Being a small business owner can be difficult as you might feel like you are being spread too thin. This is a reason that some owners do not take advantage of the benefits that content marketing has to offer. While it is true that content marketing can take a long time to be effective, the benefits outweigh the time spent by a large amount. If someone was to tell a business owner that doing one type of marketing could build brand image, boost SEO scores, and help the business become a thought leader in their industry the owner would have to be crazy not to try it. The following are some things that content marketing can do for a small or one person proprietorship.
Create A Positive Brand Image
While creating a positive brand image is invaluable it is also important to remember that if your company is going to do content marketing, make sure to do it correctly or it could negatively impact your brand image. Some things that can really do damage via content marketing is that of advertising instead of creating content that will be useful and interesting to readers. Most people have seen the Twitter feed or blog post that is completely an advertorial. Nobody wants to read about how a product is cheaper at your company when they can simply do a simple search on Google.
Creating content that people find engaging that a company can interact with their customers in comments that are posted. This is an easy way to humanize your small business and give it even more of a personal feel. Do not be afraid to take a side on certain issues in your industry; just try to stay out of hot topic subjects like religion and politics. An example of this would be a personal injury specialist answering questions about a possible case or a medical malpractice lawyer answering questions on what constitutes malpractice as this can be confusing to some. These lawyers could also see the help of a SEO or content marketing company that specializes in lawyers like Lawyers SEO. It is important to get a specialized company for lawyers as many legal things need to be written by those familiar with laws.
Become A Thought Leader
If you consistently come out with great content that is shared amongst people in your industry then you are slowly becoming a thought leader. Becoming a thought leader in an industry help drive sales as most people want a well-known name to work with as they trust that the work they will receive will be up to par. By posting on industry sites and giving advice on topics in your niche you can slowly build clout as well as be invited to speak or write for other industry sites. This exposure will also drive sales as not only are you speaking to an audience familiar with what you do, but if you nail the interview or article they could be interested in working with you rather than another company.
SEO Benefits
In today’s world if you are not trying to do some kind of search engine marketing then you are doing your business a disservice. Content marketing gives the ability for people to link back to your posts and thus raising your search engine score for a specific keyword phrase. The SEO benefits encourage many small business owners to reach out to other businesses that are similar or in the same area to offer a post. This helps expand brand awareness while building relationships with local and national businesses. Make sure to write the article or small piece in the voice of the other business or website as the readers have become accustomed to it. Do not be afraid to bring your company’s voice into it as companies and websites bring in guest writers to spice things up. Most of these businesses will allow a link back to your site in the author bio which depending on the size of the site, could boost your SEO rankings quickly.
Anyone can see the different impacts that content marketing can have on a business. If your business has tried content marketing but just can’t get it right, there are companies that can help you with this. Not all of these companies are created equal so tread lightly. If there is room in the budget then having a content manager and writer could become beneficial especially if you do not want to contract out any of your marketing. Content marketing has a bright future with the way technology encourages people to share content, don’t miss out on it.