Content marketing is not right for every business. Though every business uses content, there’s a certain profile where content marketing is most effective. In this episode, I look at the profile of my clients as a means to help you decide whether or not content marketing might be right for your business.
This is an important choice, especially if you are a small business. Once you’re a big player, you have more means at your disposal. You can allocate money to try lots of different strategies. You can hire dedicated marketers. But to the small business, content marketing *is* your marketing.
As I’ve said before, when you’re a small player, content marketing really is your only choice. You can get by on a much smaller budget, and there’s a lot you can do yourself. But that’s the danger, too. You’ve got to be efficient. You are running your business, so you can’t have content creation take all your attention. You have to make sure this is the right strategy.
So, are you and your business a good candidate for content marketing? As a practitioner, these are the five characteristics I look for to see if content marketing will be effective:
- You seek an audience. I don’t mean seek customers – every business needs customers. An audience is about attention as an asset, which you can convert into capital.
- You produce content. You use content as an instrument. Blogs, podcasts, videos, ebooks, social media, etc. A content strategy is how you make all of these things work together in support of your goals.
- You are present. People don’t want to talk to a company or an entity – they want to hear from you, directly. The only way to establish thought leadership and credibility is to participate in the conversation.
- You have something to share. You are an expert or have an interesting story. You want to educate, inspire, or inform – without expecting anything in return. Otherwise it’s not content marketing.
- You are a small player. When you are building from a small base, it’s your chance to find your brand’s voice. Identify a core group of like-minded supporters and nurture them.
If that describes you, you’re in the right place. This entire podcast series is designed to help YOU – to show you how to think about content strategy and how to implement it for yourself. If you have questions, please leave a comment. If you find that you need specific help, contact me directly.
And a few other things if you are ready to go further:
- See my 16-part series on Content Marketing 201:
https://controlmousemedia.com/tag/content-marketing-201 - Get free worksheets, tools, and templates in my Content Strategy Command Center.
- Book a session with me, and we’ll go through your content strategy in detail: https://controlmousemedia.com/strategy
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I would like to say thank you for what you have done. I’m a beginner in the marketing world and now I feel much more confident in social media marketing.
Thanks a lot for this topic. A new opportunity for my business
Thank you! I love San Vito Lo Capo – visited there last year (and stayed in Trapani).
Thanks for sharing all of your experiences!
Hey Michael,
As a marketer, I have always had this dilemma whether to go for content marketing for my clients or not. Now by seeing your post, I have got an overall idea of whether a client’s business or a brand needs content marketing.
Hi Praveen, thank you – this set of criteria works well for me. If a potential client doesn’t sync with all 5 needs, it will probably be an uphill climb the whole way.
Thank you, very interesting information.
I love that you touched on finding an audience that you can convert into customers for your business. My brother is trying to build up a new business this year and it’s important to find new customers. I think it’s time for him to think about hiring a marketing team that will be able to help him spread the word.
Thanks Viggo – there’s a lot you can do without needing to hire someone. Point your brother to this free course for more help: https://controlmousemedia.com/start-a-business. No catch, just paying it forward for the people who helped me when I was starting out.