Making content marketing work for your small business

Apr 24

Earlier this week I ran a webinar for nearly 200 small businesses on the topic of content marketing (thanks Small Business Britain and BT Skills for Tomorrow for inviting me - scroll to the end of this article to watch it).

I’ve been talking about content marketing for many years. In fact, in 2012 I co-created one of the very first infographics-as-marketing … and it was on content marketing!

Here it is - I think while the stats are obviously very old now, the sentiments have stood the test of time.

As I was putting together the webinar, I really thought about the pressures small businesses experience and how important it is to give simple, practical marketing advice. And in this blog post I want to share with you the highlights of what I shared with them.

Content marketing strategies for small business success

For many busy business owners, marketing feels like another irritating thing on the never-ending to-do list. But here's the good news: content marketing doesn’t have to be a headache.

It's about sharing what’s fantastic about your business and ensuring the right people hear about it.

What exactly is content marketing?

At its core, content marketing is about creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract a particular audience and move them to take specific actions.

Content can be in different formats and on different platforms - from a flyer or brochure to video testimonials and whitepapers.

It should be aimed at a particular audience - typically the people who are the most likely to build a relationship with you or buy from you.

The specific actions they take as a result of engaging with your content can be anything from signing up to your newsletter, researching something you sell, or booking an enquiry call.

Content marketing doesn’t always lead to an immediate sale. The goal of your content is to inform, provide value and have an emotional reaction, which moves the right people along in their relationship with you.

It’s about helping your potential customers without aggressive selling, which builds a relationship based on trust. This way, when they’re ready to buy, they think of you first.

What’s so great about content marketing for small businesses?

There are a few reasons content marketing can be great for a small business, including that it increases visibility and brand awareness, and grows trust, credibility and community.

But the two biggest reasons for me - backed up by research - is that it gives small businesses bang for their buck.

According to research by Aberdeen Group, conversion rates on sites with a content marketing focus are nearly six times higher than those with very little content.

And Demand Metric says content marketing costs around 62% less than traditional marketing, and it generates about three times as many leads.

More sales for less effort? Sign me up!

A simple guide to content marketing: The 5 Ws and an H

When I trained as a journalist, the concept of the 5Ws and H (who, why, where, what, when and how) was drilled into us. It’s the quickest way to get all the info and the answers to these questions were required to be included in an opening paragraph of a news report.

Anyway, I applied this to content marketing for small businesses to help you think about all the important aspects of this approach.

Here is a summary.

Why content marketing?

What’s your goal with content marketing? The reason is usually because it helps your business! So how do you make sure that your content actually helps you to achieve that?

You start with getting clear on your business goals and then letting your decisions about marketing and content flow from that (not the other way around).

Your business goals need to inform your approach to marketing (marketing strategy). Ask yourself: how can marketing help me achieve my business goals?

From that broad approach you go into the specifics of your marketing goals, and then you decide on your marketing tasks, which will include content.

Key takeaway: Work backwards from your big goal. Your marketing must be connected to your business objectives. Align your content with your business goals to ensure every piece of content has a purpose.

Who: Know your people

You're not for everyone! In fact, if you can get clear on who you're NOT for, this can be a great way of laser focusing your marketing to those who will align with you.

I see a lot of ideal buyer profiles (or avatars) that focus on the wrong things, for example age or gender, where those factors have no bearing on people's decision to buy from you or not.

Instead, profiles should focus on things like the problems or challenges they experience and how you can solve them. Think about their biggest annoyances/frustrations/challenges and how they respond to each of these emotions. What words do they use to describe these feelings, and how/where do they look for help? What inspires them to take action

It can be very helpful to look at the buyer’s journey at this stage, and consider the questions they have and where they spend time at each stage:

Unaware
Aware
Know and like
Convert
Cheerlead and refer

Key takeaway: Be clear on who you sell to and speak to them in a way that makes them feel "HEY THAT’s ME they're talking about! That's EXACTLY what I want!!!" vs "maybe that will do the job" or "I guess that will do".

What: Your unique message

When it comes to the question “what content?”, you'll find the answer by thinking how you can be as helpful as possible to YOUR ideal people at each stage of the journey.

Think about their questions, challenges and key areas of interests in each stage of their relationship with you, and then generously give this to them in the places they look for that information.

Unaware - get their attention! Snackable, shareable content that makes them think “oh I relate to that!” or “ooh I can use that” 👀

Aware - bring them closer. Be in the places where your ideal buyer searches for answers and make it easy for them to take the next step (e.g. follow/sign up for newsletter).

Nurture - know and like. Be a consistent presence. Show them you have things in common and that you’re a business who can be trusted.

Convert - show your stuff. Product/service-centric content that answers their specific questions about you/your products/services.

Cheerleaders - help them to help you! Continue to educate so they keep buying from you and empower them to be your ambassadors.

Key takeaway: Be outrageously helpful and completely focused on YOUR ideal buyers at each stage of their journey. Focus on delivering value in your content to set your brand apart and build trust with your audience.

Where: Choosing the right channels

you 👏 don’t 👏 need 👏 to 👏 be 👏 everywhere

That’s it. That’s the biggest message I want every small business to take from this. Seriously, forget about the shiny objects.

Jumping on every new social channel or following the advice of every marketing expert you come across is foolish. That way lies overwhelm, burnout, and ineffective, chaotic marketing.

So this is a big fat permission slip to actually stop trying to show up on every single marketing channel.

But if not everywhere, then where?

My advice is to start to hone in on the best place for you by doing a channel analysis. Write down all the places you do marketing - not forgetting things like networks, directories, offline things like flyers, and then asking yourself these questions about each.

How engaged are your audience on the platform?
Do they want to engage with you there?
How well does the channel contribute to your biz/marketing goals?
Do you have the resources needed to build a consistent presence and an engaged audience there?
Do you enjoy creating content for this platform/enjoy spending time there?

Key takeaway: Focus your efforts based on the channels that will likely bring you the best results for the effort you put in

When: Time it right

There is no universal “right time to post”, but by knowing your audience you can get a good ballpark idea. You can also use your social media insights to give you clues.

“Consistency” is a word that’s often used by marketing experts, but it doesn’t mean what lots of people think it does.

Consistency is not about posting every day, but about maintaining a regular presence and delivering value to your audience in a predictable way.

Out with adhering to a rigid schedule, and in with showing up for your audience in a way that feels dependable and meaningful.

It’s a bit like how you’d keep in touch with a good friend. You don't have to chat every day to maintain a strong relationship, but you do need to connect in ways that matter.

Bond with your people by focusing on creating genuinely helpful and engaging content that speaks directly to their needs. That’s how you make your mark, not just by filling up their inbox or social media feed.

Key takeaway: Focus on your audience and post when they are most active so they’re more likely to see and engage with your content.

How: A sustainable marketing plan

Now you know the why, who what where when of content marketing, I'm sure you're thinking HOW do you actually DO all this? I sense your cries for help as you juggle all the things.

Here are 3 tips.

1️⃣ First of all, set a content marketing intention that's sustainable. That means rooted in reality! Be realistic about what you can achieve even in your busiest/most challenging/laziest weeks so that you remain consistent and accountable.

Ask yourself: what does "minimum viable marketing" look like for me? And commit to it. To give you an idea, my minimum viable marketing is to send my Sunday email every week. Just that!

2️⃣ Secondly, have a plan. This doesn't have to be restrictive or heavy handed, but it means that you're not caught on the back foot with your marketing.

Think of your marketing plan as scaffolding. It gives you a solid structure so you're not just throwing random content out there, but instead, every piece of content has a purpose that aligns with your goals and edges you closer to achieving them.

3️⃣ Finally, reuse and repurpose everything. No piece of content should only be posted once. Reuse old social posts, repurpose blog content, videos, podcasts etc. into different pieces of content.

The webinar I ran became this blog post and a downloadable summary. It will become a newsletter, and social media content too. I’m reusing the graphics, and I can even embed a video of it for you to watch!

(AI will be your friend with this sort of thing - don’t be scared to get our robot friends to help you out with repurposing content.)

Key takeaway: Keep your marketing plan realistic and sustainable, work to a plan, and reuse and repurpose all your content.

Content marketing in summary

Content marketing is about creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract a particular audience and move them to take specific actions. As a marketing technique it can make you more money for less effort.

Here’s how:

Align your business goals and marketing actions.
Be clear on who you sell to and what makes them take action.
Be outrageously helpful and completely focused on YOUR ideal buyers at each stage of their journey.
You don’t have to be on all channels or show up daily.
Make a sustainable plan.
Reuse and repurpose all the content you create.
Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction!

This last point is really important. There’s lots of advice out there about how to do the best content marketing, but ultimately, it’s about taking messy, imperfect action. Don’t let “perfect” get in the way of “good”.

So experiment with content marketing until you find an approach that works for you, and your business, in a sustainable way. I’d love to hear how you get on, especially if you follow the framework I’ve outlined.

Here is a summary of the points made in this article that you can download.