Pamphlets, newspaper advertisements, magazine ads- gone are the days when print advertisement was a potent marketing tool used by big and small businesses alike. Today, companies need firm footing information to persuade customers to seek their offerings. Mere advertisements underlining the offerings don’t help in a world where people are more informed than ever.
It shouldn’t surprise you to know that even paid advertising strategies fail if not conjugated with relevant information. Here content marketing steps in as a savior and helps businesses hold the interest of their audience and lead them into the purchase funnel.
Here is how you can create a content marketing strategy for your small business.
Determine your goals
What is the purpose of this drill?
What do you want to achieve?
Why do you want to create a content marketing plan?
It is necessary to retrieve the answers to all these questions before moving ahead. If you know your specific goals, you will be in a much better position to chalk out a plan.
Determine your goals and a timeline to achieve them. Consider breaking them into small and measurable fractions to make them attainable in the set time.
For instance, aim at getting a hundred subscriptions in a week or increase growth by 50% in three months.
Once you know what you want to achieve, create suitable plans for them.
Determine the key performance indicators
Identifying key performance indicators help you measure your growth. With them, you would know how you are performing and where you are lacking. You can further adjust your strategies to fulfill the changing demands.
Anything could be your key performance indicators, including the number of downloads, page views, conversion rates, referral rate, etc.
Identify your target audience
If you deal with beauty products, approaching children will make no sense. If you sell marketing services, looping in college students will be no good.
Trying to reach everyone would be a waste of time, energy, money, and resources. Identify the people who need your services and then reach out to them through marketing strategies.
Gather demographic data from social media or your website to know who is interested in your services. Once you get a clear picture of who is and who isn’t reading your existing content, it will get easier for you to determine your next step.
After identifying your audience, select the right channel to reach them. For instance, if your audience comprises mostly millennials, approaching them through social media will be a better idea.
Create SEO-optimized content
Once you gather relevant information about your audience and select the channel, create appealing content to engage them. Ensure that your content floods your audience with everything they want to know. Plus, it should be engaging and not boring.
To make your content visible, optimize it for SEO. Find out local search engine optimization services to help you in this respect.
Post content strategically
Although you have lots of information to share with your audience, an overdose in this regard can backfire.
Create a schedule to post your content across various social media platforms. For instance, post articles every alternate day, at the same time. Post social media posts once a day, at the same time.
Remember, posting too much or too little can harm your business. Learn to strike a perfect balance. Determine what’s working for you and follow the same.
The bottom line
“Content is the king.” We often hear this phrase. But when you try to establish your small business, only then do you understand its real value.
So, create meaningful content and use these strategies to make your voice heard.