Every business started small-usually with the CEO and any partners. It’s up to the owner to get people excited about their business and grow their customer base into profit. And one of the best ways to grow your business is by focusing on strengthening your content marketing strategy. But how? There are a number of ways to do that-but there are also a number of content marketing mistakes a lot of small businesses make as well. Keep reading to learn more about 5 common mistakes to avoid while working on improving your content marketing strategy and download our Small Business Content Checklist.
First, What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing for businesses refers to sharing any type of media online for your company. Content can include social media posts, videos, blogs, eBooks, infographic, case studies, podcasts, and more. Content can be presented in so many forms-educational, fun, how to’s, inspirational, etc. But when creating content, you should have your ideal customer in mind. The purpose of content marketing is to create brand awareness and interest your ideal customers in working with you.
5 Content Marketing Mistakes for Small Businesses to Avoid Making
As a small business, it can sometimes be a challenge for you to gather the resources necessary to create a content strategy. It can take a lot of time and effort, so avoiding these mistakes can help make the process simpler:
Mistake #1 Not starting with a strategy
Sometimes we see small businesses writing content without a strategy. Last minute, not sure what to put out there, no thought goes into it, no research, etc. To create a strong strategy you need to first know what your business objectives are. You want to create goals that are reasonable as a startup company. If your goal is to make a certain amount of money that month, figure out how many leads you need to get to make that happen. Then create your strategy with those leads in mind.
Mistake #2 Trying to appeal to everyone
In almost every case, putting content out that is too general will not help you reach more people. You want to reach your target audience, the people who will be interested in your brand, those who will want your product or service, and the one that will tell others about your business and come back to purchase again. To appeal to that person, you need to create content specifically geared towards them. And to do that you need to understand them. What do they want to see, what questions do they need answered, what will push them to purchase, and what are the challenges they face? You can gain insight into finding out what type of content your audience responds to by looking at data you do have or asking your audience through different forums, surveys, or interviews.
Mistake #3 Irrelevant content
Always be sure to create content that is relevant to your business. Sometimes we see people just posting to get content out and it doesn’t completely make sense to their business. Don’t get us wrong, you want to share content consistently-not posting enough can be harmful in your brand’s awareness campaign. But you don’t want to share just anything that pops into your head. You want to share relevant content that has to do with your company.
Mistake #4 Not optimizing content for different devices
Visual content is great! But you need to make sure it will look good on different devices. If you create an infographic that looks killer on a desktop computer but warps on mobile devices, your prospective customers surely won’t take the time to view it on their phones. It just makes you look bad. Test your content on different devices before publishing. Be sure to research what size images and file types you will need for different platforms.
Mistake #5 Assuming people will find your content
You spend hours and days creating the perfect eBook that will surely get your small business noticed. You publish it and have it hosted on your website. You’re done right? Wrong. You can’t just assume your audience knows where to look for that eBook when they don’t even know it exists. You know what assuming does. You need to focus on ways to promote the content to where your audience will know it’s available to them and take advantage of the content you created. Share it on social media (paid or organic), with different social media groups or communities, with your email subscribers, and on other websites like Quora, Reddit, or Medium. You can also create short videos on the topic and share links to your content in the captions.
About Symboliq Media
Symboliq Media is a client-centric design agency specializing in branding, website design, social media management, and digital marketing strategy. Symboliq strives to partner with brands that want to get their businesses heard and seen in today’s crowded market. Through extensive market research, authentic content, and intentional collaboration, Symboliq creates innovative marketing strategies to increase engagement and generate end-results.
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