Small business owners are often caught in a trap. With limited time, energy and financial resources, they become jack of all trades but master none. Often, this leads to burnout and sub-optimal outcomes for most of their business decisions.
To combat this, it is extremely important to make judicious use of resources to maximize outcomes. Applying this philosophy to marketing is a great way to ensure you can stretch every dollar further. So you can get the most out of your marketing spend, consider building and maintaining a content marketing strategy.
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What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a low-cost, high impact marketing strategy that allows business owners to attract and engage an audience. Using this strategy can help a business in achieveing outcomes like converting a passive customer into an active one or getting customers to subscribe for services.
This strategy works well for business owners at all stages of their business lifecycle. If this strategy is employed at the start of the business lifecycle and cotinued on to growth and maturity stage, it can generate massive compunding returns for limited capital outlay.
As a business owner, you'd naturally be conscious of the ROI generated from this marketing strategy. Bear in mind though that unlike other paid forms of engagement, this strategy works well in the background, amassing other intagible benefits like showcasing domain authority and establishing trust with customers.
Why Should a Business Implement Content Marketing?
This is the right question to ask as a business owner. And the answer depends on several factors like your business objectives, budget for marketing spend and the time across which you'd like to see your strategy provide results.
Implementing a content marketing strategy doesn't guarantee overnight success in hitting KPIs. Infact, its quite the opposite. This strategy has to be nurtured over time, sometimes several months, so a business can see tangible benefits thereafter.
Content Marketing is an essential strategy to add to any marketing mix. This is because it helps business owners create social capital for themselves and their businesses. People buy from people they trust, just as they do business with businesses they trust. Investing into a content stragegy helps business owners develop and nurture that trust with consumers, over a long period of time, giving them the confidence they need to become repeat or loyal customers.
This strategy also allows business owners to indicate their domain expertise to potential clients without ever meeting them in person.
Imagine this scenario: you are an accountant providing accounting and book-keeping services to clients in your area. You've nurtured a content strategy for your consulting business over months - created value driven content, touching on and solving pain points for existing and potential customers. This has been marketed over numerous touch points for a potential customer. A potential customer has seen you, heard from you and of you from different sources across the internet. When they are ready to hire a new accountant or switch from their existing one, who do you think they will contact?
Although very rudimentary, this example is ideally how content marketing does and should work for small businesses.
How do I Build a Content Marketing Strategy?
If you're a solopreneur or a small business owner, it is possible for you to create and execute your own content marketing strategy. But for those who do not come with a marketing background, this often becomes a time-consuming, low-yield activity. To avoid feeling like you're shouting into the void, here is a 5 step plan to get started.
Define Your Objectives and Goals:
Clearly outline the objectives and goals of your content marketing strategy. These should align with your overall business goals. Whether you aim to increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive sales, or enhance customer retention, having specific and measurable goals will guide your content creation and distribution efforts.
Identify Your Target Audience:
Understand your target audience's demographics, preferences, behaviors, and pain points. Creating buyer personas can help you tailor your content to the specific needs and interests of your audience. Knowing your audience well allows you to create content that resonates and builds a stronger connection with them.
Content Planning and Creation:
Develop a content plan that includes the types of content you'll create, the topics you'll cover, and the formats you'll use (e.g., blog posts, videos, infographics). Ensure that your content provides value, solves problems, or entertains your audience. Create a content calendar to schedule and organize your publishing efforts, maintaining consistency in your content production.
Distribution and Promotion:
Determine how you will distribute and promote your content to reach your target audience. This includes leveraging various channels such as social media, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and possibly paid advertising. Tailor your distribution strategy based on the preferences and habits of your audience, ensuring that your content is easily discoverable.
Measure and Analyze Results:
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your content marketing efforts. Common metrics include website traffic, engagement on social media, conversion rates, and customer retention. Use analytics tools to track these metrics and regularly analyze the data to understand what is working well and where improvements can be made. Adjust your strategy based on these insights to optimize your content marketing approach over time.
Can Vox 360 Help?
Vox 360 regularly helps entreprenurs and small business owners create and execute their content marketing strategies. Get in touch with us today to see how we can guide you with our low touch offering or a comprehensive option that gives you the freedom to focus on running your business.