Today, content marketing is an essential component of an efficient digital marketing plan for small businesses. Creating and delivering good, relevant content with a planned strategy can help small businesses connect with their target audience and achieve actual business results.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to developing a successful content marketing plan for small businesses:
Conduct Thorough Keyword Research
Begin by finding the terms and subjects that your target audience is looking for on the internet. To locate relevant keywords and phrases linked to your products, services, and industry, use keyword research tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs.
Look for keywords that have decent search volume and low competition. Tracking your keyword rankings over time can help determine whether your content strategy is working.
Example target keywords: content marketing for startups, social media tips for small businesses, email marketing strategies
Define Your Goals and Objectives
Be very clear on what you want to achieve through content marketing. Outline specific, measurable goals like:
- Drive more traffic to your website
- Generate more leads and sales inquiries
- Increase brand awareness and recognition
- Establish thought leadership in your niche
- Improve search engine optimization
Defining your goals will help shape the type of content you need to create to get results.
Identify and Understand Your Audience
Get clear on who you are creating content for. Define your target audience personas in detail including demographics, challenges, interests, goals and preferred content formats.
Conduct user interviews and surveys with existing customers to gain insights into the type of information or content that would be valuable to them. Creating detailed buyer persona profiles ensures your content resonates with your ideal customers.
Develop An Editorial Content Calendar
A content calendar helps plan and organize your content marketing efforts in advance. Map out the topics and themes you will cover each month, types of content you will produce, publication dates and promotion plans.
Here are some tips for building your content calendar:
- Mix-up formats – Include different types of content like blog posts, videos, podcasts, ebooks etc.
- Reuse content – Repurpose content by turning blog posts into social media updates, smaller videos, infographics etc.
- Promote content – Schedule social media updates and email newsletters to promote published content.
- Use an editorial theme – Group content around editorial themes for certain months, seasons or events.
- Plan long-term – Map out content 2-3 months in advance for a steady pipeline.
Produce A Mix of Content Formats
Look for opportunities to create diverse formats of content that provide value to your audience:
- Blog articles – In-depth articles on your website blog. Focus on topics your audience cares about.
- Videos – Short, useful videos that highlight your product/service. Post on YouTube and embed in articles.
- Podcasts – Start your own branded podcast focused on your industry and customers.
- Infographics – Visual representations of statistics, data or processes. Infographics tend to get shared widely.
- Ebooks / Guides – In-depth guides your audience can download in exchange for contact details.
- Quizzes or assessments – Interactive content like online quizzes to engage your audience.
- Case studies – Showcase client success stories and testimonials to build credibility.
Promote Your Content Across All Channels
Simply creating content is not enough – you need to actively promote it to drive traffic. Some effective content promotion tactics include:
- Social media – Share your content across all your social media channels. Engage your followers.
- Email – Send targeted emails when you publish new content. Highlight in your newsletters.
- Paid ads – Promote your best content like guides and ebooks using Facebook/Google ads.
- Influencer marketing – Reach out to relevant influencers and ask them to share your content.
- Website banners / CTAs – Highlight new content offers using banners, buttons and text links.
- SEO optimizations – Use relevant keywords, optimize meta descriptions, incorporate backlinks and internal linking.
Analyze Performance and Refine Your Strategy
Use analytics to identify your best-performing pieces of content. Assess metrics like website traffic, leads generated, dwell time, social shares and conversions.
Double down on content that resonates most with your audience. Eliminate formats that don’t perform well. Continuously refine your strategy based on data and insights.
Key Takeaways For Small Business Content Marketing:
- Focus on creating highly useful, relevant content tailored to your audience’s needs and interests. Avoid overly promotional content.
- Craft content around heavily researched target keywords so people can discover your content easily in searches.
- Produce a diverse mix of content formats like blog posts, videos, podcasts and infographics instead of only blog articles.
- Actively promote your content across all marketing channels – email, social media, influencers, SEO, paid ads.
- Analyze your results consistently and adjust your content strategy based on performance data and metrics.
- Be patient and persistent. The rewards of content marketing compound over time as your audience grows.
Developing a strategic, audience-focused content marketing plan is key for small business success today. With a solid strategy centered around providing consistent value, small businesses can build credibility, increase website traffic, nurture leads and drive sales.
