Content marketing is a digital marketing strategy that focuses on quality content creation to drive website traffic, increase exposure, build brand awareness and generate sales and revenues. In addition, content marketing helps establish trust, loyalty and credibility for a brand.
In spite of having numerous benefits, most brands seem to ignore content marketing. They focus more on other aspects of digital marketing like SEO and social media marketing.
In fact, most brands and digital marketing agencies make this elementary mistake. They forget the fact that Google and other search engines prioritize quality content and credible information above other strategies.
The intent of the internet is to provide users with the best possible form of content by publishers. This does not mean that other aspects of digital marketing are less important.
However, content marketing is the foundation on which other strategies flourish. Think of it in terms of a building’s foundation. The stronger the foundation, the better will the structure be able to withstand hurricanes, cyclones, earthquakes and other natural calamities.
For brands, both big and small, content marketing offers to build that foundation. In this article, we will look at 7 content marketing tips for small brands that can be immensely helpful.
Content marketing is the foundation on which other digital marketing strategies flourish. Click To Tweet
Myths and Benefits of Content Marketing for Small Brands
But first, let us start by dismissing some myths surrounding content marketing for small brands.
Myth 1: Content marketing is an expensive investment to make.
This is definitely not the case. If you are strategic about your content marketing strategy, the expenditure is similar to (or even lesser than) social media marketing services.
Myth 2: Content marketing is a slow process and results take nearly two to three years.
This is the biggest myth of them all. Content marketing strategies like guest posting and blogger outreach start showing increased website traffic within weeks.
Myth 3: Only bigger brands should opt for content marketing.
Small brands should absolutely go for content marketing. Content marketing offers small brands the same benefits that it does to any other entity.
5 Reasons Why Content Marketing Benefits Small Brands
Content marketing is beneficial for small brands for a number of reasons. Some of the most obvious reasons include:
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- Content marketing helps in climbing Google’s Search Engine Rankings Page (SERPs).
- It helps in driving newer audiences and prospective consumers to your website.
- Great quality content helps establish your credibility as an industry authority voice.
- It opens up new sources of monetization and commerce for your brand.
- Content Marketing improves the performance of SEO, SMM and other digital marketing strategies.
The benefits of content marketing outweigh the risk and investment in the ratio 5:1. Most brands and agencies shy away from content marketing, as they do not possess the expertise to execute it. The key expertise being the need to create quality content for a small brand. If you do not possess the expertise in house, there is a simple solution: outsource it!
Let us now look at 7 content marketing tips for small brands that can help deliver the above benefits.
7 Excellent Content Marketing Tips For Small Brands In 2020 Click To Tweet7 Excellent Content Marketing Tips For Small Brands In 2020
1. Narrate your brand story from a solutions point of view.
One of the biggest benefits of content marketing is how you can leverage your content. People are tired of product pushers. They want to connect with brands that offer solutions and strike a chord.
Therefore, you want to narrate your brand story from a solutions-based point of view. This approach will help you stand out from your competitors instantaneously. As a result, you can firmly establish your credibility and build brand awareness.
Through your content, you will be able to educate and inform audiences. This will help you in assuming the mantle of a problem solver and solution provider.
Once you are able to establish your trust, you will automatically see a bump in actual product sales and queries.
By keeping this intention and integrating it with a strong inbound marketing strategy, you will achieve the maximum benefits for your brand.
2. Maintain an active and informative blog section on the website.
Over 60% of brands on the internet do not pay attention to their blogs. They fail to realize that a blog is essential for the entire spectrum of digital marketing. If you are trying to rank for keywords, your blog articles stand the best chance.
Once people land on your blog, they will automatically want to inquire about the products and services of the brand. This point borrows heavily from the first point on the list. The idea is to ‘convince and convert’.
Customers who come through this approach become repeat customers. They also refer the brand to their friends and colleagues. A blog can cover diverse issues of the industry and offer solutions to important problems.
The community building aspect of a brand can be easily executed on a blog. This is where the most engagement, comments and feedback will take place.
3. Use guest posting and blogger outreach services.
A content marketing strategy without guest posting and blogger outreach is incomplete. These two digital marketing strategies that lay heavy emphasis on content are critical for the success of your brand.
They help in reaching new audiences who are already interested in your industry. The spike in website traffic that happens once you secure a guest post in an industry authority site is phenomenal.
The right agency can help in optimizing your guest posting and blogger outreach strategy. This is not as expensive as some agencies make it out to be. You can save a ton of money through the guest posting expertise of an agency. The winning factor? Quality content!
With the right content, no publisher will want to deny you a space on his or her website. The aim is to get your content and links in front of related audiences. Always remember, for Google, relevancy is the new page rank!
When it comes to getting your content to the top of the SERPs, remember: relevancy is the new page rank! Click To Tweet4. Integrate SEO, social media and content marketing.
Cross-pollination of content across multiple platforms will help you increase your digital reach. This is where SEO and social media marketing become very important. You cannot just start writing articles on your website.
You need to sit down with your SEO team and analyze what are people searching for or reading. This is where keyword analysis becomes crucial.
By using long tail keywords, and creating content around them, you will be able to create content that people are already looking for on the internet.
In terms of social media, the aim should be to share as much content on your brand and the blog as possible. This will help in diverting traffic from social handles to your website. Good content translates into shareable content. This in turn forces people on social media to visit your website.
5. Optimize your content for best results.
Creating regular content according to keyword research is not enough. With increasing content on the internet, you need to make your content stand out.
This means creating complete articles. In other words, you need to create long format articles, which are keyword rich and are formatted correctly.
You will also need to work with your design team on images and videos for your content. The more videos you create, the better will be your reach and ROIs. Please make sure of the fact that content just doesn’t stand for written text. It also includes video, GIFs, image albums and images.
The idea is to present the richest content for users to consume along with optimizing it for search engines. Attractive titles, regular publishing and promoting content is essential to drive results and success.
6. Take a stand on social issues, and be a meaningful brand.
The people who use the digital ecosystem are changing. Social media, ecommerce and blogging sphere has changed in a dramatic way. If you look at it, almost all brands are providing the same products and services. So how can you stand apart?
Social consciousness has become more prevalent in the digital era, as brands have become increasingly comfortable with using content marketing to take a stand on meaningful issues in society. Issues like LGBTQ rights, gender equality, veganism, foreign policies, etc. are some of the most dominant issues trending across social media that affect millions.
People like brands that voice their opinions and take a stand. For example, you might have seen the Nike’s Emmy award-winning ad with Colin Kaepernick. That is how a billion dollar brand reinvents itself in a disruptive yet economically productive fashion.
By highlighting issues that people face and integrating it in a smart and meaningful manner with your brand, you can expect to win over the consumers of your competitors. You can use blogs and social media to push the messaging through.
7. Be patient and see the strategies through.
Content marketing is a long-term investment. However, that does not mean that you will not see short-term gains. Some brands fail at content marketing as they abandon a perfectly sound strategy in a couple of months.
From improvements in your website metrics to increase in traffic, you will start experiencing these within months.
However, to gain a stream of loyal followers and consumers, you will have to be patient. I am not going to lie. Convincing people takes time, especially if your content is not up to the mark. However, once you are able to win over someone, that person is not going to go anywhere.
This is why content marketing is the biggest trust-building digital marketing strategy. In order to reap rewards from content marketing, you need to devote at least a few months of consistent effort to experience the best ROI from your digital marketing efforts.
Conclusion
Content marketing is not as complicated as agencies and experts make it out to be. In fact, it is simple, direct and guarantees definite ROIs. For small brands who are looking to venture beyond social media marketing, content marketing is a feasible option.
Your content should talk about your brand and its story. Products and services come later on. However, that should be the order of things. Once you reverse the same, people are going to migrate to someone who talks less about their products and more about other things.
That is just how human beings function and read things. Content marketing is better for brands as it appeals to human psychology. At the end of the day, every brand should intend to create content that resonates with their audience.
Once a chord is struck, you can do all the direct selling in the world!
Do let me know what you thought about the article in the comments section below. Valuable feedback is always welcome.
Ciao,
Miss Kemya
This is a guest post by, Mashum Mollahis, an entrepreneur, founder and CEO at Viacon, a digital marketing agency that drive visibility, engagement, and proven results. He is a passionate blogger and blogs at MashumMollah.com.
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Hey Kemya, amazing post. You are right, guest posting is an important strategy in content marketing. It helps in reaching out to a new audience as well as increase website traffic. Keep sharing more informative posts like this.
Thank you, Jackson! Guest posting is often overlooked, yet it’s one of the simplest and most effective ways to reach a new audience.
Thanks for the great tips! I couldn’t agree more, especially with the advice to maintain an active blog. The vast majority of consumers read through multiple blog posts before making a buying decision, so that is definitely key to getting an advantage over larger competitors.
Hi Alison, that’s exactly why I continue to blog. Glad you liked the post, thanks for stopping by!