Regardless of where your small online company is in your business journey, you need the best strategies to generate more leads and increase revenue. For this, content marketing is one of the most effective approaches.
As you will see, a strong content marketing effort means a strong marketing strategy for your small business.
What Content Marketing Is and Why It Is Relevant
In our digitized world, those who offer valuable content and unique perspectives manage to differentiate themselves. That’s why content marketing is important: it helps you stand out with your product or service from the rest of the competition.
When it comes to marketing and small businesses, content marketing is the place to develop a winning strategy. It involves creating and sharing valuable content. It starts with blog posts and long-form articles and can extend to online guides, YouTube videos, and simple memes.
Why is content marketing relevant in today’s online business environment? Because it helps position your business as an authority and generate leads without relying on paid advertising.
The reason you want to create compelling blog posts, share relevant memes on your social media, and design enticing infographics is so that clients remember your brand and eventually become loyal customers.
Content marketing is a way to build your online brand. It truly is an effective, efficient, and affordable way to make your small online business stand out. That’s why you need a sound content marketing strategy.
How to Create a Successful Content Marketing Strategy
Now that you know how valuable content marketing is, the next question is:
How can you create a successful content marketing strategy?
There are a couple of steps you can follow to develop a focused, results-driven plan. Of course, the first step to consider is this:
Define Your Target Audience
You need to imagine your ideal customer. Close your eyes and picture this person in detail. What does he or she look like? What does this person do? What are they hoping to get from your product or service? Is there a fear to overcome? Can you tailor your content strategy to their hopes and fears?
Picture a real person, standing right in front of you, discussing your business ideas.
Once you’ve imagined this person, it’s time to create a buyer persona.
What does that entail?
Know your client’s basic info so you understand to whom you’re making an offer:
- Age
- Location
- Interests
- Business challenges
Once your buyer persona is defined, research your competition’s audience. This will help refine your own. Have you missed anything about your ideal client? Start by looking at your competitors’ social media comments. Are these people in the same age range? If not, does that reveal something about your strategy?
Set Clear, Sound, and Achievable Goals
With your buyer persona in place, it’s time to set your content marketing goals. What do you want to achieve?
Set small, realistic goals. They should be:
- Clear
- Sound
- Achievable
Remember: some people choose to use S.M.A.R.T. goals, an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
Let’s look at an example. Suppose a local pizza delivery business is launching in a small California city. It’s about to launch a website and four social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
One goal might be to achieve a reasonable number of daily visitors to the website. Let’s say 500 visitors per day, which could generate around 20 daily sales—a decent number for a new pizza place.
On social media, you might focus on increasing brand awareness. For starters, aim for 500 likes and followers on Facebook and Instagram. Given a town of 10,000 people, this is a realistic and useful goal.
What’s next in your content strategy?
Choose the Right Content Types for Your Business
Once your goals are clear, you need to choose the right kind of content. You can’t upload just anything, anywhere. Different platforms require different tones and formats.
For example, your Facebook and Instagram can host more relaxed and entertaining content, while your LinkedIn account should present more professional and informative posts. Your website should include a blog with content relevant to your business.
Continuing with the pizza parlor example:
Create content that showcases your produce and explains why your place is the best choice for pizza. Focus on Instagram and Facebook. If your audience is mostly young people, post daily or several times a week on Instagram.
Younger audiences are visual. So, photos of delicious pizza slices are essential. Videos of fresh pizzas being sliced are also great content.
TikTok, popular among young people, is another platform to consider. Upload videos of pizza being made, delivered, or enjoyed.
Video testimonials are powerful. Ask locals to film themselves trying the pizza. This kind of content can boost your Instagram presence quickly.
Be sure to mention where your parlor is located. You want your followers to be local, because pizza is a physical product they need to order and consume.
At the beginning, you can run simple contests. For example, people in town who follow your Instagram can enter to win a free pizza.
Your initial Instagram goal might be 500 followers from your town in the first month. To reach this:
- Post four times per week
- Use relevant local hashtags
- Alternate between pizza photos, video clips, and client testimonials
You’ve just seen how to apply a content strategy to one platform. But don’t limit yourself.
Facebook is still essential for brand awareness and has an older user base. Importantly, many small towns have active local Facebook groups.
Join all the relevant groups in your area. Use them to make announcements or share content. This will help you reach your goal of 500 Facebook likes early on.
Your Website
While social media is rented space, your website is your own real estate.
It should include:
- Your physical location
- Links to social media
- A menu with offerings and prices
These are musts for any business website. But when it comes to content marketing, your blog is the key area to focus on.
Publishing regular, relevant content is still vital today. Your strategy should center on your blog.
Why? Because that’s how search engines find you. And blog posts provide content you can repurpose on other platforms.
Returning to the pizza example, regular blog content gives you something to share on Facebook and helps you rank on Google.
Blog success depends on:
- Frequency of posting
- SEO strategy
Some say daily blog posts are best, but this depends on your business. For a pizza shop, two or three blog posts a week should be enough to reach 500 daily website visitors within the first month.
Social media helps boost that number, but strong SEO will keep traffic coming in the long term.
You can read more about SEO best practices for small businesses in a future article. We understand its importance and plan to deliver more valuable content on the topic.
Content Marketing for Small Business
Not every small business can afford expensive marketing campaigns—and many don’t need to.
Content marketing can take any business a long way, whether fully online or with a physical presence.
Instead of a traditional ending, here are some final practical tips and content ideas to guide your efforts.
Practical Tips for Success
- Focus on quality over quantity: Better to have a few strong pieces than lots of weak ones.
- Repurpose content: One blog post can become several social posts or a video.
- Engage with your audience: Respond to comments and build real connections.
- Outsource if needed: If time or skills are a challenge, consider hiring help.
Content Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
- Answer frequently asked questions in blog posts or videos
- Share customer testimonials and stories
- Offer tutorials or behind-the-scenes glimpses
- Highlight new products or services
- Run contests or interactive polls on social media
Content marketing is a long-term investment, but with a sound strategy and consistent effort, it can deliver real results—helping your small business stand out, earn trust, and grow.
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