Content marketing might not be your strongest point as a small business owner, but having an effective content marketing strategy is important for building and maintaining a loyal customer base. If that sounds intimidating, the good news is there are plenty of resources to help you build that strategy. If this sounds intimidating to you, don’t worry. There are plenty of resources out there to help you craft your strategy.
Don’t know where to start? Here are four content marketing ideas to help your small business grow.
Create an email marketing strategy
Email has long been one of the most popular ways to market your business, and it’s not going away anytime soon. In fact, 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the past 12 months. These marketing statistics from 2022 make it clear that email is still dominating content marketing.
Email allows you to do so much with so little. You can nurture existing relationships or court new customers. You also can target very specific demographics, allowing you to really hone your message for your audience. And you can easily analyze your results, allowing you to continually make improvements for the most effective strategy. With such versatility and variety in reach, it’s easy to see why email marketing is one of the most effective and popular ways to reach customers.
Not sure where to start with your own email marketing content? Check out our other post that goes more in depth on the benefits of email marketing. And check out how to make your emails more responsive for the on-the-go customers in this other post.
Start a blog with valuable content
Blogging can seem intimidating, especially for a small business owner, but blogging as a form of content marketing really comes down to two things: trust and recognition. You want your customers to know who you are and to trust you. Blogging is an effective way to curate this kind of relationship with your customers and especially potential customers.
A good blog content strategy provides value to your customers. And one thing your customers value is trustworthy information. The key to this strategy is simple: find out what questions potential customers have about your industry, then answer those questions.
By creating authentic content in your field, you leverage your expertise in a way that benefits potential customers directly without the stakes of having to make a purchase. This practice creates a win-win situation: readers will begin to see you as a trusted authority in your industry, and you will begin to grow a loyal customer base. The next time they want answers or service in your industry, they’ll know whom to turn to.
But building credibility in your field through blogging requires quality content. If you’re simply pumping out content for the sake of content, your readers will notice and move to someone who provides more value. Don’t say things that don’t need to be said, and don’t say things in a confusing or unprofessional way. If this means hiring a content writer or even just a proofreader, go the extra mile. Your readers will thank you, and more importantly, your reputation will.
If you’re lost on blog content strategy, read more about it here, and find more tips on writing valuable blog posts here.
Update your site’s content
Don’t get so caught up in creating new content that you forget to update the old. If it’s been a while since you last revisited your website’s content, now is the time to do so! Updating your content goes a long way in improving your SEO rankings. These rankings improve based on how much valuable content each of your site’s pages offers to site visitors, so keeping outdated information will not do you any favors.
Another benefit to revisiting your existing content is learning what’s already working for you and what isn’t. You may find some of your content marketing methods are already performing well and choose to reorient your strategy based on those methods. Remember, your customers (and by extension, search engines) are looking for quality over quantity.
If you need more information to get started on updating your content, check out this how-to.
Craft a compelling CTA
Your call to action can be a powerful tool in content marketing. As you probably already know, your site visitors are thinking in a very action-oriented way. Readers ask “How does this benefit me?” A good CTA zeroes in on the “how” portion of this question. Your readers need to know how to get in on whatever you’re offering them–and they need to know fast, before they can lose interest. Make that CTA very clear, and your chances of getting them to act on it improve significantly.
Another facet to focus on in CTAs is FOMO. Let your audience know what they’ll be missing out on if they don’t follow through. Crafting that compelling CTA comes from striking the right balance between offering value and creating FOMO. If you’re looking for tips on how to write CTAs, find a few in this post.
Don’t let content marketing strategy intimidate you. If you need some expert advice, we offer SEM, SEO and email marketing services that will help you be at the top of your marketing game.
Contact us today to get started!
