Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, it won’t have escaped your notice that content marketing is very much a hot topic these days. Every decent business today is reaping the rewards of a solid content marketing strategy.
Content marketing for small business basically means creating and sharing free valuable information to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers. Content marketing is the gap between what brands produce or offer and what customers are searching for.
Content marketing works (especially for online small business)! Here are 4 important reasons why you should prioritize content marketing over any other forms of marketing for your small business.
1. It’s great for your SEO
Content marketing is one of the most important drivers when it comes to your site’s search engine ranking. Google releases dozens of updates every year, updating and tweaking its algorithms to change the way queries are fulfilled. But year in, year out, one factor stays the same when it comes to boosting your SEO: great content.
By sharing high-quality content on a regular basis on your blog, you are letting search engines know that you are always delivering new content to your audience. In their eyes, this makes your website valuable, and value is the lifeblood of your SEO.
And remember to keyword research your pieces. By identifying what your audience is searching for, you can create content that addresses those queries. This will show search engines that you have the answers, which in turn will enhance your SEO results.
Takeaway tip: create an editorial calendar to plan your content schedule for the year ahead. And use keyword research tools to find out what questions your target audience are asking — then answer them!
Also Read: 10 Tools For Generating New Business Leads.
2. It creates a powerful bond with your readers
Your website’s blog is where you can share your deep knowledge about your niche, whether it’s beauty tips or fitness advice. By creating content that is authoritative, well-informed, and genuinely useful, you can position your site as a vital resource for your readers.
When you share this kind of valuable content on a regular basis, you’ll create a strong bond with your audience, boosting their trust in you. They’ll know that when they visit your site, they will benefit directly from your knowledge and advice.
This, in turn, builds an audience of engaged readers who will return to your site again and again — a powerful achievement that will continue to benefit you and your website well into the future.
Takeaway tip: deliver actionable advice in your content that your audience can take away and benefit from. Understand your readers, identify their pain points, and then help them through your content.
3. Anyone can do it
Think you need to be a tip-top content specialist to deliver tip-top content? Think again. Perhaps the best thing about content marketing (and a good reason why you’ve got no excuse to not prioritize it) is its low barriers to entry — anyone can do it. If you’ve got an internet connection, you’re all set.
The only prerequisite you really need is a passion for what you’re doing. Maybe it’s street style, maybe it’s your art, maybe it’s fitness — if you have a love for your niche, then you’re ready to create great content.
Your passion provides you with a deep knowledge of your niche, and you can share that easily through your content. If you’re not feeling confident in your writing, use an online resource such as Hemingway App to improve your grammar.
And don’t be afraid to lean on visuals to support your content either.
Photos and graphics are a great addition to bolster your content, making it more engaging to the reader (and saving you time and effort into the bargain). Quickly create graphics with an online tool or use some royalty-free images to jazz up your content. It’s quick and easy, and makes content creation possible for anyone, regardless of their skills or experience.
Takeaway tip: don’t be put off content marketing by a perceived lack of ability. If you’re passionate enough about something to running your own website about it, share that passion through your content.
Also Read: Best B2B Digital Marketing Strategies in Nigeria.
4. It’s the gift that keeps on giving
Content marketing isn’t just about firing off a post and letting it fester away on your blog for you to forget about it. A solid content marketing strategy spreads the love across multiple marketing channels to really get the most out of it.
You’ve put the time and effort into creating a sparkling blog post that is both valuable and actionable, so take it further by repurposing it. Share it on your social networks and invite your followers to engage, comment, and share it again if they found it interesting or useful.
This doesn’t just provide your content with greater visibility, but it also gets your website’s name out there too. And ditto for your email marketing too — keep your readers in the loop by delivering the latest blog posts straight to their inbox.
Takeaway tip: to really get the most from your blog, build a simple email newsletter that reuses old pieces of content. For example, an end-of-year roundup of the most popular posts from that year. Other ideas include reusing popular seasonal content, or top performing pieces from special events such as Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Curating content is a great way to add value in no time at all.
The importance of content marketing doesn’t look set to go away anytime soon. Google can release more updates, but the content will still remain king. If you haven’t implemented a strong content marketing strategy for your website today, there’s no better time than today.
Author’s Bio:
Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer at Microstartups. Microstartups.org is a website by a team of writers and marketers, dedicated to supporting and spreading the word of micro businesses of all shapes and sizes. MicroStartups believes in business growth through giving and supporting the local community.