Once you have the groundwork done in building your small business’ marketing — research and messaging, website, digital marketing, and maybe ads — you’re likely thinking two things. What’s next? And at this point, how can I afford to compete against larger businesses? For many small businesses over the past five years, content marketing has become to answer to both.

What Is Content Marketing?

You might have heard the term ‘content marketing’ thrown around on sites like Entrepreneur, Forbes, Mashable, and AllBusiness. You might have thought it was just a buzzword, or that it was a specialized skill that was out of your reach or budget. You’d be wrong.

As a basic definition, per CopyBlogger, “Content Marketing means creating and sharing valuable free content to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers.” If you’re hoping to market your business online, this probably sounds appealing to you.

Content marketing actually encompasses a wide variety of practices, many of which you’re already likely doing in smaller ways. Things like blog posts, social media, infographics, informative and in-depth product descriptions, e-books and whitepapers, even videos and newsletters. Here’s a look at how small businesses have used content marketing in 2014 (courtesy of the report, B2B Small Business Content Marketing: 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends — North America:

At its best, content marketing can help your small business do some things that in the past only traditional, mass-market advertising was able to do. For example, getting people to know, like, and trust your brand. It can also help you give your customers valuable information for their purchasing decisions – something that’s much more widely trusted than traditional advertising. Lastly, it can give your network of customers and evangelists something sharable, to help spread the word about what you’re doing.

Where To Start

In this series, we’ve already walked you through a few things you should have in place before starting in on a content marketing plan. You should have taken steps to understand your customers, engage with them via email and social media, and gotten your website up to speed.

Now that you have a good framework in place, figure out who you want to reach. You should know your customers, and what your ideal audience looks like. Make sure your content is crafted to those people and their needs.

Then, determine your goals. Do you want to generate buzz for a specific product or service? Do you want to provide some support and information to your customers? Are you looking to grow your brand reputation? Establish your concrete goals before you create your content, so you can benchmark how you’re doing, and change your course as needed.

Now, it’s time to figure out what forms of content to create. Ask yourself and your team what your talents are. Do you have a good writer in the office? A salesperson who’s great at telling your brand story? Someone who’s compelling on video? Without all of the time and money in the world, it’s important to leverage these core strengths. Then, define what it is that your audience needs from you. Creating content for the sake of creating it won’t get you anywhere. Look at the problems and needs of your audience. What questions are your customers continually asking? What topics are they most interested in? Take some time to consider your target audience’s point of view, and find ways to leverage your knowledge into engaging content.

Create Some Content!

Here’s a sampling of the kinds of content you might create as part of your strategy:

• Compelling product descriptions — make your product descriptions more informative, with real-life examples of uses, before and after’s, and maybe success stories. (Obviously pay attention to advertising laws).
• Blog posts — A great way to gain writing experience and connect with your customers. As you go along, you can also start adding videos and other content.
• Tutorials — You’re an expert in your area! Step-by-step guides and how-to’s that speak to your customer’s pain points are great — and something they’re likely already searching for on Google.
• E-Books and Guides — While more time-consuming to produce, e-books and guides can offer in-depth content to your customers. A helpful tactic is to require that anyone who downloads the book to provide their email – which you can then subscribe to your newsletter.
• Webinars and videos — Video content on YouTube, be it product tutorials, success stories, or even descriptions of your services — give your audience a new way to engage with you. Similarly, webinars offer an interactive version of what an e-book or guide provides to your customers.
• Infographics — Infographics are creatively visualized facts and information, and are highly shareable online. If you’re thinking, “Neat. I don’t have a graphic or web designer here.” you’re not alone. Check out Visually, Piktochart and Infogram for free infographic templates.

While we’re on the topic of creating your content, there’s also a few things NOT to do. Things to Avoid:

• Hyperbole
• Superlatives
• Advertising
• Jargon (and avoiding our own internal jargon)
• Condescension

As you’re thinking through where to go, it’s a best practice to focus on content that maintains its relevancy and usefulness over time (we call it “evergreen” content). This will stay relevant to your current, and future, customers for years to come.

I Have Content. Now What?

Nice work! There’s two more things to add in to the mix to make your burgeoning content strategy successful.

One: Create a publishing schedule. Consistency in creating content is key to keeping your audience engaged. The best way to keep it going is to create and stick to a publishing schedule. Be it one item per week, month, or quarter- sticking to a schedule that your audience can rely on is what’s important..

Two: Promote your content. One of the challenges you face online is figuring out how to promote your content. Some of the best ways to get the ball rolling? Post everything you do to all of your social media channels, add it into your newsletter, and share it with any partners you might have.

Have Fun Creating

This is just the tip of the iceberg! Once you’ve started to see what’s working within your company, what your audience responds to, and where your own products and services go, you can tweak and adjust as you go along. You might also start looking to your network and peers, too. Crowdsourcing educational content from others in your field, especially experts and other business owners, is a great time-saver when it comes to filling out your content calendar.

Stay tuned for more marketing advice as the series develops. Is there a specific topic you’d like to see us cover? Let us know in the comments! And if you’re interested in being matched with a marketing advisor that can provide customized guidance to help grow your small business, check out our advising program at businessadvising.pcv.wpengine.com.

(image “Writing Tools” from Pete O’Shea)