Content marketing is the heart of digital advertising for many businesses, and for good reason. Carefully crafted, compelling content can convert visitors or prospects into paying customers like no other, and good content can contribute to brand awareness, brand reputation, and other vital marketing metrics.
Make no mistake, excellent content marketing will help you grow your small business in no time. Let’s break down seven content marketing ideas you can use to grow your own enterprise.
Build a Better Blog
For starters, focus on buffing up your web blog if you haven’t already. Your website’s blog is a perfect place to practice content marketing, as you can make blog posts for:
- Informing your audience about your products or services
- Building brand authority in your niche with informational or educational articles
- Offering tutorial articles so customers can use your products or services better
- And more
Even better, as you complete excellent blog pieces with good linking and search engine optimization, you can link between them and drive traffic all throughout your blog.
Repurpose Existing Posts for Social Media
You can also repurpose any high-quality blogs you’ve already written for social media posts. Social media is a great content marketing platform as it allows you to engage with your customers or prospects directly.
Find the best blogs already on your site, then edit them or trim them down for size. Alternatively, you can include an excerpt of each blog post and include a link straight to the full blog post on every social media post you put up. Don’t forget to include an excellent header image or flyer to make social media visitors interested; free small business design templates can help you whip up great digital flyers for this purpose without much trouble.
Email Marketing
Then there’s email marketing: arguably the most important type of content marketing in this modern market. Good email marketing allows you to reach both current and future customers, especially if you include excellent content in every email you send out. You should try to practice content marketing via email for three purposes.
Emails for Conversions
First is emailing for new conversions. If you get an email address from a recent visitor, either because they volunteered their address or because you picked it up with a tool, you can send them personalized deals or other interesting content to convert them into paying customers. Small business email templates will help you send effective and eye-catching emails without spending too much time on every individual message you send.
Emails for Loyalty
You can also send emails for loyalty purposes, such as specialized or personalized emails for loyalty program members or reminder emails to convince people to complete a purchase they began a few days ago.
Emails for Special Deals
Lastly, don’t hesitate to use email content marketing to drum up anticipation or excitement for special deals, like Black Friday sales. For instance, if you want to drive Black Friday profits, make a few marketing emails highlighting your major discounts, free shipping offers, or other benefits with attractive pictures to bring people to your store en masse.
Host Competitions or Giveaways
Product competitions or giveaways can be excellent forms of content marketing. Post the announcement for the competition or giveaway on social media platforms, like Facebook or Instagram, then inspire your customers or viewers to engage by requiring them to share the post, make a comment, or make a purchase to qualify for the giveaway in question.
Start a Podcast
These days, podcasts are exceptionally popular. Depending on your target audience or niche, you might be able to bolster your brand’s authority or reputation by starting a podcast that you release weekly. Good podcast episodes can teach your audience members about your industry, plus let you plug your products at the same time, while also providing some entertainment value.
Make Infographics for Other Content
Infographics are charts, bar graphs, and other visual pieces of content that communicate complex topics, like statistical analyses, in user-friendly ways to your customers. This type of content is perfect for sprinkling throughout your site and for including in other content marketing, such as blog posts, emails, online ads, etc.
Video Content
You can’t forget video content, which is yet another highly crucial type of content marketing overall. Good video marketing will help drive sales and build brand loyalty among your target audience members.
Video Ads
For starters, you can make video ads and post them on Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms. These video ads can be used to drive purchases of specific products or to bring customers to your store in general.
Candid Videos
So-called candid videos are ones where you tour your office or manufacturing plant, so your prospective customers and current consumers both see how you create the value you offer. Candid videos are great for humanizing your company, and they are especially important for service-based businesses, like local dentist offices, etc.
Candid videos can be effective because they are authentic and feel “real” compared to other types of content marketing.
Testimonial Videos
Then there are testimonial videos. These should be video reviews of real customers who have been pleased with your products or services. Keep these short, sweet, and to the point, and encourage your customers to say how much they love your company in their own words. Once you have a handful of testimonial videos, you can put them up on your website or social media pages.
Testimonial videos are super important for content marketing purposes because they drive trust in your brand. Many people will not make a purchase or subscription without checking out online reviews these days. Testimonial videos serve as extra effective reviews since viewers can see the people behind the reviews instead of reading bland, anonymous text on a screen.
Any of these content marketing ideas could do wonders for your own business and its growth potential. Try leveraging these content marketing ideas together to maximize their benefits!