Content Marketing Strategy: 9 Steps To Elevating Your Small Business

Diving into the world of content marketing strategy may feel a bit overwhelming and nerve-wrecking. But it doesn’t have to be. We’re here help to guide you through the process of creating an effective content marketing strategy that will allow you to produce consistent relevant content for your audience that compels them to engage with your business, while helping you to position yourself as an authority in your industry. Getting your website built is just the beginning. Once your site is up and running, a solid content strategy can be the key to truly unlocking its full potential.

An effective content marketing strategy is more than just a schedule of when you will post reels or stories to IG or FB. It’s a detailed roadmap that actually guides the creation, delivery, and placement of useful and usable content that is relevant to your target audience. It operates on the principle of producing, distributing, and managing high-quality, relevant, and consistent content to attract a clearly defined audience. The ultimate goal? To drive profitable customer action. It’s not just about creating content, but about creating content that works, that speaks to your audience, and that achieves your business goals.

No matter the size of the business, having a robust content strategy is a crucial aspect of business success in this digital age. Consumers today are bombarded with information, and the right content strategy can help your business cut through the noise. Embracing a well-structured content strategy can produce some amazing results, especially for small businesses. An effective content strategy will streamline your content creation process, help you maintain brand consistency, grow organic traffic, and ultimately, lead to business growth.

So, what exactly goes into crafting an effective content marketing strategy? Let’s dive in.

Step 1: Define Your Content Marketing Strategy Goals

Before you start brainstorming blog post ideas and crafting witty social media captions, take a moment to think about what you want to achieve with your content strategy. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive more traffic to your site, boost sales, or simply engage with your audience? Defining clear goals will shape the entire content strategy and help you measure success down the road. These goals should be clear, realistic, and aligned with your overall business strategy.

Step 2: Understand Your Audience

Who are your customers? What are their interests, pain points, and aspirations? Taking time to create customer personas will help you as you’re crafting your content marketing strategy. Create a very clear picture of who will be using your services or products. It can feel corny, but give them a name, an occupation, an income. Think about what type of car they may drive, what television shows they may watch, where they grocery shop. Crafting content that resonates with your audience requires knowing them like a close friend. If you’ve got existing customers, gather feedback and insights from them. If not, do a bit of research to get a feel for your target demographic. If you’re having trouble with this exercise, check out HubSpot’s Make My Persona tool.

Step 3: Choose the Right Content Formats

You don’t have to be a professional writer or video editor to create a compelling content strategy. The key is to choose formats that align with your strengths, resources, and overall business strategy. Taking your audience’s preferences into consideration can help ensure your content resonates with them, which will lead them to engage with it and take action. Variety is the spice of life and the best content marketing strategies include a healthy mix of the following content types.

• Blog posts: These can provide in-depth information, helping establish your business as an authority in your industry.
• Infographics: These visually represent complex information in an easily digestible format, making them a popular choice for data-heavy topics.
• Case studies: These showcase your business’s success stories, thereby building credibility.
• Videos: These engage your audience in a dynamic way and are highly shareable on social media platforms.
• User-generated content: This type of content, such as customer testimonials or reviews, can build a sense of community and leverage the power of social proof.
• E-books: These in-depth resources reinforce your industry expertise.
• Podcasts: These offer a more personal and conversational way to reach your audience.
• Social media content: This type of content can reach a wide audience and foster community engagement.

Step 4: Create a Content Marketing Strategy Calendar

Consistency is king in the world of content marketing. Creating a content calendar that outlines what you’ll publish and when helps you stay organized and ensures your audience knows when to expect fresh content. A good content calendar will include the format, the topic, and the platform you will post to. By putting this info on a calendar, you take the guesswork out of figuring out what to post each day or week. Pro tip: keep in mind any holidays, special events, or seasonal trends that you can tap into.

Step 5: Keyword Research for SEO

Search Engine Optimization may sound a bit technical, but it’s not as scary as it seems. Keyword research allows you to find out what terms your audience is searching for online. These keywords will guide your content creation and help your website show up on search engines like Google when people are looking for information related to your business. One of my favorite tools to use in developing a content marketing strategy: Answer The Public. Check it out and thank me later.

If SEO is just not your thing, no worries. Check out our SEO services, or even request an SEO Assessment for your current website.

Step 6: Craft Engaging and Valuable Content

Now comes the fun part – creating content that your audience can’t resist. Make sure your content is informative, entertaining, or useful in some way. Offering value to your followers is one of the most reliable ways to attract and retain an engaged audience.Whether you’re sharing tips, telling stories, or educating your readers, the goal is to offer value that keeps them coming back for more. Creating compelling headlines for your content is crucial in grabbing your audience’s attention and encouraging them to read your content. For instance, a headline like “10 Proven Strategies to Boost Your SEO” is likely to attract more clicks than a vague headline like “SEO Tips”.

Avoiding low-quality, mindless content and instead focus your strategy on producing high-quality, meaningful material that entertains, educates, or inspires your audience. Repurposing content, such as turning a blog post into an infographic or a podcast episode, can really maximize its value and reach. This not only gives your content a longer shelf life but also allows you to reach different segments of your audience. Writing long-form, evergreen content that remains relevant over time, such as how-to guides or industry trends, can provide a steady source of traffic and should definitely be part of your content marketing strategy. This type of content can continue to generate leads and drive traffic long after it has been published.

Step 7: Promote, Promote, Promote

Creating content is only half the battle. You’ve got to get the word out! Share your content on social media, in relevant online communities, and even through email newsletters. Don’t be shy – let the world know what you’ve got to offer. Research the best times to send emails, or when to post content. Utilize the tools on social media platforms that allow you to cross-post so you can reach more people.

Step 8: Measure and Adapt

Remember those goals you set in the beginning? Now it’s time to see if you’re hitting the mark. Use tools like Google Analytics to track website traffic, engagement, and conversions. If something isn’t working as planned, don’t worry. Tweak your content based on what you learn and keep experimenting. Remember, your content marketing strategy will continue to evolve over the life of your business.

Step 9: Stay Consistent and Evolve

Consistency breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust. Keep delivering valuable content to your audience on a regular basis. As your business grows and your audience’s preferences evolve, don’t be afraid to pivot your strategy accordingly. You want to nurture your audience so that they begin to know you, like you, and eventually trust you.

There you have it – a step-by-step guide to crafting an effective content marketing strategy that’s tailored to small businesses. Remember, content marketing is all about connecting with your audience, telling your story, and showcasing what makes your business unique. So don’t be afraid to get creative, and have a blast while you’re at it! Your digital presence is about to get a whole lot brighter.

Still not sure how to create your content marketing strategy? We can help! Send us a message and start building your strategy today!