Say hello to Dave. He runs a tire shop, or he would if he were a real person. Each morning he posts a picture of a tire on Facebook. Nobody comments. Nobody calls. Tomorrow he does it again.
Across town there’s another shop with a different routine. Once a week the owner writes a short answer on the shop’s website. Something like, “How many miles should a set of tires last?” People type that exact question into Google, land on the page, and phone the shop. Same town, same rubber, totally different results. The difference is that the second shop has a content marketing strategy for small businesses, and Dave has a habit.
What Is a Content Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses?
Content marketing is making useful things, like articles, emails, and short videos, before anyone has bought a thing from you. You’re earning trust first. The sale tends to come later, and usually without much of a pitch.
The strategy is the plan behind it. Who are you trying to reach? What are they searching for? Where will they actually see your work, and how will you tell if it’s doing anything? Without answers to those, you’re just making content, which feels productive right up until you look at the results.
Large companies hire whole departments for this work. You’ve got a laptop and whatever time is left after the day’s jobs. Neverthless, small and medium businesses’ content marketing has its own advantage that no one can acquire by any means – they get continuous feedback from their clients and their inquiries provide better topic ideas than the majority of software tools. Google’s recommendation regarding effective and user-centric content is the same because it advises site administrators to write primarily for consumers and treat search optimization merely as an auxiliary task.
Content Marketing Plan: Start With One Goal
Before you write anything, decide what the content is for. More phone calls? Email sign-ups? Quote requests? People walking in the door? Pick one. Then put a number on it, like 15 new email subscribers a month. Yes, it’s a bit like homework. It’s also the main reason so many owners can’t say whether their content is working. They never decided what “working” meant.
The Small Business Administration has a free guide with a marketing and sales section that covers goals and budgets. It’s dry reading. Still, it’s handy if you’ve never put a content marketing plan on paper.After that, describe your customer in one line. “Homeowners within twenty miles who need a roof fixed before winter” is plenty.
Content Marketing for Beginners: Pick Your Formats
New people tend to sign up for everything at once: a blog, a podcast, three social accounts, and a newsletter. Content marketing for beginners goes better with one format and one place to send people.
For most shops I’d choose a blog and an email list. A post keeps working long after you publish it, because people ask the same questions year after year, while a social post is mostly gone within a day or two. Social platforms are worth using for reach, but they change their rules whenever they like, and since you don’t own the audience, a follower count can vanish overnight.
A content marketing strategy for a small business that lasts usually has one place you control and several ways of pointing people there. We go deeper on this in our content marketing strategy for small business guides.
Blog Content Ideas for Small Business Owners
The worry that you’ll run out of topics is mostly unfounded, provided you’re paying attention.
For two weeks, keep a note on your phone and add every question a customer asks. A roofer might hear “How long does a roof last in Ohio?” ten times a month and “Patch or replace?” five times. Each of those is a post, and since people type those same words into Google, these blog content ideas for small business owners arrive pre-tested by your own phone.
Publish every week or two. A content marketing strategy for a small business that survives twelve months will outperform an ambitious one that collapses by April.
Content Marketing on a Budget
Time is the main expense here. The content marketing plan on a shoestring budget requires just a cell phone with a good camera, Google Docs, the basic package in Canva, and the free version of email marketing tools.The reuse of information makes all that saving possible. With one quality post, you can make three social media posts, an email, and a video script without any additional efforts.
Keep your content marketing strategy for a small business small enough that you’d still do it during a bad week.
Mistakes to Avoid in a Content Marketing Strategy for Small Business
Four problems come up repeatedly. People post intensely for two weeks and then quit. They write only about themselves. They copy a giant brand that has ten times their budget. And they end posts without telling the reader what to do next.
All of the above can easily be fixed. Pick a tempo that you can maintain, start by mentioning the problem that the client faces, refer to your service only after that, and end each post with a step like contact information.Avoid stuffing keywords, too. Repeating a phrase until it sounds strange doesn’t help readers, and Google has said it wants content made for people.
How to Tell If Your Plan Is Working
On a monthly basis, look into three critical measurements that consist of website visitations count, number of new subscribers in terms of mailing list, and the count of those who have called or dropped by. Google has made it possible to monitor the first variable through the utilization of two free instruments.
In case the post does not yield any favorable results, try altering either the title or the question, but make sure to change only one aspect of the post.
Your Next Step
This week, write one goal on a sticky note, list ten questions customers have asked you, and answer the first one in a short post. You don’t need a team to run a content marketing strategy for a small business. You need a start.
If you want more, read our guides on a content marketing strategy for small businesses at Best Digital Marketing Trends and choose your next topic.
FAQ
What is a content marketing strategy for a small business?
The process of content marketing strategy consists of creating plans for distributing blog posts, emails, and videos that can be beneficial in attracting customers to a business. The contents of the content marketing strategy in a small business will be the goal, target audience, distribution platform, and frequency of posts.
How much should a small business spend on content marketing?
There’s no standard number. Many business owners will begin with free services and spend just a little bit of time each week on marketing, until they realize what works.
How long does content marketing take to work?
Often a few months for search traffic. Email and social posts can get a response sooner. Check your numbers monthly and adjust.
