CONTENT MARKETING FOR SMALL BUSINESS: TO DO OR NOT TO DO?

Content Marketing for Small Business: To do, or not to do?

That, my friends, is the question.

Content marketing: it’s the hot marketing trend, but it’s also more than that. Content marketing is a proven way to generate leads. It helps with SEO, and if your content is really good, it could even go viral. But it’s also a big commitment. How many small businesses really have time to create content? And I'm not talking about just slapping words on a page - I'm talking about cultivating powerful content that will bring you leads. (Well, the short answer is most small businesses don’t have the time - but I’ll cover that in my next blog.)

In order to make the most informed decision, ask yourself a few things:

1. Who do you sell to? Content marketing can be both a B2B and a B2C game, but who you sell to is an important factor in deciding a) whether you market with content, and b) what kind of content you create. According to the Content Marketing Institute, an astonishingly high percentage of both B2C and B2B marketers employ a content marketing strategy (86% and 91% respectively). By the way - those numbers seem insane to me, because again, how do all of those businesses have time to create content?

Anyway, if you sell B2C, you probably want to start off focusing on social media or mobile marketing (via your mobile site, inside your app, or by sending texts). If you sell B2B, ebooks, whitepapers and case studies can be powerful tools for you.

2. Are you looking for incoming leads? This one might seem kind of silly. Right now, you’re probably saying, “Psh, who doesn’t want incoming leads?” Yes. I get it. Incoming leads are wonderful. But some small businesses dedicate time (and money) to creating a lead generation team - cold callers or appointment setters, if you will - and that’s how they bring in leads. Or maybe your business is strictly based on referrals. If you don’t need incoming leads at this very moment and you’re a small business, content marketing might be a waste of your valuable time. For now, at least.

3. Who will create your content? Do you have a talented content cultivator on staff, or is your CEO also your salesperson who also happens to be your writer?Content marketing is a delicate balance of writing to teach and writing to sell (and also writing to not annoy your prospects). Getting off on the right foot when you start content marketing is a key to your success; if you put out content that’s not quite up to par and a handful of important leads see it, they’re probably not coming back again. Five leads might not seem like much, but if you put out so-so content, then it’s discovered by a prospect, who tells a few of his friends (or worse, puts it on YouTube)... you get the picture.

Making sure your content is written by a professional is an important piece of the marketing puzzle. Content marketing can be a big undertaking, but typically proves very valuable to businesses that plan and execute it well.

Still not sure whether you’re ready to take the leap into content marketing? Contact me to discuss the options and create a plan that’s tailored for your business.