5 Ways to Boost your Business with Content Marketing
There is no doubt content marketing has become a crucial part of any small business' success and growth. As content marketing becomes more popular and more businesses implement content strategies, consumers are becoming savvier about content's persuasive power. Consumers want content that is valuable to them, not content that is overtly promotional. How can any small business owner successfully apply content marketing? It's a crucial step in ensuring the success and growth of your business, but it's also a time consuming process that requires a lot of effort and engagement on your part. So how do you stand out from the competition and use content effectively?
Here are five ways you can improve your content marketing efforts:
1. Commit to consistent content creation - Did you know that the average business website is viewed for only 1.8 seconds before it's abandoned? Consumers are hungry for engaging, well-written content to help them make buying decisions and the best way to deliver this information is through effective use of words. Too many businesses get started with content marketing by creating one piece of content per month then calling it a day. Content doesn't need to be created once per year; we recommend posting new blog entries at least three times per week or more depending on the size and structure of your company and industry.
2. Improve the content experience for your readers - Instead of wasting time surfing the web for article after article, wouldn't it be great if you could just go straight to your favourite site and everything was there, already waiting for you? By using keywords in headlines and text to make sure that people find what they are looking for quickly and easily; you can turn casual visitors into regular customers who look forward to returning. Your content is only as good as the experience it provides to your reader. In other words, content needs to be designed in a way that makes it easy and desirable for consumers to interact with you. This means starting with an ideal content size, designing content with user engagement in mind, creating content that truly delights your audience and more.
3. Produce content that is worthy of sharing - To go viral on social media or gain any sort of traction online, content must be worth sharing. If your content doesn't have enough "shareability" built into its core structure, no amount of promotion will help it thrive online. What do we mean by "shareability"? The answer is different for each piece of content, but content that is informative, entertaining, useful or even shocking has the best chance to go viral. Before you can even hope to create content that is worth sharing, it is important to figure out who your audience is going to be. Knowing where your content will be shared and with whom will give you a better idea of what content is going to work for the social media platform(s) in question. Not only do you have to consider whether or not content will be meaningful enough for users on certain platforms but also if they are active on those sites at all. It is particularly difficult when trying to reach an audience across several networks that have contrasting demographics, content preferences, user behavior, and uses of hashtags.
4. Find your story - Content marketing should be an ongoing strategy with themed content campaigns designed to entice customers into buying from you. An example of this would be creating content around the holidays that focuses on giving back or content geared towards Mother's Day. To see success with content marketing, you need a well-defined content strategy that builds upon itself over time and communicates what makes your business unique in a market rife with competition. Some businesses tap into content marketing strategies as part of their social media marketing efforts since content is available for free on these platforms. The key to social media success however, is engaging users and making them want to share content, something that takes time and effort beyond just creating content.
5. Build email lists - Email lists are still one of the most powerful tools small businesses have at their disposal for content promotion and market research purposes . According to Statista , "Email Marketing remains one of the most popular online marketing channels, with the highest return of investment companies reportedly generate $44 for every dollar spent." While content marketing can be an extremely effective tool, content has to be created and shared correctly in order to work effectively . The content you share on social media or email should not only inform your followers but generate interest in your products and services through lead generation forms built into content itself. An email list is a great asset for any content marketer because you have a very targeted group of people where your content will get in front of them over and over again. An email list builds brand loyalty since customers who have opted in to receive emails from you are more likely to buy from you over someone else because they've already given their permission. If a content marketer can get their content in front of the same group of people over and over again through email content marketing they're increasing the odds that content will be shared and go viral. And if content goes viral, more customers come into the mix and your business grows .
Content marketing works because it's all about providing information that your audience finds valuable to them - it's content they want, not content you want them to see. That means content must be relevant and targeted toward those interested in your industry specifically. Content can't be blatantly promotional or salesly if you expect content marketing will boost your business. Because there are so many businesses competing for the attention of consumers, content needs to work for you, not against you! Marketers need specific data on what content is working for their business and Google Analytics is one of the most powerful tools available that provides this insight. Utilize its capabilities to measure content performance, content engagement, content traffic and content leads. Through this data you can determine what content is working for your business and which content isn't. Make sure all content is valuable, not overtly promotional to boost your content marketing efforts and grow your small business.
There are numerous benefits of content marketing and these easy-to-implement ways will help any small business owner successfully use it as a part of their overall business strategy. If you need more information about how to utilize content marketing effectively or want help creating great content that engages consumers, contact us today!