waste. Professional writers can use SEO tools to research keywords, create compelling meta descriptions, write in an optimised format using headlines, subheads, lists, and more. Plus, a professional content writer can update your existing content, making it work better for you.

It takes time to learn and understand even the basics of SEO, so outsourcing is a great way to jump on the optimised content bandwagon. 

Outsource your marketing so you can focus on your business

We know how difficult it can be to step back from different parts of your business. But if you’re missing out on potential leads and opportunities, you’re left with little choice.

Outsourcing your content is a great way to keep your content marketing flowing, without losing control. Ensuring your business serves and sells, all while you keep your head.

Fancy giving outsourcing a try? Our team of professional content writers are on-hand to create the content you and your brand deserve, helping you attract your dream audience and convert them to loyal customers. Get in touch today and let’s make your content work for you.

OK, so you’ve started a blog for your business. 

Awesome.

You’ve got some great content written and are ready to share it with your dream audience. Content that you hope will help you rank highly in the search engines, bringing floods of traffic to your site.

The only problem is, it isn’t. 

And the main reason why it isn’t? Because it’s lacking SEO, or search engine optimisation.

In this article, we’re going to share a few essential content writing tips so you can create SEO-loving blog posts that rank higher on Google.

Help your website rank highly with these essential content writing tips

If you have a blog for your business, then you’re probably already aware of the beneficial impact it can have on your site. But If you’ve ever felt the frustration of wondering how to get your blog to rank higher on Google, then we’re here for you!

Follow these essential content writing tips and you’ll be well on your way.

Keyword Research

Keyword research doesn’t have to be super complicated, but it is super important to nail your SEO and rank highly for the keywords you want to be found for.

Using a good keyword tool is a big help when it comes to searching for your perfect keywords, or long-tail keywords for your content.

Keywords should preferably be words that you think your customers are searching for. As well as using a tool, you should do some research on Google. You can’t really optimise your content writing if you don’t know what your customers are searching for – so get into their mindset. 

By doing your own Googling and using a keyword tool, you will get a much better idea of what keywords your customers are looking for and how competitive they are.

There are a few different factors when it comes to keyword research:

• Branded keywords – keywords to do with your brand name. Maybe {your company name + reviews] or [your company name + contact]. To search for these, people already need to know about your brand.
• Unbranded keywords – the words people use to try and find your brand, products you sell, problems you answer, issues you solve, questions you answer, things people search for that your site would solve. These are words that are related to your products, services, and the wider industry, and as people don’t need to know about your brand for these, they’re a great opportunity to get found by new clients and customers

It’s great SEO practice to use both kinds of keywords.

Then, there are the different length keywords:

1. Short tail / Head – a single word
2. Medium tail – 2-4 words
3. Long-tail – 4+ words and more like a question

When you do your research, make a list of all the possible versions of keywords you can incorporate in your content writing. But never stuff keywords! This archaic form of search engine optimisation will make Google frown upon you, and instead of ranking highly, you’ll go the other way. Instead, focus on the reader first and create high-quality content that they’ll enjoy reading, with keywords included organically throughout.

Customer research

We’re not just talking about the little things such as how old they are, what they like to eat for breakfast, and what job they do. We’re talking about going deep into your research and creating a customer avatar. 

In order to do that, you need to dig. You need to hang out (online) where they hang out. Go into forums and sites like Reddit, hop over to the social media platforms they most use and eavesdrop on their discussions and comments, send out a survey or questionnaire via your email list or on your social media channel.

Your content should focus on:

• What are their goals and dreams?
• What do they want or need?
• What problems are they trying to solve? 
• What solutions are they looking for? 

You can also check out sites such as Answer The Public, which is a freemium tool to help you discover what your ideal audience is asking about right now. 

Because SEO really is all about putting the customer first. Search engine optimisation forces you to think about what your customers want and need, making it crucial for your content writing to rank highly.

On-page SEO gives a customer-centric approach to your brand, which is what you want! You can’t think about your brand first. Google hates that! Instead, think about how your brand solves problems for your ideal audience. And this is only something you can do once you’ve got your audience research nailed.

Once you understand your audience, your content writing will always please the SEO overlords.

Formatting content for optimisation

So, you’ve got your content plan, your customer research, and your keyword research done. In order for your content to rank highly, it needs to be formatted correctly.

A big part of on-page SEO is formatting your content in a way that is easy to read, skim, share, and take action with. This is important so the Google bots can scan it easily and understand where it belongs in the search pages. And it is equally important for your readers, so they can quickly and easily find the valuable content they’re searching for.

Luckily, you don’t need to be a professional coder to ace your formatting. You don’t even need to be particularly technical. 

Understanding just a few basic formatting rules are all you need to know to help your content writing rank:

1. An optmised URL. Make sure your URL is clean, simple, and contains your keywords
2. Proper use of title tags – also known as your H tags. Use your H tags in order throughout your content. H1 is the main title, H2 a subtitle, H3 a subtitle of your H2, and so on. This breaks up your content, making it easy to read and skim and catagorise. H tags are also prime real estate for your keywords, so include them if you can
3. Optimised images – if you’re using images in your blog posts then it’s important to optimise them too. Use the alt tag to add a brief description and don’t forget to include a keyword to help search engines understand them
4. Well-written meta description – we’ll get into this a little in the next point, but essentially, your meta description is a snippet of what your blog is about. It shows up under your URL in the search engine results and should be optimised with your primary keyword
5. Internal and external links – try to include a few in your content, especially to high-authority sites related to your content. They’ll show Google where you belong in your industry

Take these simple measures every time you create a piece of content and you’ll start seeing improvements in your rankings.  

Make the most of metadata

You’ve never heard of metadata? 

Professional content writers know that utilising your metadata is an essential component to helping your content rank highly on Google. 

When you look at a search result page, you’ll see that the results all look very similar in format:

• The page title/title tag (name of the page)
• The URL 
• The meta description – about 160 characters describing the content. Here you’ll probably spot a keyword or two if the content writer is doing their job well!

When it comes to where to include your keywords in your content (always remember to keep it natural and organic) there are several sweet spots. These include:

1. As early as possible in your page title (the title of your blog post)
2. The title tag
3. The URL
4. The first paragraph of your blog
5. At least one subheading in your content
6. The alt tags 

Although it might not seem it, these little changes will make a huge impact on how you rank on Google.

And a final few tips…

As well as following the above, we also recommend identifying your top competitors and performing competitor research to see what they’re doing and how you can do it better, posting quality content consistently and regularly, creating a curiosity-driven title to hook your readers, sharing your content on social media, emails, newsletters, videos, and podcasts, keeping to longer length articles (Google loves this), and updating old content to make it as optimised as possible.

Work with content writers to boost your ranking on Google

Part of being a great content writer is understanding what SEO is and how to use it to drive traffic to your site. 

But remember, SEO is not a short-term solution. It has the biggest benefit in the long term, so you can’t think of it as a magic pill. You have to take consistent action to see results. SEO helps your brand visibility increase by bringing consistent growth over time.

Need a little help creating SEO content to help your site rank highly on Google? Our team of professional content writers have all the SEO know-how to help you get there. Get in touch to have a chat about our content packages and let’s get you ranking. 

Even if you’ve never heard of content marketing before, as an entrepreneur or business owner, you’ll definitely have encountered it.

And it’s something you need to be dedicating your time to, because when content marketing is done right, it can take your business to the next level and beyond. Great content creation can help you stand out from your competition and make you more visible and relevant to your ideal audience. 

All at a lower cost than traditional advertising – a big bonus if you’re a new entrepreneur and your resources are limited. But if the thought of creating a content marketing strategy is leaving you quivering in your boots, then read on.

In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know to make your strategy a success.

Why is content marketing important for a small business

“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action.” – Content Marketing Institute

Let’s be real.

Content marketing and having a solid content strategy are essential for every business – no matter how big or small.

The challenge is often that, when you’ve just launched a brand new small business, having a solid content plan is crucial for getting seen, heard, and talked about. And you need all this if you’re going to start converting those potential customers and clients.

Especially if you’re trying to compete with the big companies in your niche.

So, why is small business content marketing so important?

Because it provides value to your customers. It isn’t about selling. Providing meaningful and valuable content helps build trust with your customers, allowing you to build an actual relationship with them. 

Content marketing shows your audience how your services (or products) can solve their problems. 

Quality content marketing also adds to your authority in your industry. This makes you appear knowledgeable and up to date – giving customers the confidence that you are the place to go when they need answers. 

Not to mention content marketing can be hugely cost-effective and deliver a higher ROI than old-school advertising. It can increase conversions, improve brand awareness, boost your revenue and so much more. 

What does a content marketing strategy include?

Everything you create that is seen as valuable and educational for your audience is considered content. 

The content to consider in your strategy includes:

• Blogs
• Emails
• Newsletters
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Social media posts
• Lives, stories, and reels
• Lead magnets
• E-books
• Infographics 

Great content marketing is something that we invite into our lives. It isn’t traditional advertising that rams itself into our faces and asks us to buy something. It’s a way of sharing information and engaging with our audience. It’s permission-based and should feel natural, authentic, engaging, and tailored to your audience. Something we seek out and enjoy consuming, and even share with our friends. 

Tips for creating a winning content marketing strategy for your small business

1. Know your audience

There is no point in spending hours creating amazing content if it doesn’t serve your ideal audience.

So, before you even start brainstorming your content marketing plan, you need to do your research. In-depth, nitty-gritty research on your audience, to make sure you completely understand them, their needs, their interests, and their buying habits. 

There are several ways you can do this, but the most effective include:

1. Conduct questionnaires with current customers and ask their opinion on your services as well as asking questions to understand who they are (purchasing habits, age, income, interests, etc)
2. Ask questions through social media. You can run polls, surveys, Q&A sessions
3. Send out a questionnaire via email and offer an incentive to make it worth their while
4. Research your competitors’ audience and see what content they utilise
5. Hang out where they hang out – social media/forums/Reddit, etc and make notes of what they’re talking about, what pain points they have, language used, etc

The more you know and understand your audience, the better the content you create for them will be.

2. Create a company blog

We’ve harped on about it before, but a blog is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to provide consistent, valuable content for your audience. 

Creating quality blog content focused on your ideal client’s needs is a brilliant way to keep your audience engaged, curious, and wanting more from you! Don’t be afraid to share your knowledge and write interesting and entertaining content that speaks to them. 

Blogging also boosts your search engine optimisation (SEO) rankings and efforts, giving more people the opportunity to find you. 

Digital content is often the first impression consumed by your audience. If your blog offers value, solutions, education, and represents your brand, then you’re on to a winner. Just remember to choose the best blogging platform for your needs and to post consistently. 

3. Don’t try and be everywhere

We know how tempting it is to blast your content everywhere – on every channel, every platform, and every medium. But, you can’t be everywhere. And, more importantly, your ideal audience isn’t everywhere. 

When it comes to social media presence, build it on the channels and platforms your audience uses. If your ideal clients hang out on Instagram and TikTok, then don’t waste your time trying to reach them on LinkedIn. 

Don’t forget, it’s not enough to just have a platform and post content. You need to be active. That means engaging, creating conversation, and being present. So, before you start posting anywhere, make sure you identify your ideal audience (by doing your research) and speak directly to them. 

You can use helpful online tools such as Google Analytics to help determine consumer behaviour online. 

Choose the platforms that work best for you. This includes social media, but also consider things like starting a YouTube channel or podcast if your research shows your audience enjoys consuming this kind of content.

4. Build a content calendar

It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by creating quality content. And the worst thing you can do is scramble around at the beginning of each month firing off bits of content without a solid content marketing plan.

You need to be delivering relevant content in a measured fashion.

Build monthly calendars that you can share with your team (if you have one) to keep you organised and on track. Fill your calendar with your content plan and try and keep ahead as much as possible to give you more time. Add your social media posts, blogs, emails, newsletters, and anything else you want to include in your plan. Most content calendars allow you to assign tasks, comment, move stuff around and add files.

This will keep your plan and content organised, as well as set a precedent with your audience about how often you post and where. 

Consistency is key!

Your small business content marketing done for you

We understand how overwhelming it can be when you’re starting up a new business. And now you know just how vital content marketing and content creation is, it’s like adding a whole new heap of work onto your (already overflowing) lap. 

Content marketing is a must. Your audience wants valuable content from your business. So why not let us help?

Take a look at our bespoke content creation packages, and let’s have a chat about how we can take that overwhelm away – all while giving you business-changing results. We’re so confident in the quality of our work that if you don’t like it, we’ll pay you.