In 2021, one in five small businesses said that their biggest challenge was finding the time to market their business. If this is you, investing in content marketing is the best digital marketing activity you can do. When done the right way, you’ll maximize your time and budget.
Nowadays, consumers look for information online but turn away from marketing techniques that force that information on them. Let’s explore how to create content that builds relationships with your potential customers and results in leads and sales for your small business.
Reuse Your Content to Save Time
As a business owner looking to save time on marketing, imagine if you could use a single piece of content over and over. Content can be re-purposed and used in many places, not just your website. Reuse it for social media, newsletters, and offline marketing.
Here are some examples of how to reuse a blog post:
- Pick out some of the main points and create images to share on social media. For proficiency, be aware of image size requirements ahead of time.
- Use main points to create a tip sheet as a free handout in your physical business location, as an incentive for your email list, or in your email newsletter.
- Create a video from your content piece and upload it to YouTube.
- Create an audio file by reading your content aloud and share it online.
- Expand your blog post to create a free report or mini-course.
The option to use your content in this way to reach so many marketing channels is an efficient use of your valuable time! But, to succeed with content marketing, it’s important to know who you’re writing to and what they need. Before creating one more piece of new content, you’ll want to create a persona for your target market.
Know Thy Customers: Personas in Content Marketing
Don’t make the mistake of creating content solely based on your company and the products or services you offer. Creating a persona, or profile, of your market, will help you create the information that your visitors are actively seeking. This may take a little time, but the rewards will be great.
A persona is a character sketch outlining the common elements of your market, such as goals, needs, communication preferences, and habits. Consider adding a face to your persona and giving him/her a name. When creating content, post this information nearby to stay in tune with your ideal client as a real person you can help.
Now that you know the kind of information your audience wants, you can create content just for them.
Personalized Content Marketing
Don’t bother creating a bunch of generic content; it won’t get you the desired outcome. To succeed, you need to connect with your market on a personal level. An emotional connection allows you to engage your audience without blatantly selling to them.
On the other hand, impersonal and pushy content will turn your audience off and send them running in the other direction. According to The Future of Content: Rethinking Content Consumption report, 95% of consumers deliberately avoid seeing ads or content forced on them.
Personalized content marketing starts with knowing your target market and then tapping into your empathetic side; walk in their shoes for a moment. Find out what they need and help them with it. Putting their needs first makes you a hero in their eyes and is the path to cultivating a profitable relationship.
You Can Do This
There’s no doubt that marketing a small business is time-consuming, but it’s certainly doable with content marketing. Relying on targeted content, you can re-purpose will save time and resources while giving your business a positive return. Remember, focus on helping your audience with their needs first, and they will return the favor.
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Lisa is the creator of three content-based web businesses: PLR Article Writer, Social Media Coup, and Content Sisters. She has a natural talent for writing, having written her first series of fiction stories at the age of 9. She also holds a degree in graphic and web design, enjoys Internet marketing, and all things tech. When she has time she loves to research history and chase ancestors through her family trees.
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