Publisher Channel Content by Content Plan
As a Start-Up you are blessed with a bright business idea; you can understand the business mechanics of bringing the idea from a concept to a reality but can you understand the concept of bringing it to the consumer?
This is something that many Start Ups fail to plan for and , often, when the time and effort has been put into the product | service development, planning and set up implementation and resource acquisition, there is little budget left over for the use of marketing your business to the right people.
Yet, content marketing does not have to be hugely expensive; in fact it does not have to be huge in any way. A small business content marketing strategy can be highly effective at little cost; the determining factor is in the planning and time you put into content creation and its connection with the Consumer.
The main thing, though, is to get started. No one is going to see your business if it isn’t out there so, even if you start small: Start!
Here are a few ways you can get started.
Have a Website
Even a simple WordPress site at no cost is enough to place you on the internet map. Of course, any Start-Up can expand, upgrade and bedazzle according to budget and vision but the main thing is to get yourself a landing page where you can track the visitors to your site and use strategic Call to Actions to guide them to the end goal.
Note: Aim for a responsive website when researching. 80% of users own a smart phone and 75% of users are accessing services via this method. If you have to pinch or turn the screen to read your site then it isn’t responsive and can turn users away.
Set Up a Blog
A blog is an easy and effective way to start portraying your brand to the online audience.
Visitors may have already perused the pages of your site yet may not have a need for your services now and so leave. You are now, most likely, in the ranks of the forgotten.
Most likely, if that visitor goes back at a future date to search for your business type, you will not rank highly in that search.
Why?
The main reasons are that you have not been online long enough to gain traction with an established presence and that you are not creating the fresh and original content that search engine bots rate so highly.
This is why the creation of simple, effective content on your blog is highly important. You are engaging your audience with regular valuable content whilst, at the same time, keeping those search bots happy.
Set Up Social Media Channels
Well this is a blog in itself so I will just say that Social Media platforms are your gateway to your potential leads.
Go where your target audience are, whether it is LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or one of the many others; connect and engage.
These platforms are highly valuable distribution channels to get the content created on your website delivered to your target audience where they can be directed back to your site and your core business proposition.
Set Up an Analytics Account
Google have great analytics and webmaster tools that enable you to ensure that your site is optimised and ready to track the metrics of the users that visit.
Having this set up will provide you with valuable data that you can utilise to grow and develop your business online.
Create a Content Strategy
We wrote a post based on the fundamental components of planning your content which gives an indication of the planning and resource required to develop, create and distribute the content.
This planning is made easier when you have clearly defined goals and objectives based on:
- The type of audience you wish to engage
- The path you want to take that audience on
- What the end result for that audience will be
Once you have established these goals you will begin to formulate the type and topics required that are most effective in achieving results for your business.
The main thing as a Start Up though is to tell YOUR story.
- Build your content around your brand and the value it adds to your particular industry.
- Set the tone, visual and conversational image you want to portray for your brand and make sure it is the best fit with which to engage your target audience.
There are so many ways you can do this which is why we wrote our Ten Killer Content Ideas for your blog post.
The formulation of content has limitless possibilities and can be highly innovative. Just make sure that this innovation emerges from a structured framework of well-planned strategy.
Start your Start-Up
I’ll finish as I started. Just start!
The more you spend time thinking about it the more overwhelming it can be.
Have a brainstorm of the types of ideas you have for your business and you will find that content ideas will formulate organically from this.
Start slowly if you have time limitations. Plan two pieces of content a month and build the frequency up as your business develops and your content marketing resource grows. With a good baseline established along with an engaging online presence; you have the bones of a potentially long term effective framework.
These are just a few of the considerations of content marketing for Start-Ups. What other things do you think should be included?
Images: Author’s Own
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