Content Marketing is one of the larger influence in the small business market in 2015. What’s the future of content marketing as a communication tool for a small business brand? How can small businesses make the most of it?
BE VISUAL
Not only do consumers often connect more quickly with pictures and videos, says Holly Hamann, co-founder and CMO of influence marketing agency and platform provider TapInfluence — “Visual content is shared more often than text-based.”
Instagram, You Tube, Vine, Pinterest—these are likely to be hot platforms for small businesses in 2015. Worried your offering isn’t a good fit for visual content? “There are ways to find the visual angle of products,” Hamann assures small business operators. Try posting a few pictures from a recent sales event or take a quick video of how your company makes your product.
BUILD UP THE SUSPENSE
Short video excerpts posted on social media already prove an effective way to draw more customers in for the full view. Build a story with a follow-up — come check back later to discover what’s next proves palatable for customers.
BE MOBILE
Mobile devices aren’t just for Millennials anymore. “We’re finding that the older demographics are definitely catching up,” Hamann says. The older generations often have disposable income, they’re healthier, they travel more and they want to stay in touch with their kids and grandkids.
“They keep up with their families through their mobile phone,” Hamann says. Texting, getting the latest news, finding old friends and staying connected to their families will likely continue driving up mobile usage among the older demographic.
GET FEEDBACK
That’s called “User Generated Content”. Fortunately, small businesses don’t need big budgets to take advantage of consumer content. Hamann suggests finding people who are already talking about your business and partnering with them. “It makes sense to build relationships with those people—whether or not you compensate them—because those people influence the purchase behaviors of their peers.”
DO SPEND A LITTLE ON ONLINE ADS
Many small businesses have judiciously avoided paying to promote their content on social media networks, but that may be changing.
“The surprising thing will be that once they do discover how effective and affordable it is to promote content—at least for now before it gets too competitive in the paid space—they’ll easily sink more of their marketing budget into it.”
CREATE YOUR OWN STORY
That’s what content marketing is all about: it’s your blog, your mark, your story, your own unique view on your business and more importantly how you can bring value to your customer.
What it boils down to is simply to put more energy into your blog. Think about your blog more like a magazine and include visual content. Combine traditional blog posts with photos or videos, or use social media to augment the content and to connect with more visitors.
Make short videos with Facebook-plus-video strategy. They only last for a few seconds and customers can really get engaged fast!
Credit: http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/News/Marketing/content-marketing-what-smbs-need-to-know-in-2015.html – edited