Content Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
There are many ways to deliver value to your audience!
As a small business owner, you may not have a significant budget to spend on marketing your goods and services. This is especially true if you haven't seen much in the way of results through conventional tactics in the past. You may even question whether the cost of marketing is worth it. Firstly, yes, it is, and luckily for you, content marketing is another more cost-effective way to generate new leads and increase visibility or findability in the digital age.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is the engine that drives sales in the online world. When you upload online material (blogs, images, videos, articles, etc.) to promote your small business, to be shared, liked, or commented on by followers or future customers—this is an example of content marketing.
The content you upload is all part of your marketing strategy, and to make the most of this effort, you must develop material that focuses on educating your audience and building trust—all based on your core business objective.
Did you know the similarities between a hamburger sold at McDonald's and content marketing? They're both easy on the wallet. But let's get real here. Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. As you communicate successfully with your audience, it has the potential to change their behavior over time. Not only will this help you sell more, but it will also help you accurately predict your company's growth. Here are some content marketing ideas to help you get started.
Conversion-Bound Website
A company's website serves as their home base, and every content marketing plan revolves around it. Because more than half of consumers research businesses before making a purchase, having a high-quality and dependable platform is essential for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to giant corporations. While some marketers believe in faster routes, taking shortcuts in this regard is likely to discourage potential customers, resulting in higher bounce rates.
On top of that, it's important to understand that creating a conversion-bound website is no simple task, particularly if you have no training in web design, copywriting, and coding. Therefore, if you don't have whatever it takes to build a dream website, hire some experts. Considering that your website is the foundation of your digital marketing efforts, you must ensure it is done right.
Written Material
A good place to begin is with some written content; however, the internet is a vast space, and the mere existence of your blog will not be enough to make it stand out from the competition. You must aim to write articles that present new information, help your target audience in some way, or simply just entertain them—and the best content revolves around all three. Simply put, if your material is well-written, optimized for search engines, and adheres to blogging best practices, you're good to go.
If you often find yourself asking, "What should I write?"—you are in trouble. Instead of asking that question, you should be wondering, "What do my readers want to read?" Effective blogging (aimed to build a brand and boost sales) is focused on what the target audience wants, NOT what you want the audience to read. Here are some foolproof ways to get blog post content ideas any day, every day.
● Start by creating content similar to your most-viewed posts.
● Use Google Search Console (Check out its 'Performance' tab).
● Visit Quora to find what individuals are talking about these days.
● Just like Quora, Reddit is also a treasure trove for content ideas.
● Search for the relevant Hashtags on Twitter, and create something similar.
● Make use of social media analytics. (There's one in nearly every top platform).
● At the end of every post, ask your readers/visitors what they'd like to see next.
● Learn from competitors but never try to copy the stuff they're already producing.
● Follow the "news" in your industry—preferably the controversial ones.
Once you have the content idea that works in your favor, use it to create an editorial schedule for at least three months. Not only will it save you time (you don't want to look for content marketing ideas every day), but it will also bring consistency to your blogging approach, transforming it into a content asset. Having a content asset is essential to building a brand.
Savvy Infographics
Try to recall when you last read a lengthy article or blog post with loads of complicated jargon, where it wasn't easy to make sense of all that was going on. Your audience may feel the same if the content you put out there is not quite comprehensible—and this is where infographics come in. Infographics are visually appealing and simpler to distribute than text, making it far simpler to understand and recall statistical information. Good content is 50% of a successful infographic.
For those concerned with infographics being a thing of the past, note that they have had the most significant increase in the last four years among B2B marketers and were at 67% in 2020. Infographics have always been—and will always be—a powerful tool to deliver information. Don't worry if you don’t have the required designing skills. There are hundreds of customizable infographic templates available online to provide a helping hand even if you have a tight budget.
However, even if you are familiar with the infographic fundamentals, there is something remarkable about the professional approach. An experienced infographic designer will not only think about the components of the design but will also concentrate on the other aspect of content “marketing” - the marketing. They will create a design that draws in your target demographic, boosts user engagement, and expands your customer base. So, DIY approach or professional infographic designer, the choice is yours.
Interviews Industry Rockstars
Rockstars may be found in every field imaginable. For example, Elon Musk is at the helm of startups, Jony Ive is available to designers, and then there's marketing guru Seth Godin. Due to their accomplishments and years of expertise, they are a veritable treasure mine of pointers, strategies, and recommendations your audience is itching to pick up. Before setting up an interview, one must have a strong familiarity with their qualifications and experience.
Start off by determining what their backstories are and what it is about them that makes them so exceptional. Look for marketing advice and think about what your readers may learn from them. Simply put, create subjects that are relevant to the situation. This way, you can connect their area of expertise to something you already know your audience would like. You may ask:
● How do you manage to be so good at what you do?
● What is the key to your incredible level of productivity?
● What are some of the most significant errors you've made?
Digital Advertising
Digital advertising has become a significant component of modern-day content marketing strategies—and if it's not part of your small business marketing strategy, it should be. The transition businesses have gone through to migrate and adapt to the changes that society has undergone may be considered digital advertising. After all, if 4.18 billion individuals connect to the internet with their smartphones, your small business must also be visible to increase its relevance and brand recognition.
One of the most well-known methods marketers use to promote their content is via Google's search adverts, which were once known as AdWords. Marketers can advertise their content alongside organic search results using this method, often known as search engine marketing or SEM. The Google Adverts program uses a concept known as pay-per-click, or PPC for short. This means that you only pay when users click on one of their ads rather than for impressions.
It is an excellent way to put your content in front of the appropriate audience since the adverts display the search queries entered by users to determine results. Additionally, considering that around 75% of individuals never go beyond the first page of search results, this might significantly boost the visibility of your content, improving your business's SEO.
Email Marketing
A regular newsletter is one of the best ways to get your content in front of your targeted audience. Remember that users will only sign up for your list if there is something in it for them. Start by creating enticing subject lines. On top of that, maintain brevity and focus when writing the body of your email. Finally, don't forget to add a direct call to action along with a link to your content.
Video Marketing
As the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words; multiply that number by a thousand in the case of a video—the foundation upon which video marketing is built. It is a powerful marketing tool that successfully engages with the audience and only requires a little practice and creativity to blow them away. When it comes to video content, marketers have various tools at their disposal. This indicates that locating a strategy compatible with your content marketing objectives is simple.
● Videos experience a 27% higher click-through rate.
● Receive 41% more web traffic.
● Grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users.
Converting your articles into videos is one of the simplest ways to repurpose your content. Additionally, doing so gives you a new avenue to generate new traffic. More precisely, a whopping 91% of those who use the internet. So, what are you waiting for? Take your most recent blog or article, hire a video marketing expert, give it a few minutes of your time, and voila! A custom-made video is all set to be published on your social media accounts.
Bonus Idea: Invest in Innovation
Even though Amazon was not the first online business, practically everything it has done since its inception has been groundbreaking. They don't keep up with the rest of the industry; they are the ones in charge. Even after all these years, Amazon continually seeks new methods to monetize its existing customer base. However, not everything Amazon has done has been a home run success story. They've undoubtedly had several setbacks.
Nonetheless, the critical factor to note here is that Amazon has never shied away from developing and experimenting with new ideas. They were frequently willing to take risks when the rest of the industry was not, which has paid off handsomely in the long term.
The secret sauce here is to think like your consumer and design services and an experience that meets their requirements and expectations. Remember that not everything you try will be successful; therefore, test even the smallest ideas to ensure they are safe to implement.
Rather than using a costly survey platform, simply establish a free Google Form and manually distribute links to the general public. If the reaction is positive and the input is meaningful, you may want to consider investing in a more sophisticated, automated solution.
The Final Cut
Content and marketing are like peanut butter and jelly, complementing one another and generally performing best when integrated. However, you must have a strategy to balance them to get the highest ROI. Whether you're a rookie or a pro, at some point, you will experience writer's block and find it challenging to come up with relevant ideas. If you're in a rut or simply need new content to align with your marketing strategy, join hands with the content marketers at BlueSwing Media.
Here, we unpacked some content marketing ideas to make your small business the next big thing. This brings us to the end of this quick-start guide. Now it's time to hear from you. Any questions? Or maybe there's something we missed? Either way, feel free to leave a comment below.
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