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Your keyword research and focus on search intent did their jobs. A member of your target audience just landed on your site. Hooray! However, creating quality content that is SEO-optimized is only half the battle when it comes to driving conversions on your website. Content marketing requires you to implement effective content conversion strategies. Read on to discover the conversion strategies you should be implementing and companies that are using them with great success.

1. Call-to-Action Placement

Your visitor is highly unlikely to buy your product or download your white paper unless you ask them to. That’s why one of the most important elements of content conversion is the call-to-action.

A CTA generally takes the form of a button or link that encourages site visitors to do something specific, such as make a purchase or subscribe to a newsletter. If you include first-person pronouns — Sign Me Up! Open My Account! — even better.

The placement of your CTA is crucial to its effectiveness. For years, marketers believed the CTA should appear “above the fold” — the screen a user immediately sees — because of its greater visibility. More recently, that truism is being called into question.

What is most important for placement is what you are offering and how close to converting someone actually is. If you’re a financial advisor, you’ll need plenty of compelling copy to demonstrate your expertise before asking a prospect to schedule a meeting. Placing your CTA below the fold would likely make the most sense.

But if you’re selling an instantly recognizable product to people ready to buy, put your CTA above the fold. Everyone knows what Spotify is; that’s why the music streaming service hits visitors with a sign-up button right off the bat. Well-executed A/B testing can reveal which approach is likely to yield more conversions for your business.

2. Landing Page Optimization

A landing page is a specific web page that a user is directed to after clicking on a link or ad. While your homepage is broad and general, these more focused pages are designed to convert visitors into customers. Optimizing your landing pages for content conversion is crucial for improving your overall conversion rate.

By the time a visitor gets to a landing page, they have narrowed down the reason they’ve come to your site. This allows you to provide the targeted information they need to take action, whether that’s downloading an e-book or ordering your product. To increase the odds they’ll do what you want them to, don’t provide lots of choices — one CTA is often best.

Other tactics for optimizing landing pages range from the technical — ensuring fast loading speeds and segmenting traffic — to the aesthetic and psychological. Catchy headlines and images will maintain the user’s engagement, and visual cues can guide them to your CTA. User reviews and testimonials will assure them that what you’re offering is worth their time and money.

HubSpot reports that businesses that optimize their landing pages can see conversion rates increase by as much as 30%. Mailchimp gets it: Their landing pages have concise headlines, a cleanly minimal design, and a clear call-to-action. This makes it easy for visitors to take the next step in the customer journey.

3. Social Proof

The reason user reviews and recommendations make persuasive components of your landing pages is that they provide “social proof.” Social proof is a psychological phenomenon in which people look to others for cues on how to act in a given situation. Customer testimonials, product reviews, and followers and likes on your social media profiles are all examples.

Reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers are particularly potent, especially those that provide detailed accounts of their positive experience. (Bonus points if they say how much better you are than your nearest competitor.) Showcasing your thousands of 4- and 5-star reviews is another winning play.

It makes sense that social proof would be a powerful content conversion tactic. After all, who are consumers more likely to believe — the company trying to sell them something or fellow widget-seekers like themselves? These success stories will encourage prospects to give you a try.

And this isn’t mere speculation. According to A/B testing vendor VWO, including social proof on your website can increase sales conversions by up to 34%. So comb through your customer surveys and Facebook comments and share the nicest things people have said about you.

Perhaps no business better exemplifies the power of social proof than Airbnb. It wasn’t long ago that staying in a stranger’s house would wig many people out. But the visitor reviews and ratings next to each Airbnb listing help to build trust and credibility.

4. A Compelling “About” Page

Speaking of building credibility, don’t forget about your About page. This crucial page — one of the most-visited on your site — gives you the chance to tell the story of your business and boost your marketing efforts. Recounting how and why you started the company helps you connect with site visitors and establishes trust with them.

“But wait,” you might ask, “didn’t you just say consumers trust their peers more than a company trying to sell them something?” Indeed. That’s why the About page is no place for direct selling — leave that to your landing and service pages. While it should contain a CTA (e.g., Find Out More), the only thing you’re selling on the About page is you and your team.

Not that you have to do it alone. If you haven’t highlighted positive press coverage of your business on your website’s homepage, do so here. An “As Seen On” bar featuring badges from well-known publications will show a potential customer that trusted authorities think highly of you, too.

Just because you’re not selling on your About page doesn’t mean this page lacks conversion potential. On the contrary — putting a human face on your business gives your audience the confidence to buy from you. The important thing is to be yourself. Online translation service Tomedes found that out when it upped its conversion rate by 13% after swapping in sprightlier language on its About page.

5. Clear Navigation and a Robust Footer

Given how impactful the About page is, you might find it surprising that it’s often relegated to a website’s footer. But that’s both surprising and not. While many businesses are beginning to put their “Our Story” page right up top in the navigation bar, many more leave it below. That’s because they know customers know that’s exactly where to find it.

High-converting site navigation is all about putting things where site visitors expect them to be. Prospects won’t buy from you if they can’t find what they’re looking for — or see at a glance what you’re offering.

So be specific with your section headings, for starters. “Products” isn’t going to entice customers (or search engines) the way “Totes” or “Cookware” will. The point is to make it easy for visitors to get to different sections and navigate them with the fewest additional clicks. Texas-based custom printer PrintGlobe can attest to the power of this tactic: Improvements to its site navigation boosted its conversion rate more than 18%.

While good navigation gets most people where they’re going, there will always be site visitors who’ll want to cut to the chase. They’ll head directly to the footer, which is why a robust footer is so important. It acts as a safety net, helping visitors get needed info — everything from FAQs to your business address — fast.

In addition to helping users find things they missed up top, your footer offers you one last chance to make your case. Privacy policies and terms of service go here, both of which build credibility with users. And you can reiterate your mission and issue one final call-to-action, with a contact form or an email signup.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Implementing effective content conversion strategies is crucial for transforming browsers into buyers. The strategies above are just a starting point; you should continuously experiment with new tactics to find what works best for your business. Since a single digital content strategy won’t necessarily drive conversions on its own, use a combination of different tactics and strategies to achieve the best results.

Want to learn more? Reach out to see how Relevance can help boost your visibility with a strong SEO strategy. More traffic = more conversions, right?

Getting a business started can feel like climbing Mount Everest. The constant battle that comes with making a name for your business and fighting the competition, can be physically and mentally draining. But when you experience success, it feels like the thrill that comes with reaching the summit.

No matter how great your business’s journey has been, the truth is that every business experiences a point of plateau. Sales may have slowed to a standstill, maybe there’s a lack of employee engagement or innovation, or perhaps your competition has your audience’s attention. That’s normal. However, a lull doesn’t need to mean the end. The right tools can help get your business back on track.

Digital marketing has become an essential tool for businesses of all sizes to reach new customers and drive growth. There are a variety of digital marketing tactics that businesses need to succeed. In this article, we'll explore how digital marketing can help businesses grow and the tactics that can be used to achieve this goal.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is a marketing approach that uses numerous digital tactics and channels to connect with customers where they spend most of their time — online. Think of it as the opposite of traditional print advertising. Reaching your audience through newspapers or billboards used to be the norm. You’re now reaching customers through emails, popping up on their social media pages, and answering their questions in Google search. If you can meet them where they are, you’re more likely to be top of mind and make sales.

What are Some Popular Digital Marketing Tactics?

There are multiple ways to connect with your audience online, but not all tactics work for every business. Before committing to a digital marketing campaign, it’s essential that you have a clear picture of how it supports your overarching goals. It’s also necessary to understand how each approach works. While there are a few more tactics available, we’ll explain some of the main approaches below:

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization, also called SEO, is the process of improving the visibility of a website in search engine results pages. Think about how often you go to the second or third page of Google results — rare, right? That’s why it’s so important to get on page one, and why so many people are strategically trying to rank in that number one spot.

Improving a website’s ranking is accomplished through a variety of techniques such as keyword research, meta tags, and link building. You want to make sure you’re answering the questions that people are actually asking to boost visibility, and you want to answer them correctly to gain credibility and authority. SEO is an essential tool for driving organic traffic to a website, reaching new customers, and driving business growth

Content Marketing

Content marketing emphasizes creating, producing, and sharing content meant to engage and attract a targeted online audience. This tactic and SEO go hand in hand. You can’t improve your ranking with search engines if you don’t have informative content on your website. While content marketing includes website content, like blog articles, it also covers social media posts, videos, online courses, and even events that invoke an interest in your brand’s products or services. 

This process of creating and distributing valuable content to attract and engage potential customers can be an effective tool for building trust, establishing authority, and ultimately driving growth. In fact, 72% of marketers claim that having a solid content strategy is a major key to their success, and they’ve increased their content marketing budget to continue seeing growth.

If you already prioritize content marketing and aren’t seeing the desired results, you may want to consider running a content analysis to see how you can optimize your material. While improving your content is always a plus, you also want to make sure you revise or delete anything that’s outdated or incorrect. It might be harming your ranking and your authority.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a type of digital advertising where businesses pay for each click on an advertisement. If you haven’t run this type of campaign as a marketer, you’ve definitely seen them as a consumer. Whether scrolling through Facebook or Google, PPC ads line the pages promoting specifically catered products and services.

PPC advertising can be a powerful tool for reaching new customers and driving growth. The visits generated from these ads often bring in more revenue than what the click costs, and the searcher is usually already committed to buying when they click. PPC ads can help grow a customer base because they are specifically targeted. Additionally, PPC advertising is often one of the quickest methods to grow your audience. While SEO is a marathon, PPC advertising is a sprint that offers a quick return on investment. 

Email Marketing

Email marketing allows businesses to promote products or services through email campaigns. It can be an effective tool for driving conversions, but what’s especially noteworthy with this approach is the cost benefit. Email is an owned media, which requires less initial spending than traditional advertising. Studies show for every dollar spent on email marketing, businesses see about $36 in return. That number even increases for retail and e-commerce companies.

This tactic is also beneficial because it allows you to send messages directly to consumers, and it can be personalized for returning customers. As personalization is becoming more important across industries, email marketing has proven especially beneficial. You can thank customers for their purchases, provide product recommendations, and provide rewards for special occasions or even referrals. 

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing, as its name suggests, uses social media platforms to promote products or services. It can be an effective tool for building brand awareness, engaging with customers, and driving growth. Statistica reports, “As of 2022, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 147 minutes per day, which is up from 145 minutes in the previous year.” And it’s a trend that has continued to increase over the past 10 years.

If marketers should learn anything from social media usage trends, it’s that they need to have a social media presence. And it’s important to choose the right platform for your product or service. If you’re selling a retirement planning service, your main audience isn’t going to be on TikTok. But if you’re selling beauty supplies, clothes, tech, or food, TikTok might be the ticket. Platform popularity varies based on demographics, so it’s crucial to understand your audience.

Influencer Marketing

While it’s important for your brand to have its own presence on social media, partnering with an influencer allows your business to leverage their connections to expand your audience. The media elite prioritize building relationships with certain demographics, so strategically partnering with them can increase awareness and even boost sales.

Studies have found that 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations when they’re looking to buy a product. Even when consumers aren’t shopping, influencers have an effect. In fact, the same research suggests 40% of consumers have purchased something just after seeing it on social media. Some studies suggest influencer recommendations are more effective than friend referrals. It shows how authoritative influencers have become, which is why this marketing tactic is becoming more mainstream.

Digital Marketing is an Essential Tool

From SEO to social media marketing, there are a variety of tactics that you can use to reach new customers and drive growth. It's important to remember that a single tactic may not necessarily drive growth on its own. You’ll need to use a combination of different tools and strategies to meet your goals. 

It’s also important to make sure you measure and analyze your digital marketing efforts. Make use of the available analytics tools and software to track the performance of your website, campaigns, and social media channels. This will help you understand what’s working and what isn’t. Then you can adjust your strategy accordingly. This will also give you valuable insights on your target audience, helping you develop more effective campaigns for the future.

At some point, every business experiences a period of stalled growth, and it’s likely that more businesses will experience a slow down in our uncertain economic times. A stall may be caused by any number of reasons. There may be an oversaturation of the market, a lack of innovation, or an inability to reach new customers. But it doesn’t have to be permanent!

There are several tactics that you can use to jump-start your organization’s growth and get things moving again. Below is a list of strategies you might want to consider.

1. Market Segmentation

Market segmentation is the process of dividing your customer base into specific groups based on shared characteristics. For example, the fast-food chain Subway segments its market by offering different menu items for different geographic regions. In the United States, most typical sandwiches include ingredients like ham or turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a condiment like mayo or mustard. In India, however, corn and pea salad is a popular topping, and in Japan, shrimp and broccoli is a typical sub option.

These ingredient modifications help the chain appeal to a broader audience and grow its business. If your business operates in different regions, you may be able to offer individualized products for each area. However, you should also consider how you can personalize the customer experience based on a range of other factors. 

These segments may be based on demographic, geographic, or behavioral traits. By segmenting your audience, you can target your marketing efforts more effectively, reach new customers, and increase conversions. Some studies suggest this tactic can increase revenue by as much as 760%.

2. Product Development

Innovation and product development are essential for driving growth in any business. Selling the same product for decades just isn’t going to work. As the world evolves, so do customers’ expectations. By regularly introducing new products or improving existing ones, you can stay ahead of your competition and attract new customers. It’s also worth noting that Improved performance also lets you increase your profit by charging higher prices for a superior product.

Apple is a company known for its focus on product development. In fact, their product development process has a valuation that exceeds $2 trillion. (That’s twelve zeroes!) This success is largely because every time a new product is launched — whether that’s the latest Iphone, airpods, or MacBook — their new features quickly become standard and even a status symbol.

Constantly introducing new products drives much of Apple's growth, and it could be an approach that helps refresh your business too. Take some time to think about how you can improve the products or services you offer. Making it “new and improved” can help you catch your customers’ attention. 

3. Content Marketing

Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing valuable content to attract and engage potential customers. This can include blog posts, videos, infographics, and more. By providing useful information to potential customers, you can build trust and establish yourself as an authority in your industry.

Studies show businesses that use content marketing can see conversion rates increase by as much as six times. HubSpot is a great example of a company known for its inbound marketing and content marketing. They use a variety of content types to educate and engage their audience, which helps to drive growth in their software business.

If your business’s content could use a boost, think about how you can provide value to your audience. Ask yourself what they might want to know and what information would benefit them. For example, if you’re a digital marketing agency, it would make sense to provide your audience with content explaining how to jump start their business’s stalled growth. (Get it?!)

4. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is extremely popular today, especially since most of your audience is spending time on their phone. This marketing method utilizes social media platforms to promote your products or services, and it works because you’re meeting your audience where they are. By building a presence on social media, you can reach new customers, engage with existing ones, and drive conversions.

While we often hear more about social media blunders than successes, there are thousands of companies using social media effectively. Sony’s Playstation, with over 29 million Twitter followers, is just one example. They continuously post a mix of content, including new game trailers, gaming footage, and streaming events, to keep fans engaged.

Consequently, their company and products benefit from their popularity. If you need to update your social media approach, make sure you keep your audience in mind and use your brand’s voice. Being genuine will often help you earn trust and boost your following.

5. Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of your website in search engine results pages. Optimizing your website for search engines can have vast benefits. You can drive more traffic to your site, reach new customers, and ultimately drive growth for your business.

As a result of improving their SEO strategy, the telehealth platform Nurx saw search query clicks increase by 833% and organic traffic increased by 217%. By evaluating popular content and search terms, the company was able to optimize their current content and strategically create new blogs and on-site guides.

If your business isn’t already working on SEO optimization to improve awareness and ranking, start as soon as possible. But remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. SEO strategies take time, but they’re worth it in the long run.

6. Networking

Networking is the process of building relationships with other businesses and individuals in your industry. This could be in-person or online. However, attending conferences, I’ve personally found that in-person networking events are especially valuable because you’re able to build stronger, more meaningful business relationships.

You never know when you might be able to foster a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” type of relationship, which can immensely benefit your business. By building a strong network, you can reach new customers, gain helpful insights, and boost business growth.

Networking is also a way for sales and marketing teams to benefit from in-person marketing and build a referral pipeline. In some situations, having strong relationships can even increase revenue. You never know when a friend of a friend can refer a client or promote your product.  Knowing the right people and fostering genuine connections is essential, so make sure you’re putting yourself out there — especially if you’re experiencing a lull! 

Remember Business Growth Takes Patience

Sustaining a business is challenging, and failure is normal. In fact, according to Investopedia, “20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during their first 10. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more.” 

Those who succeed figure out how to drive business growth. By implementing effective tactics, you can jump-start your business's growth and get things moving again before you contribute to another statistic.

The tactics above are just a starting point, and not all approaches will work for every business. However, starting someone is better than not trying at all. You should continuously experiment with new strategies to find what works best for you. Once you find a strategy that is driving business growth, keep going. Success comes from hard work, time, and patience. 

Trusted lifestyle publications have learned to walk a fine line between addressing a specific niche and having widespread appeal. The best of them answer felt needs for many…but without becoming too narrow. After all, they are striving to provide valuable insights and information and attract advertising revenue.

Some of the publications on this list are well-known. However, others you may not have heard of previously. They represent a mixture of blogs and magazines, many of them blurring the distinction in the process. Check out the ones that spark your interest. Poke around for a bit. We've listed our top picks in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

Camille Styles

As a college student, Camille Styles thought she was going to use her journalism degree to become a magazine editor. However, along the way, she worked for a catering company. Styles found, to her surprise, that she absolutely loved event planning. In her own words, she found it difficult to believe that she was getting paid to merge her passions for cooking, design, and bringing people together.

On her lifestyle site, Styles currently oversees what is arguably one of the most eye-pleasing, helpful, and fun lifestyle publications. As a result, if you share her passion for food, gathering, design, beauty, wellness, and more, check out CS. It's filled with engaging content, thoughtfully articulated, and beautiful to behold at the same time.

Camille Styles

Conscious Lifestyle

With a core value of believing that we must be the change we wish to see, Conscious Lifestyle seeks to help people overcome challenges common to much of the human race. It's a pretty tall order, but the editors take an open posture toward issues of mind, body, and spirit.

The focus of this lifestyle publication is to provide practical tips, tools, and techniques. Consequently, these help others move in the direction of happiness, health, and healing. The site intentionally provides a platform for the world's leading thinkers, philosophers, and leaders. It zeroes in on material that anyone can access.

Conscious Lifestyle

Entertainment Weekly

Who doesn't enjoy unwinding with some quality entertainment, especially during times of cultural upheaval, heightened stress, and economic uncertainty? The editors behind Entertainment Weekly totally get it. As a result, they strive to make sure we make informed, insightful decisions about the various forms of media on which we spend our time and money.

Wondering if it's worth it to catch Marvel's latest release in the theater? Not sure if the series your best friend won't stop jabbering about is really as good as he says it is? EW can help you sift through all of the attendant hype that surrounds anything in its initial days of release. This is true whether it's a movie, TV series, book, or theatrical tour. However, be warned up front. You might lose track of time once you start digging into the print magazine or website.

Entertainment Weekly

The Financial Diet

Far too many people put off learning about the ins and outs of money management and investments for good reason. On the other hand, many financial publications take as their operating assumption that their readers are already financially savvy. Not so with The Financial Diet. The editors at this lifestyle publication work hard to demystify issues of finance for the average reader looking to learn more.

Whether your intent is to become financially wise or simply to solve an immediate problem related to money, give the Financial Diet website a spin. You'll likely find articles about nailing that important job interview, how to create a simple budget, and even whether or not organic food is worth the hefty price tag. In short, end any embarrassment you might have about money issues today by checking out TFD.

The Financial Diet

Food Network

The folks at Food Network recognize that we all need to eat but are committed to helping us do it well. The namesake magazine shows up in the mail to an astonishing 100 million U.S. households and currently holds the No. 2 position in terms of best-selling magazines on the newsstand racks. Clearly, the editors of this lifestyle publication are doing something right.

Food Network isn't merely a collection of recipes, as the uninitiated might expect. Instead, it seeks to empower readers to move into a higher realm of food preparation and consumption as it seeks to fulfill its goal of being "food's best friend." Consequently, content is educational, helpful, diverse, and (let's just say it) jaw-dropping in its visual appeal. If you've been wanting to take your food habits to the next level, this is the site for you.

Food Network

Good Housekeeping

The very first print issue of Good Housekeeping was published in 1885. With well over a hundred years of experience under its belt, the folks at this magazine obviously know what they are doing. The magazine has never swerved from its original calling to provide helpful information out of a sense of public duty matched by private interest.

This high calling serves its readers well. Others describe the editorial team at GH as ruthless in its fact-checking and commitment to accuracy. In this way, they help their readers make informed, reliable decisions with just about everything that touches their lives. If you are looking for dependable, authoritative information regarding food, beauty, holidays, and more, this lifestyle publication should be one of the first you consult.

Good Housekeeping

He Spoke Style

If you're a guy looking to give your outward impression a serious upgrade, consider making He Spoke Style your first destination. Unlike many men's style lifestyle publications, the writers and editors at HSS shoot straight. They do so without a lot of fuss or even a hint of pretentiousness. The publication has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Esquire, and plenty of additional top-tier media.

The emphasis at HSS is on practicality and attracting "regular guys" as readers. Guys who maybe don't have thousands of spare dollars lying around. Since its launch over a decade ago, HSS has grown to include its own line of menswear. Likewise, the experts at HSS even offer complimentary consultations and personal styling tips via Zoom. If you find it slightly intimidating to walk into a menswear store, give the folks at HSS a shot.

He Spoke Style

Martha Stewart Living

While the emphasis tilts toward the upscale, everyone can find something of interest. Filled with helpful, practical tips and advice, the team at Martha Stewart Living offers up great recipes, DIY projects, beauty tips, gardening expertise, and much more.

Stewart has been an authoritative voice in lifestyle publications since 1982. That was the year her book Entertaining with Martha Stewart first hit the shelves. Since that time, MSL has grown to become a huge international presence. Her enduring commitment to making life easier, inspirational, and a little more beautiful has never wavered. For some of the best advice on health, pets, weddings, food, home design, and more, make MSL a regular destination.

Martha Stewart Living

Men's Health

Print editions of Men's Health are currently available in 25 editions in 35 countries. Add to that more than 21 million readers in print and online, and MH represents a formidable presence in the world of fitness, nutrition, and weight loss. The publication also offers advice on menswear, scientific breakthroughs, gear, movies, and more, all targeted at guys.

The commitment to service journalism runs deep at MH. Rigorous fact-checking, licensed experts, and experienced staff make it a worthwhile read. MH has been awarded many of the top publishing industry honors. These include the Ad Age distinction of being named one of its Magazines of the Year in 2017. The coverage typical of MH is informative while avoiding the trap of being overly promotional.

Men's Health

NewsReports

If you're interested in availing yourself of several life hacks and tips that cover just about any topic making headlines, make NewsReports your next lifestyle publication to visit. The folks behind NR value substance over hype and do their best to steer readers to the latest great apps, technology innovations, health news, and more. NR is an online-only publication committed to helping you become more productive and well-informed.

The NR effort began as a humble website dedicated almost exclusively to helping its readers wade through the mind-numbing array of options available on the Apple Store or Google Play. It never let go of that niche expertise. The writers and editors expanded and now scour the headlines for noteworthy innovations, so you don't have to. If you're looking to move past headlines and hype, give NR a look.

NewsReports

The Pioneer Woman

It might help to think of Ree Drummond's monolithic lifestyle publication as "Martha Stewart for the blue jeans crowd." In addition to the usual sections on food, decorating, health, beauty, and style, Drummond peppers The Pioneer Woman with information and snapshots from her personal life. The overall effect is one of exchanging recipes with your next-door neighbor over a glass of minty iced tea.

Drummond launched her website over 15 years ago. She had zero intention of launching a media behemoth, yet her publication transcends lifestyle genres in a way readers clearly enjoy. TPW answers a market segment that wants the information, yes, but also wants to know a little bit about the people providing it. Here you'll find articles with non-traditional titles such as "Todd Played His Last High School Football Game" and "Photos of Chuck."

The Pioneer Woman

Southern Living

The reach of Southern Living extends far beyond its initial target audience of the southern U.S. without losing its focus on the culture and traditions of the American South. Launched in February of 1966 by The Progressive Farmer Company, SL has stayed true to its vision. It celebrates what's glorious about the South "in all its complexity" and adds diverse and dynamic voices to the conversation.

Rigorous fact-checking and an unwavering commitment to accuracy make SL a lifestyle publication that is both dependable and entertaining. If you are looking for interviews with experts, creative food ideas, home and garden tips, and a whole lot more, look for SL to serve it all up. The editors present it all with a southern flair that is sure to appeal to just about anyone from any walk of life.

Southern Living

Verve

Headquartered in South Bombay, Verve was launched by Anuradha Mahindra in 1995 to offer a platform for the voices of recognized talent to express themselves. The namesake website followed in April 2014. The claim to fame here is being India's very first women's luxury lifestyle monthly. Verve offers its readership a glossy print version and has as its primary emphasis content of consistently high quality.

Verve tailors its content to a very specific niche. Over time, the publication has grown as its articles on arts and culture, people, fashion, travel, events, and more appeal to a considerably larger audience. Do you have an interest in getting a global perspective and approach to service journalism? Verve is a lifestyle publication well worth your attention.

Verve

Wit and Delight

True to its moniker, Wit and Delight advertises itself as "a home to professional feelings feelers, an elevator for glass ceiling breakers, and a soapbox for stories on anything from home decor and tile to battling anxiety and depression." And that pithy description pretty much sums up what you will find within. Never taking itself too terribly seriously, W&D tells important stories with a flair missing from many other website destinations.

The emphasis here is on stories that were developed as a result of real-world experiments out in the world of "adulting." If you're immediately drawn in by a no-nonsense approach to topics of importance, giving yourself 30 minutes with W&D is a dangerous undertaking. You'll pop in for a quick look and maybe miss picking up the kids from school. This lifestyle publication is long on useful information and enjoyable reading.

Wit and Delight

 

Traditional marketing approaches have long been effective in building brand awareness and promoting various initiatives. For decades, it's provided a tried-and-true process that has generated sales and interest. Many retailers take an understandable posture toward marketing (and everything else) that goes something like, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

However, in today's hyper-connected marketplace, brands need to learn more about their customers to continue along a growth trajectory. They need to understand customer behaviors exhibited in the past and anticipate future needs. As attention spans shrink, retailers need to be empowered to respond quickly and forecast accurately.

In short, brands need more dynamic, ongoing opportunities to understand, engage, and connect with their existing customers. Enter growth marketing.

Defining Growth Marketing

Growth marketing is a burgeoning strategy focusing on long-term relationships with your existing and potential customers. It's a full-funnel approach that uses quantitative and qualitative data to gain deeper insights and make course corrections in marketing at every stage.

Growth marketing is a comprehensive approach designed to meet your marketing goals. It does not focus on one component, such as lead generation. Instead, it uses objective information to build customer loyalty and trust by providing content that delivers value.

Think of it this way; growth marketing enables brands to grow more than just the bottom line. In addition to more significant revenue, it also facilitates the growth of customer loyalty, overall satisfaction, responsiveness, and trustworthiness.

How is traditional marketing different from growth marketing?

Traditional marketing often focuses on acquiring a customer (revenue) but less on retention (brand loyalty). There is typically little marketing emphasis on what happens to a prospect once online marketing efforts convert them to paying customers.

Another critical component of mastering the growth marketing puzzle is experimentation.

Experimentation is all about testing, refining, and retesting messages until a brand fully understands what works in its niche. This embrace of experimentation takes an upfront commitment of time and resources if you hope to do it correctly.

Why growth marketing?

It's data-driven.

Sometimes marketing is all about what's funny, what looks good, or what people currently think is hot. That's all fine and well. However, growth marketing focuses less on buzz and more on empirical data. What is working? What isn't? Where can our efforts be improved?

Effective growth marketing includes utilizing A/B testing and conversion rate optimization (CRO) data. Growth marketing uses these tools to influence online efforts, focusing on a better overall user experience. In short, growth marketing frees experimentation by using data as its starting point instead of "best guesses" as to what might work.

Growth marketing is a full-funnel strategy focused on trust and loyalty.

Instead of generating leads solely at the top of the funnel, growth marketing focuses on helping customers at every stage.

Growth marketing provides value throughout the journey. Audiences work through content relevant to search intent. These messages provide value, education, and information at each stage of their buyer's journey. Content helps users determine what they need to solve real-world problems rather than leave them to guesswork.

One way to think of it is that you are providing relevant information that helps move a potential customer from uncertainty to confidence as they make their way toward the "Finalize Purchase" button. When that confidence is reinforced through accurate fulfillment, your brand has simultaneously grown its bottom line and customer loyalty.

It's hyper-strategic.

Growth marketing takes a deep dive into what's working and what isn't and aligns that with marketing goals.

By hyper-targeting what needs to change to achieve marketing goals, growth marketing can focus on conversions or top-of-the-funnel traffic, whatever you need most at the moment.

Growth marketing is "people-first."

Growth marketing focuses on people, a.k.a. the customer. Whether that's in SEO, where you are writing for the reader and targeting the keywords they find valuable, or in onsite content written to help answer questions and be a resource, solve your growth marketing puzzle by being helpful.

Strong brands can be confident that an educated audience is far more likely to purchase than those with unresolved questions or other misgivings.

Instilling a Growth Marketing Mindset

To establish a growth marketing mindset in your marketing department, you first need to embrace data as a driver for decision-making.

This process can be more challenging than you think, primarily if past business successes resulted from inspired hunches. There is still a place in the marketing realm for hunches, but with growth marketing, your inspiration springs from empirical sales data and website analytics rather than waiting for a muse to pay a visit.

That does not mean that creativity is not a factor. In fact, creativity is a critical component of effective growth marketing. Art and science are involved in building a growth marketing mindset as you seek to perfect a harmonious blend of SEO, onsite content, and traditional marketing practices. If anything, growth marketing done right requires more creativity, not less.

By focusing on your brand's products and services, being willing to experiment, using objective data as your agreed-upon starting point, and using past results to guide future strategies, you'll be solving your growth marketing puzzle before you know it. In fact, you may start wondering how you ever got along without utilizing a growth marketing strategy.

At Relevance, we help brands build credibility and authority in their industry. Using content strategic planning, custom SEO, and digital PR, we drive more customers and revenue for our clients. To learn more, contact us today about how we can help as your growth marketing agency.

Determining which digital marketing channel or tactic will actually reach a potential customer and help spark exponential growth can be confusing and stressful. In the face of this challenge, many startup businesses looking to score some quick growth struggle to appreciate the difference between the phrases "growth marketing" and "growth hacking" as they launch.

So how do we properly distinguish between emphasizing growth marketing vs. growth hacking?

Working Definitions

Growth Marketing

The practice of growth marketing takes the traditional marketing model and adds new layers, such as a data-driven technical analysis of all aspects of the customer experience. Marketers move quickly to implement the insights gained from this user experience strategy to achieve sustainable growth.

But your growth marketing effort scarcely ends there. Unlike traditional marketing, growth marketing goes beyond the top of the marketing funnel.

The Driving Forces Behind Growth Marketing

The primary role of growth marketing is to create value rather than extract value from your existing customers. Growth marketing uses a systemic process that builds on adaptable development principles and prioritizes tactics based on their perceived long-term impact.

Growth marketing is a long-term strategy focused on fostering business growth. Its emphasis is on building relationships and loyalty to reinforce brand awareness and also acquire new customers. This growth strategy adds consistent value by attracting users and engaging with them, often while they are out on a product hunt.

Once implemented, you can then focus on retaining customers. Growth marketing, done right, can even turn customers into advocates for your brand. In short, they become cheerleaders, part of your growth tribe. This particular marketing tactic is tough to beat!

Anyone serving on your company's growth team probably knows that it's become increasingly important to have a creative, results-driven, and compelling marketing strategy targeted to the new customer.

Your growth marketing strategy can serve as a new, robust approach to building a loyal customer base. It will prove invaluable as you engineer the desired customer journey and create or edit various aspects of your growth hacking funnel.

Growth Hacking

While we often use the terms growth marketing and growth hacking interchangeably, these techniques have subtle differences.

Growth hacking focuses on creative, often low-cost strategies to help companies quickly acquire new customers. This concept utilizes a cross-functional approach that integrates marketing and technical product development skills.

Marketers use growth hacking to facilitate rapid growth through the use of qualitative and quantitative data, as well as experimentation. They use qualitative and quantitative data to gain insights into user behavior and preferences. This strategy also utilizes an accelerated testing process and specific standards to evaluate and act on the results.

The most fundamental difference between growth hacking and growth marketing lies in their opposing views on brands.

The other critical difference is the specific type of growth. Both rapid and sustainable growth would be ideal, but companies often feel pressured to pick one or the other for their focus.

How the Right Combination Will Work in Tandem

An effective growth marketing process turns the best attributes of growth hacking into a sustainable practice based on solid principles.

Growth marketing emphasizes the importance of understanding people, competition, and the business as it exists in the real world. Growth marketers know that the best marketing tactics result from knowing the ideal customers for each company.

Although there are stark differences, there are also some obvious similarities between growth marketing and growth hacking. Both approaches rely on an adaptable growth model, encouraging experimentation, data-informed decision-making, and constant improvement. Growth hacking and growth marketing rely on access to qualitative and quantitative data to drive revenue growth and customer acquisition.

How Do I Decide?

Deciding which growth strategy will be the most beneficial for your business may seem complicated, but it all boils down to your goals.

If you need more sustainable growth, growth marketing is the better option because it can keep giving for years and years if done well.

Even though they share the same goal, both techniques pursue different growth methods and complement each other. Businesses are buzzing about these concepts because everyone is seeking rapid yet sustained growth that strives to improve revenues. When you analyze and define the specific roles of growth marketing vs. growth hacking, it's clear that they both have value.

Content continues its reign as the king in marketing, and rightfully so. Seventy percent of marketers actively invest in content marketing. Likewise, 72% claim that having a solid content strategy is a major element of their success. As a result, emerging and established brands alike are taking advantage of the benefits of content marketing to help grow their business.

What is content marketing?

Simply put, content marketing is defined as a strategic marketing approach that helps form strong relationships with your audience. This relationship is nurtured through valuable and relevant content (in a variety of formats) on a consistent basis.

Content marketing is essentially when you put useful information in the hands of your target audience. Traditional marketing, on the contrary, is when you go after your audience and attract them with the information you want them to receive.

Because content marketing is defined by the audience's interest, it is usually far more effective than traditional digital marketing approaches such as paid advertising, email campaigns, and sponsored marketing.

Some of the most popular formats for content marketing include blog articles, videos, infographics, case studies, e-books, webinars, podcasts, social media posts, email newsletters, presentations, brochures, and more. Potential customers are already looking for high quality content, your job is to make sure they find it via email marketing, video content, and/or paid ads.

As a small business, you might fall into the trap of thinking that producing quality content that stands out is the prerogative of big brand names with big budgets, large marketing teams, and lots of resources on their hands. But a content marketing strategy is possibly even more crucial for small companies. Even the smallest businesses can engage in outbound marketing, launch a popular social media channel, crank out good content, and use its brand personality to draw audiences into the sales funnel.

When compared to other forms of promotion, content marketing delivers some of the highest ROI for every dollar spent. Great content also offers benefits far outweighing the time and money that goes into it. Proven to be a cost-effective strategy, content marketing generates three times the leads at 62% less cost compared to traditional marketing approaches.

What are some of the main benefits of content marketing for your small business?

It will deliver ongoing value to your audience and drive engagement.

By providing your target audience with valuable content on an ongoing basis, you are giving them powerful motivation to come back for more. Fresh, relevant, trending content is your shot at boosting your audience's engagement whilst continuously enhancing your brand image.

It will build authority and trust.

Producing content that helps educate your audience about your business instead of blatantly promoting your services will help establish your authority and expertise. The more insight-driven, quality-focused content your company produces, the more people will consider you a thought leader within your niche.

Once your business is recognized as a go-to resource for valuable, expert information, you will gain your customers' long-term trust and loyalty. Every piece of relevant content you share will solidify your reputation as a reliable authority. This is true whether you are conducting a B2C or B2B content marketing effort.

Content is what will make your clients return when they have questions and eventually when they are ready to make a purchase.

It will support your digital marketing channels.

Successful marketers know that 100% original content goes a long way. That super-informative blog article that you just wrote can be shared on your social media channels, transformed into an impressive infographic, or featured in your newsletter, fueling the traction across all these platforms.

It will generate leads.

Lead generation is one of the benefits of content marketing. Think blogging, smart gated quality content, and strategically placed calls-to-action (CTAs).

Consistently publishing blog posts is an effective content marketing strategy. Expect your lead generation efforts to rise by 88% or 67% respectively, depending on whether you are a B2C or a B2B company, giving you unparalleled ROI for every marketing dollar spent.

Gated content usually comes in the form of e-books, blog articles, white papers, and even videos. Sought-after gated content generates leads by expanding your email contact list. Visitors fill out a contact form that provides their email address in exchange for access to the gated resource. These visitors willingly subscribe to your emails and look forward to them.

Strategically placed CTAs within your relevant and engaging content can also generate inbound marketing leads. By clicking on your CTA, visitors will move through the sales pipeline. This is perhaps the single greatest content marketing benefit.

It will boost your search engine rankings.

Without exaggeration, content marketing is the soul of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

Influential content that visitors engage with contributes to your website's domain authority, strengthening your search engine rankings. Additionally, unique, creative content built around the right keywords and targeting the right audience via social media marketing gets indexed quickly and ranks better on Google.

Higher rankings, in turn, will lead to more traffic to your website.

How do I make content marketing work for my small business?

If you are looking to implement a content marketing strategy for your small business, here's how to do it.

Define and set SMART goals for your marketing campaign.

Most marketers already know that defining your purpose and setting goals are vital for content marketing.

Content strategy goals need to be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. In other words, they need to be SMART. Here are good examples of SMART content marketing goals as you seek to raise brand awareness.

Identify and track your key metrics.

Define the key metrics that help you understand if your content marketing campaign is moving in the direction of your goals.

Content performance indicators include website traffic, unique pageviews, likes and shares, conversion rates, number of downloads, and bounce rate. According to the Content Marketing Institute, there are at least four content audit metrics to track over time.

Learn from the data. Adjust your content strategy and keyword research accordingly.

Select your target audience and marketing channel.

Before you start creating or promoting any type of content, make sure you clearly understand who your target audience is. Define their demographics, interests, personality types, and followings.

Once you figure out the who, identify where your audience is most likely to spend their time. Then pick the right digital channels to distribute your content. Consider blogs, social media platforms, email campaigns, and online forums to boost brand awareness.

Keep your content creation team to a publishing schedule.

Create a posting schedule and (as any experienced content marketer will tell you) stick to it. You can't significantly raise brand awareness and build customer loyalty with an occasional social media post.

Consistency is key when it comes to publishing great content. Similarly, avoid posting too often, not posting enough, or posting irregularly. Your end goal is to engage, not to overwhelm. Better to generate one killer blog post per week than 10 boring posts per day. Use your content marketing effort to drive long-term audience engagement.

Create. Adjust. Repeat.

To make the benefits of content marketing work, the quality of your ideas must translate into well-researched, valuable, engaging content.

Your great content needs to educate your audience and answer their questions. Produce fresh content with the same vigor you examine your target audience and marketing channels.

By continuously learning from your KPIs and tweaking your content strategy, you will develop a solid foundation of evergreen, relevant, and valuable information. Likewise, you will also build trust with your audience.

Content marketing can mean the difference between struggling to grow your customer base and taking your small business to the next level.

Whether you create the content in-house or hire a content marketing agency to do it for you, now is the time to embark on your content marketing journey.

5 Free Content Marketing Resources for Your Small Business

Starting your own business can be an enormous challenge. Oftentimes, investing in small business content marketing resources isn't exactly top of mind!

However, you'll need to create a website with an eye on search engine optimization. You'll also need a unique selling proposition (USP), and a brand that can help you to showcase your company. However, you also need to find effective ways of engaging in content creation, content management, and B2B marketing. The goal, of course, is to find a tool you can use to convince your visitors to choose you over your competitors.

Perhaps the simplest way to turbocharge your online presence, and bring some interest to your new business, is to invest some time in content marketing.

With engaging content and the right tool, you can build your brand awareness. You will seek to deliver value to your customers with every blog post and email marketing piece. You might perhaps even schedule a few Google Ads. The point is to start to generate audience loyalty. You do this by creating quality content that is useful for them such as videos, blog posts, and infographics. This is what today's professional marketer refers to as "inbound marketing."

Setting Yourself Up with Realistic Expectations

Content marketing isn't just publishing a few blog posts as most people think. It can be any type of content that is useful for your target market. It also doesn't matter how long or short the content is or the tool used to distribute it. The key is to develop some great, niche-specific content marketing ideas, map out an email marketing strategy to help get the word out, and pick the right tool for your niche.

Take the example of Joe Wickes a.k.a. "The Body Coach." Wickes built a multi-million (euro) nutrition and fitness business off the back of 15-second cooking videos.

The question for you as a new business owner and content marketer is, "How do you find the tool you need to create incredible content without breaking the bank?" We're talking about tech that goes a bit deeper than Google Docs or stumbling upon some random blog ideas generator.

Listed below, we'll look at five great small business content marketing resources you can use to add pulling power to your marketing strategy. The best news? They're all free or available at an extremely low cost.

1. PikWizard

Are you thinking of using blog posts and articles to drive traffic to your website or finding a tool to generate more engagement from your social media posts? If so, then you're going to need some stunning images to capture the attention of your audience.

While articles with images get 94% more views, engagement on Facebook improves by 37% for posts with pictures. Nowadays, savvy B2B content marketers will kill a digital marketing piece rather than have it go out with a featured image that's underwhelming. Your blog post or email marketing piece deserves better! This simple online tool can help.

PikWizard is a free resource packed full of high-quality stock images. It's a tool that you can use for digital marketing any way you see fit. You can even use the pictures you find on this website to make your own site, blog post, and landing pages look more appealing. As a result, the digital marketing possibilities here are endless.

2. The Content Marketing Institute

One of the biggest challenges that new companies face when developing a content strategy is finding inspiration and guidance to get them started on the road to success.

One of the easiest ways to improve your content marketing is to enhance your knowledge. You can do this with content marketing tips and examples from the experts. The Content Marketing Institute is a powerful hub, brimming with content resources that will help you learn what good content is all about.

Depending on your niche, this resource alone might serve as your ultimate guide. At a minimum, think of it as a great beginners guide that can ease you into the world of marketing automation, B2B content marketing, content curation, keyword research, marketing analytics, and more.

3. TapInfluence

Need a little help getting your name out there? One answer could be to start using influencer marketing. Currently, it's one of the most popular small business content marketing resources.

In this content marketing strategy, you simply connect with the people on social media. These folks already have "influence" within your target industry. They share content on your behalf and drive people to your landing page.

TapInfluence is an online marketing platform that allows you to connect with influencers in a more streamlined way. This tool could be a great way to give your promotion a boost once you've learned how to create great content.

4. Social Media Examiner

Google Analytics is great for evaluating website traffic and conducting a regular content audit. However, if you really want to make the most out of content marketing for the modern era, you need to learn how to combine your content strategy with your social media presence.

Social Media Examiner is a website you can visit to learn about the latest tips and tricks for making your social platform work for you.

Along with helpful hints and tutorials, you'll also be able to keep yourself up-to-date on content marketing tools. As a result, you'll understand the latest content creation changes happening to Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and other popular platforms and social media marketing tools.

5. Design Wizard

Businesses are turning to video marketing to raise brand awareness as it's so much easier for audiences to consume.

Customers are becoming more overwhelmed by the countless articles and infographics available online. Additionally, they're beginning to turn to videos as a way of getting their daily dose of entertainment or information. It's also really easy to create videos these days as part of your content strategy. Smartphones routinely offer 10 and 12 Megapixel cameras as standard.

Think of how you can use video content ideas to educate your potential customers before they ever step into your office. You could provide a complete guide to the customer experience! For example, if you were a physical therapist, you could create videos showcasing five-minute stretching routines. People could use these to increase mobility and decrease their chances of injury. It's a content marketing strategy that helps your target audience visualize the benefit your product or service can provide.

If you are going to create great video content, YouTube is the ideal platform to host your visual content. Consequently, if you want to get more views on your great content, you will need to make your channel stand out. YouTube marketing can help you become a go-to resource.

Design Wizard is a content creation application that allows you to create relevant YouTube channel art to spruce up your pages. It's a nifty content marketing tool that gives your thumbnails that extra-clickable element.

As well as creating YouTube channel art, you can use the Design Wizard tool to create flyers, engaging social media posts, professional-looking Facebook ad creatives, and more. As a result, this will save you time and money on graphic design costs. Consequently, it will keep your business lean as you become your own marketer and develop your own content marketing strategy.

When it comes to content marketing, the majority of small businesses (and even large ones) start with creating a simple content marketing plan based on collecting long-tail keywords. The reason they do this comes from the belief that quality content costs a fortune and small businesses can't afford it. As a result, they frequently miss out on some content types that work well with customers in the small business niche.

As a result, many companies come up with the same strategy and a list of articles they'll use to pursue customers. Many still unwittingly adopt traditional marketing thinking to digital marketing. When it comes to online content marketing, they decide on posting frequency and often follow the rule "as often as you can." They randomly publish blog posts, post a few items to social media, and hope to gain some followers and perhaps a few more customers.

All I can say about this approach is — it's absolutely wrong.

Start off on the right foot.

To start with, conduct audience research before you begin your content creation efforts.

One of the most vivid examples of how content creation works is the life story of Marcus Sheridan. To put it in a nutshell, Sheridan owned a swimming pool company and was about to go bankrupt. Then, he decided to try content creation and inbound marketing as a last-hope effort to attract customers.

Instead of thoughtlessly collecting keywords, Sheridan started with research. He found out that the majority of his target audience wanted to know the cost of a fiberglass pool.

At that time, none of the competitor websites or social media channels provided a clear answer to this question. Sheridan wrote a detailed blog post on this topic, answering all of his potential customer concerns.

The result? Sheridan's article contained great content, and his Google Analytics went through the roof. The post was shared widely via social media and generated over $2 million in sales.

— The End —

Instead of publishing tons of fluffy content, small businesses should focus their marketing strategy on helping their users to solve their problems. This idea seems obvious, and yet only a fraction of small business owners follow this approach in their content strategy or social media efforts.

What are the content types for small businesses you can utilize to make this content strategy work for you?

Product Videos

"Seeing is believing," as the saying goes. If your small business sells physical goods, there is no better way to attract a new customer than to provide video content of your product in use.

Do you remember the "Will It Blend?" brand awareness series from Blendtec, a blender manufacturer? If not, here is one of their video marketing efforts.

As a result of the "Will it Blend?" content marketing campaign, customers went wild. Blendtec's sales went up by 700%.

The brand also received almost 900,000 subscribers on YouTube — no, I didn't enter a typo with that number — and was featured on The Wall Street Journal, The Tonight Show, The History Channel, and many more media outlets.

So everyone asks: "How much did that cost?"

How much did it cost Blendtec to produce these content ideas? The initial cost of the first video was about $100.

After that, Blendtec's content marketing all boiled down to the price of items they blended (a can of Coke in one case). So no, you don't need a pile of money to create entertaining videos for your small business digital marketing. And even if you do, that won't guarantee success.

Evian spent way more than $100 on its Evian Roller Babies commercial. It holds the official Guinness World Record for the most viral video ad of all time. But can we call it a success with customers? Not really.

The same year the Evian "Roller Babies" video went viral and attracted 50 million views, the brand lost market share and sales dropped 25 percent.

The problem was that the commercial had nothing to do with the product. Customers weren't able to associate what they see with the promoted product. For them, it was just a cute video with kids, nothing more.

Even if you are a service company, you can shoot a video explaining what your small business does and answer the most common questions from customers. At the very least, you can make an FAQ video series.

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Interviews

When thinking of interviews as part of a content marketing strategy, many small businesses believe that "it's too difficult and we can't afford it." Indeed, not every small business owner has connections with top influencer marketing types boasting billions of followers. This is especially the case when you're about to start a business.

The good news is you don't need to publish an interview with Elon Musk or Donald Trump on your social media channel. Being an expert isn't equal to being public and well-known.

Write down a list of people you believe to be experts in your local market. You're likely to see that the majority of them rarely give interviews, never show up in email campaigns, don't have their own Facebook group, do not dominate any given social media platform, and aren't published authors. (Well...some of them just don't want to).

So go ahead...give your existing social network a try and interview such an expert even if he/she isn't yet publicly renowned. Start small with a single Instagram story, maybe bolstered a bit with a modest Facebook ad or Google ad. It's a win-win situation when your small business publishes unique valuable content and your interviewee gets a chance to build personal brand awareness.

Educational "How-To" Content

The third content type small businesses should focus on is educational content.

This one is straightforward. Users seek information — your small business provides the information. You start doing this via blog posts, social media content, email marketing, and a written content marketing strategy. Producing commercialized content is a necessary evil, but traditional marketing practices are unlikely to help you become an opinion leader or attract many followers.

Practice patience. Educational content won't likely bring your small business more sales right away. However, a consistent approach to your content marketing strategy will help you establish yourself as an authority. Show the world that you know your stuff perfectly well. A potential customer will be more likely to trust your small business in the future.

Case Study

Write compelling case studies, feature them prominently in your email marketing, and post links on all your social channels. Formulating and playing a "long game" social media strategy is a great way to share product or service success stories connected with your customers. It provides a cornerstone for successful content marketing.

If you are a service company, a case study featured prominently on your Facebook page is a great chance to showcase your expertise and the way you managed to solve your customer's problem.

If you sell tangible goods, you can use just about any social platform to share an example of how it helped your users satisfy their goals.

Testimonials/Reviews

77% of people take the time to read product reviews before they make any purchases online. Users don't believe everything you write about your own company or product. However, they are likely to trust a review written by another person on one of your recent posts. Why not let satisfied customers do your content marketing for you?

If you have only a few customers, you can publish the block with their testimonials site-wide. But if you have plenty of them, you can publish roundup posts in your blog comprising the most interesting and inspiring responses of your customers.

Small business marketing doesn't have to carry with it a huge price tag. When you are just starting out with content marketing, it's probably not necessary to invest in expensive camera equipment, a social media marketing package like Sprout Social, email marketing providers, or purchasing followers from a third party. Instead, ask yourself "What is my potential customer looking for when they Google my business?" Scout around for low-cost or free tools such as Social Media Examiner. Start answering common niche-specific concerns via blog posts or a one-off social media post and make time to interact with those who respond.

Avoid any expectation of overnight success. When it comes to online digital marketing, slow, steady, and (most importantly) genuinely helpful will enable you to win the race.

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