10 Impressive Content Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
For a small business owner, budget is one of the biggest limitations. Traditional marketing methods are an expensive affair. Fortunately, today, small businesses have other and more cost-effective ways to market their products and services. Content marketing is one such tool that has the potential to strike it rich.
The tool has its share of hurdles, though. There are hundreds of things to manage. From timely deliveries to the relevance of the content in a highly fierce market, you have your hands full. Yet, despite all the challenges, it is, at the moment, one of the most effective ways for small businesses to promote their products and services.
It is vital to consult a reputed SEO Company in Dubai to ensure your content is up to the mark and performs beyond expectations. That it fulfills its goals of engaging and connecting with the right customers!
There are multiple ways to strategize content marketing. Here are ten remarkable ways to do so with proven results.
Content Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
Narrate Stories
Big or small, your customers love to hear stories, incredibly relatable narrations that help create emotional connections. Hence, the core of your content marketing strategy should be brand storytelling. Rather than simply mentioning the brand values, mission, and vision, convert them into small anecdotes that help your target audiences understand what went into the evolution of the business. The aim should be to tell good and honest stories.
For example, an e-commerce site specializing in the repair of consumer electronic items educates its target market about fixing their devices on their own in story formats. This way, it creates value for the audience while promoting its brand. Similarly, create an inspirational ‘About Us’ section so that your customers get to know all about how the business was born and what are your plans for it.
Focus on Creating Content that Focuses on Your Niche
For small businesses, targeting is crucial. Therefore, you need to create blogs around topics that make sense to your overall goals. Create targeted and niche content. Try to add value to your customer’s purchase cycle and buying decisions at every step.
At the same time, keep studying the type of work your competitors are publishing so that you can create something different and interesting. Answer these questions while creating blogs, articles, snippets, etc. – is it helping solve a problem? Is it addressing a customer’s pain point?
Your content should be practical, relevant, and enjoyable.
Experiment
As a small business, your reach is limited, especially compared to the bigger companies in your niche. Therefore, the last thing you should do is follow what the biggies are doing. To get traction online, you need to be not just different but also bold. For example, many companies use satire or memes to get attention.
Give a break to your audience from the monotony. Don’t be repetitive. You can try sharing your opinion; for example, create content on topics like ‘the top 10 trends this year’. Other than this, make it all aesthetically attractive by using the right visual elements.
Repurpose
If you have content that is doing exceptionally well, repurpose them. This means that your high-performing content should be used at different places to drive increased traffic. For example, if a blog is doing well, put it up as Instagram stories, or if a guide is picking attention, convert it into a webinar, and so on.
As per experts, one of the limitations of a small business is the lack of resources or easy access to as many resources as a large company. That is why if any of your published articles or other features get high engagement, re-use and scale it up.
There are Other Things You Can Do Besides Creating Blogs
As a small-scale business, there are plentiful ways of engaging your customers- not just blogs. For example, you can have your podcasts, as this is one of the fastest-growing mediums today. A UAE-based survey released in 2020 called Podcasts in MENA: State of the Industry states that almost 56% listened to podcasts since March 2020. Increasing listeners is an added bonus for a medium that is almost free to use.
Similarly, you can produce videos, again a not-so-expensive medium, and publish them on platforms like YouTube, TikTok or Instagram to gain traction. Short-form videos can be created on a limited budget and quite easily.
Another tool that many small businesses are using these days is case studies. These are scenarios where you solve real-world problems and showcase them to your potential customers. It is a credible way of earning the trust of visitors to your site.
Publish & Distribute Where it Matters
It is tempting to put across your messages and ideas in all places available online. Remember, though, you need time and resources to do so. Therefore, go slow, and start with places where it matters. Find out where your customers are visiting the most. As they say, ‘don’t boil the ocean.’
Use analytical tools to gain insights into where your customers actually are. Choose your channels with care and create content to feature on these channels. As per data, small businesses get maximum traction through organic social media, emails and paid content on social media. Use SEO-driven content to enhance organic reach.
Strengthen Your Google Business Profile for Distribution
On your Google Business Posts, you can share news and updates and direct the traffic to your Business Profile to the latest content created by you, like case studies, social media, blogs, reports, white papers, etc. You can also post photos of your office, team, products, etc., on your Profile to share as much information about your business as possible.
Infographics are an Excellent Way of Presentation
The visual medium is one of the best ways to gain traction compared to textual matter. Infographics can be made eye-catchy, presenting all the information in an easy-to-interpret manner. Even complex information can be presented in a very clear and concise way. It also helps improve brand reach to a larger number of people because there are many people who like to skim through long-form blogs and articles.
Answer to Questions that People are Asking
Put your money in the right place by answering FAQs. These are questions that your targeted audience is asking more often. Besides having a FAQ section on your site, answer specific questions on blogs, social media, etc. You can invite people to ask questions on your social media handles and have them addressed when writing blogs and articles.
Give a Glimpse of What Happens Behind the Scene
Show your audience what happens to bring to them products and services – feature videos from the day of your team members, the CEO or the owner. If there’s a special event or an ad shoot, show how things were behind the scene. This way, you can address an innate desire of humans to know more, to satisfy their curiosity. Such a move also brings in more trust in the brand because it showcases transparency and a down-to-earth attribute.
And before we conclude, here are a few reasons why you must invest in content marketing as a small business:
- When strategized right, it will help differentiate your business from your competitors by emphasizing your brand values and building a solid and loyal community for your brand.
- It will help create lasting impressions on your buyers and customers and initiate conversations around your business. All of this goes a long way in developing your brand.
- Through your presence online, your social media handles, and your blogs, you will have a direct connection with your target audiences. This will offer better opportunities to generate more organic leads and targeted traffic with the potential to get higher conversions.
Conclusion
Let your content marketing help you attract new customers as well as turn your business into a profitable one. Hire experts to create and execute a strategy that will boost interest and traction for your business.