Content marketing is all about boosting your online presence so that potential clients can find you easily and share your information. The content in this regard can be written or visual as long as it relates to your business. Every small business owner should know how to use content marketing for promotional purposes. This strategy increases your brand awareness and builds a profound reputation. This translates to keeping your site fresher, hence attracting more clients. But there is so much going on in the cloud that content marketing is getting tougher each day. Every brand is striving to create content to compete with the rest. The big question is: how can your small business cope with this stiff competition. If you are a smart solopreneur, you should know how to utilize various types of content marketing optimally.
Videos
Do you want to remain competitive in today’s digital market? It is imperative that you grab the attention of internet users as quickly as you can and keep them engaged. Videos are some of the most captivating forms of content. As a matter of fact, more than 30% of online activities involve watching videos. Suppose you have an academic site and want to elaborate on different writing formats. How about creating a video to demonstrate those formats instead of simply writing an article as most sites do? Post the videos on your blog, social media, and web pages. Regardless of the industry, you are in, video content is a promising strategy for reaching the target audience. It has a greater return on investment than written content. You can expect a tremendous increase in your organic traffic once you start posting videos. Your customers will be spending more time on your blog hence your business will have a higher chance of making sales. However, videos don’t always need to be commercial. You don’t have to hard-sell everything in your store. Rather, use them to answer visitors’ questions or to show the team behind your brand. If the audience can see the personal side of your small business, you will establish personal relationships with them while at the same time giving valuable advice, entertainment, and inspirations. Furthermore, a video makes a perfect break from the written content and can be shared easily.
Infographics
Visual content is always engaging. A recent survey by Venngage’s Nadya Khoja indicates that 41.5% of the internet users are optimally engaged by original graphics including infographics. An infographic can be a diagram or a flow chart showing your business data. The content is not only informative but engaging as well. To use infographics, gather sufficient statistics regarding your business and publish the information as an informative graphic. You can also create bite-sized strategies which your audience finds most valuable. This type of content is easy to create and you don’t need to hire a graphic designer. All you need is a definite topic and gather relevant information which you can compile into 400-word content. Create short and precise sentences. Make the content visual through such tools as Infogram, Piktochart, and Canva. You will find numerous templates on these tools to help you create an infographic from scratch. The best places to use infographics are guest posts, social media pages, blog posts, email, and landing pages.
Whitepaper
This is an authoritative report explaining a certain issue or providing in-depth information on a subject matter. White papers are common with experts as they respond to customer questions and concerns in an in-depth manner. A white paper can explain any topic in your specific industry. It is particularly helpful when your business involves a technical field that is of great interest to your audience. You can use white papers in online brochures, website, free downloads, and other web pages.
eBooks
An eBook is a long-form content marketing strategy for a small business. As the name suggests, it is a book in the electronic form that is used to give value to prospects and convert them into clients. An eBook is not a long ad but rather a composition of useful information and inspirations that your target audience needs to solve their problems. It is about selling your brand name. It is about establishing meaningful relationships with the customer so they can rely on your business any time they need a product. To produce an effective eBook, you need more investment than in other forms of writing used in promoting a business. This is because it is longer and requires more time to create. This shouldn’t scare you nonetheless. You can receive an attractive ROI from eBooks so that every penny you’ve invested becomes worthwhile in the long run. Because an eBook is gated, your visitors are required to give some personal information before downloading the content. Then you can use such information for promotional purposes.
Influencer Interviews
Every expert of a particular niche can easily persuade their followers and that is why they are referred to as influencers. Influencers are found in all sectors from fashion, cosmetics, finance, electronics, health, etc. Social media influencers are trusted for shopping advice. Your small business can also use these influencers for promotion. But you have to pay an influencer if you need them to boost your business. However, interviewing an influencer is less costly and sometimes it can cost nothing. You can, for instance, conduct a comprehensive interview with a single influencer or ask for an expert opinion from multiple influencers. Then, use the information to build a round-up post. Once the influencer shares the content to their followers, your blogs and social media sites will gain relevant traffic hence higher chances of conversion. To get started, choose an interesting subject and find an influencer that your audience loves. Come up with the relevant questions to cover for the interview. Send those questions to the influencer and don’t forget to mention how you will appreciate their insights. These people lead a busy life so they may take longer to respond. Don’t give up. Keep sending follow up emails but avoid coming off too pushy.
Case study
This is a comprehensive report about a particular subject that incorporates a lot of research and documents. It doesn’t need to be technical. You can choose a conversational or inspiring study that will not bore your audience. This content marketing strategy should highlight the kind of experience your clients get with your brand. It further explores how your products solve common problems in the society. You can present evidence concerning how the past clients have improved their lives with your products or services. To create a case study, choose a past client and gather the necessary information. Show their initial problem, and how your product solved it. Lastly, analyze the results.
A small business requires a good clientele base. Without quality customers, it becomes harder for your business to thrive in the competitive commercial industry. One of the best ways to acquire more buyers is through content marketing. Your venture will gain more prominence if you deploy the above tips. They are the most successful forms of content you can promote your small venture with. The best part is that they don’t consume much of your time. You can actually implement some of them in-house or ask your team members to do it for you. Apart from your time and efforts, they don’t require you to spend any extra thing and that’s why they have been approved for small businesses by experts.
