Starting a small business can seem like a huge gamble, but the biggest emphasis on your small business is not always the initial or ongoing investment. Your largest influence will be the content marketing strategies that you employ. There are many strategies to speak of for content marketing, but if you want to stand out in the large crowd of small businesses, here are nine advanced content marketing strategies for your small business.
Logistics
Small businesses sometimes focus on the bottom line and only the bottom line, but if your small business happens to be among the many that provide a delivery option, logistics can be quite beneficial. Tracking packages from point A to point B has been something that businesses have done internally for years. Passing that line of sight onto your customers will garner you much more business. Provide a way for them to track packages. This will not cost more than having the right software for the job, but it adds trust into the mix that so many delivery services lack. Advertise this service within your online content.
Competitive Price Analysis
Software is a great way to stay competitive in today’s world. People love to compare prices. The companies that offer price analysis of other competitors play on this. The customers can put in what they want and a detailed analysis of the prices within their area. You will be able to stay up to date on your competitor’s prices as well. Sometimes your prices will be better and sometimes the competitors will be better, but your customers will appreciate the fact that you are concerned about them as a customer instead of merely looking at them as a dollar sign. Use social media outlets to tell people about the service.
Reward Programs
This trend started with grocery stores offering incentives to loyal customers, but has now spread to incorporate every type of business imaginable. The loyalty program is easily kept track of by the software within your POS system or other software you employ. Points can be used for free merchandise or just discounts toward purchases. People love these reward systems and it is important to utilize every opportunity for marketing within your small business. Again, social media outlets can be beneficial in spreading the word.
Partnership Backlinking
It is vital to remember that you are not the only small business in town. There are others looking to utilize content marketing within their sector as well. There are not many opportunities to bring small businesses together these days with such steep competition, but your website offers the perfect opportunity. Backlinking gives the opportunity to share the online content with others and gives a link to the community of local businesses.
Local Social Media Networks
One of the largest online social networks to help consumers make smart decisions is Yelp, but it is not the only one. Utilizing all social media aspects will ensure that you have a good online marketing campaign. Some of the social media sites are great for advertising locally, but others may be ample resources for drawing in a global business market. Just because you are classified as a small business does not mean that you cannot make an impact on a global scale. Some of these sites allow you to share content in order to grow followers making your marketing campaigns able to reach many more people.
Adapting Messages
The messages that you send out through social media cannot just be the same message hashed out over the different platforms. Each social media platform has certain things that they allow and do not allow and sometimes just the same recycled message will not be well-received on all social media platforms. Take into consideration the different rules of the individual site and write content that will raise daily web traffic to your business’s site.
Online and Offline Advertising
Content marketing is about maximizing your online presence. Offline marketing can sometimes feel a bit obsolete these days, but by utilizing all platforms of both online as well as offline marketing resources, you will keep your name in the minds of your customers. They may read an online article and then hear your radio advertisement. That act will maximize their positive thought of your individual business.
Multimedia Usage
It is wonderful to write informative and well thought out content, but words are not always what content marketing is all about. Pictures tend to attract many more people than just a plain well-written piece. Take a lot of pictures of not only your products, but also any events going on within your company. That sort of multimedia marketing allows the community to feel as though they are a part of your business. It is often stated that a picture is worth a thousand words and nothing is truer than that statement from a multimedia marketing standpoint.
Contests
One of the biggest draws to your content marketing is contests. There are some people that seek out these contests just for the chance to win something. It does not really matter what kind of contest you maintain, just as long as you offer one. Offering a monthly contest to your customers will allow them to share the contest on social networks and give you the opportunity to gain access to many more potential customers. The greatest thing about offering a contest is that it is relatively inexpensive for the small business owner.
Content marketing is very important part of your small business. It allows you to reach out to the customers that may not be able to come into your physical address provided that you have one. Your small business has all the potential to grow when given the tools and strategies that will allow it to do so. With these 9 strategies along with your individual business sense, you may find that your small business will grow into big business quite quickly.
Author: Usman Raza is a marketing specialist at Crawford and O’Brien and Headset Zone. Aside from doing dental SEO and helping dentists get new patients, when not working there is a 99% chance he is praying with his family. Follow him on Facebook @usmanraza40 and Twitter @usmanintrotech
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