Content Marketing Strategy for Start-ups
Whether you’re the CEO of a new company or one of the lead decision-makers, marketing for a start-up can be…complex. Limited resources, specifically when it comes to finances and employees, present a formidable challenge.
Where do you invest your time and energy? What efforts are worth your money?
Before we answer those questions, let’s engage in a quick game of pretend. Imagine for a moment that you’re a consumer and you’re searching for a tool or app that can help streamline your finances, and in doing so, you stumble across Company A’s paid search ad.
You get to their site and see a brief description and images of the product, a few tables outlining features, and a cart. There isn’t much more going on. Their social media efforts are similar, featuring sporadic posts and borrowed content.
Returning to your search results, you see Company B in the first page results, and so you decide to check it out. Upon landing on their site, you’re greeted by a robust collection of content including an informative video describing the product; a tool that allows you to plug in some information about your needs with the promise of a personal product suggestion; and a link to the company’s blog, which features helpful articles about managing finances for a small business. You check out their social sites and see plenty of unique content and regular engagement.
It’s highly likely that Company B has become a top contender in your search for the right product. Company A? Well, let’s just say that the original ad wasn’t money well spent.
The moral of the story? When content is done right, your brand gets sticky. Further, having a solid content plan can help you make the most of your start-up’s marketing efforts, even if you don’t have a huge budget.
Quality content is a great way to not only build your brand but also make it sticky for sustainable customers/clients. If you’re a start-up seeking this sticky path, here are four tips to keep in mind.
Budget for a Writer
Today, investing in an individual or agency that can provide quality content is essential to most businesses but perhaps more so for start-ups. As traffic starts to filter to your site, the goal immediately becomes keeping potential clients engaged and interested in your brand. The best way to do that, of course, is quality content.
You may be tempted to work with “content farms” that will churn out large quantities of content at low rates, but when you’re just beginning, poor content can immediately alienate readers, removing your brand from further consideration.
A classically trained writer or team of writers understand how to create engaging content that will boost your brand credibility, educate potential and existing customers, and move those customers to action by appealing to their needs, wants, and beliefs.
Start a Blog
Content can be distributed in a variety of ways, but one of the best methods to make content work for you, especially if you’re on a budget, is through a blog. Blog posts are sharable pieces of content that can bolster both social media and SEO efforts.
Additionally, blogs provide start-ups with the opportunity to show visitors that their brand isn’t just a purveyor of goods and services.
When run properly, a blog can become an invaluable resource, providing timely, interesting, and desired information about not only your products and services but industry trends, common problems that plague your audience (and your proposed solutions), and perhaps even a peek into your company’s culture.
Know Your Voice
There may be multiple companies that specialize in a similar field or range of products, but that doesn’t mean they are each the same. Every company has a different voice, and it’s that voice that really attracts and keeps consumers.
Case in point, we can buy winter and outdoor apparel anywhere, but we often find ourselves perusing MooseJaw. Why? Because we find their witty, silly, and sometimes downright nonsensical social media posts to be hilarious. Granted, polling your audience to find out who would emerge as the winner in a battle between a single 300-pound squirrel and 300 one-pound squirrels may not match your voice, but it works great for them.
Determine how you want your customers to perceive you, and create content that conveys your companies unique voice.
Have a Plan
But don’t be afraid to deviate as needed. A plan is essential to content marketing. Creating content, at least for future successful companies, needs to be a well-thought-out process. If a campaign is to be successful, everything from content themes, audience and distribution needs to be planned, and KPIs need to be accounted for.
However, as a start-up, you may quickly find that some things simply aren’t working for your brand or your intended audience. For that reason, evaluation also must be a part of the plan, and you and your team must be able to adapt and shift when necessary.
There are a variety of concerns that shape the marketing efforts of any start-up, but content creation and distribution should be viewed as a foundational necessity; if these two elements are absent, you can quickly spoil your marketing. As you begin to plan or continue to build your team and plan for the future, keep the value of quality content in mind, and you’ll give yourself and your brand the best shot at becoming truly sticky.
