While it’s not a new strategy in big business, content marketing is still a somewhat foreign concept to many small business owners. Many small businesses aren’t quite sure what content marketing is exactly, and how it could benefit their bottom line.
What is Content Marketing?
Social media, articles on your website (blog posts), e-newsletters, case studies and videos – all of these marketing strategies can be classified as content marketing. Each serves to provide content that educates your target market and provides them with relevant, valuable information that appeals to their specific interests and needs. This sharing of information with your potential and existing customers helps develop a deeper and more trusting relationship with them than you could with traditional advertising methods. Because content marketing is more of a conversation, it allows your target market to learn how they can benefit from your business without them even realizing it. It’s a soft-sell technique that positions you and your business as an expert in the trade who is willing to provide free helpful information.
Benefits of Content Marketing
Besides helping you establish your brand and grow your customer base, content marketing (when done correctly) can help you build a positive reputation in the local community. Content marketing can also help you increase your website’s search rankings. The goal of Google and other search engines is to provide users with the highest quality and most relevant content possible. Creating and posting valuable, relevant and original content adds meat and depth to your site – giving the search engines more important keywords to index and thus improving your site’s ranking in search results.
The Need for Quality Content
When developing content, it’s important to focus on quality. Original ideas, original copy, original positioning – your articles and social media posts need to truly convey your philosophies and ideas. The information you present needs to be transparent and accurate, presenting a real picture of what you are doing and why it’s interesting or beneficial to the consumer. Avoid plagiarism at all costs. Not only will you not be saying anything uniquely interesting to your market, but your entire site could be penalized if Google detects too much text that duplicates other online pages. One plagiarized blog post could ruin it for your entire website. Last, remember that content marketing is different from traditional marketing in the sense that you never want it to sound like a sales pitch. The goal is to deliver substantive information that your customer wants and needs.
Content Marketing is on the Rise
For now, content marketing is not only here to stay, but it’s a strategy that’s being adopted by more and more businesses around the globe. With the explosion of online content that will result, it’s more important than ever to have a solid strategy that hinges on unique ways of relating to your clients. Many small business owners don’t know where to start with developing the ideas, plans and writing for their posts. Or, they simply have too many other pressing projects to handle. If you don’t have the time or skills to devote to mapping out and executing a comprehensive content marketing strategy, consider hiring a professional writer or agency to put it together for you.
