Will content marketing work for your business?

 

The content marketing basics

We all know the point of marketing is to spread the word about your business. Content marketing still has that end goal, but it’s a lot less direct than sending someone straight to a landing page with a ‘Buy’ button.

Content marketing includes blogs, video content, social media, whitepapers, face-to-face events, emails, and more. The main purpose is to educate the reader or watcher, warm up their interest, and make your business trustworthy and knowledgeable. Potential clients and customers will be informed, inspired, and ready to spend their cash with you. 

Basically, if your clients and customers are going to do some thinking before they buy from you, content marketing is a good idea.

 

Put aside time and/or budget

There are no quick wins in content marketing, it takes time. You’ll have to use some of your own hours and potentially spend money on other people’s expertise too. 

If you’re a solo business owner, think about how much content you could realistically create and publish yourself. If you know it’s not realistic to do it all yourself, it’s a good idea to outsource to a freelancer or content marketing service.

Handy tip: Agencies can be expensive and will often ask you to commit to a few months. Before you outsource, learn everything you can about content marketing so you’re not overpaying for services you don’t need.

 

Make a list of content ideas

Whatever your niche, you have a lot of knowledge that others don’t. This is a really good foundation to build your content marketing on.

Start by writing a big list of the most common questions you’re asked by clients. It’s also a good idea to think about what people often misunderstand about your product or service, what people need to know before they buy, and what your competitors have covered on their own website.

Handy tip: Keep a list of ideas you can update wherever you are. Your notes app is ideal.

 

Plan a detailed content calendar

Content marketing needs a bit of organisation, otherwise you’ll find it difficult to keep to a workable schedule. It’s also vital to think ahead, mainly so you can give yourself time to create content in time for important events and dates.

Your content calendar should include:

  • Significant dates for your business
  • Black Friday, the first day of summer, Mother’s Day etc.
  • Content types - Blogs, social media, video, whitepapers etc.
  • Publish date - When the content needs to go live
  • Resources needed - Imagery, video, landing page etc.
  • Purpose of the content - Pushing a specific service, encouraging email subscribers etc.

Handy tip: A lot of your content marketing assets will link together. Your social media accounts will post video content and blogs you’ve already created, and your downloadable whitepapers will need a landing page. Make sure that’s on your calendar.

 

Don’t worry about starting small

You don’t need to answer every potential question and cover every possible topic. If you can only post once a week, that’s fine, just make sure it’s worthwhile.

Content overload is a real thing. Daily email updates is a bit much for most people and can get you filtered into their spam. Instead, make sure the content is 

Handy tip: Prioritise your big list of content ideas. What do you think will be the most informative and persuasive? What week or month will a piece of content have the most impact?

 

Get your content marketing right and you’ll have empowered, enthusiastic customers. You’ll also be able to pitch yourself as an industry expert, which is a great place to be. 

 

While your clever content marketing schedule is doing its thing, your invoicing can be running efficiently in the background too. Send branded invoices and automatic payment reminders with Solna. Oh, and it’s completely FREE!

 

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