Why Content Marketing is Right, Right, Right for Small Businesses?
Instagram: @seasonalfriend
When I started writing for online platforms, the trend of using ads for customer acquisition was still active. And then I lived through its gradual fade into ad blockers.
The advertisements have grown ineffective over the years.
Of course, there are still creative strategies that you can use to push ads to attract customers to your brand. But more often than not, the ads disappear in irrelevance.
Gary Vaynerchuck has been predicting this downfall for over half a decade.
“Get your shit right.”
Part of the reason is ad blockers. About 25% of the customers are using ad blockers on their connected devices and things are only going to get worse.
So as a small business, which doesn’t have a massive marketing budget, what can you do to not only sustain your bread but also buy new facility of ovens so you can bake bread for years to come.
The answer is, “Invest in Content Marketing.”
Investing in Content is a long terms strategy.
It uses various formats (text, videos, podcast, images, although just not limited to these) to build a relationship with your audience by creating and sharing helpful content over a long sustainable period.
Instead of just focusing on the immediate impact, content marketing creates brand equity.
It captures the attention of your audience.
It builds trust.
It improves on the engagement.
And that consequentially leads to a positive brand recall.
But what does that mean?
It means that your brand becomes more valuable as your brand produces more valuable content.
It is about helping your audience until they are comfortable enough to walk in the store to try the product or services themselves, without a push.
As a small business, it’s a great opportunity to gain a reputation as a leader in your field.
It does start slow but as you gain momentum, you gather more and more attention until suddenly one day you’re dominating your field.
It’s different from other forms of gaining audience because here people are voluntarily looking for your brand. They come to you. And that’s where your content strategy comes into the play.
There are a few things you need to keep in mind.
Your audience has a problem and they want to solve it. Simple.
As a brand, you’re helping them and simultaneously growing your business.
To do that, first of all, you need to determine who your audience is. Figure out a list of problems they are struggling with and make a resource through which these problems could be solved.
Secondly, you need to start speaking the language of your audience. Are they interested in text, or videos? Or are they are the bunch that listens to podcasts? Once you know the format, the game turns more about experimenting and adjusting your content to the needs of your audience.
Thirdly, you need to grow with your audience. You need to design all your content around one central topic and continue producing useful relevant content over the months and years to come. Let’s say I am focussing on problems that small businesses face with their marketing. Then almost all my posts should strive to solve those problems.
That’s it. Those are the bare bones of what you need to do as a small business if you need sustainable growth.
Good content has always driven the world of marketing. It doesn’t cost much. And it sticks. It has for decades and probably always would.
This applies to your videos and audios, as they are made of words too.
The right words ring the right music in your potential audience. They make a difference.
There is no secret here. Invest in Content.
Recap
Content Marketing is currently the best bet we have for Small Businesses. You create a list of problems your audience faces and solve them.
To create a successful content strategy:
Determine your audience.
Speak their language.
Grow with your audience.
Have a question or want help with your content marketing? You can directly message me to get in touch. Seasonal Friend helps small businesses in creating useful content — the kind that helps businesses reach their goals.