As we all know starting up and developing any business is tough and challenging. This has always been the case, starting out as the “Newbie on the Block” amongst what is perceived as the “giants of Industry”. It has often been described as the loneliest place on the planet for brave Entrepreneurs with a firm conviction to succeed.
In all competitive markets, winning is the goal and rising to the top with brands that become global names is the ultimate prize. There are, as we know, many companies that have walked that path and achieved their visions and turned them into a successful reality. But how did they do it? What were the steps that allowed this to happen?
We will try and give you some insight on what good content marketing can do for you and your new startup business in any field you have chosen.
First and foremost when starting from scratch, it is essential to have the right vision for you, whether it be promoting your products, your services or niche, you will need to spend time ensuring your secure funding for launching is in place, and you should have a clear path in mind where your target audience is currently to be found. Then finally you will need to turn your head to how you are going to promote your company.
Remember that having that all-powerful looking website on its own will not drive potential clients to visit you, they need more to make that vital decision to convert and buy what you are offering. This is where Content marketing becomes the appropriate vehicle.
The aim is always to have a conquering stream of great inbound leads from exceptional clients. Your network should be scalable to meet the increase of warm referrals and have the capability to convert them into sales.
You will be pleased to know that this often does not include Cold Calling, or Intrusive Advertising nor the use of unwanted Spam Email Campaigns.
Great Content is the engine that will drive your business development.
Just like any automobile, the engine is what drives the success of Content Marketing. Like the metaphor I have used, engines have moving parts, and Content Marketing is no different. Here is what we believe are ten essential parts that will help any Startup going forward:
1. Marketing Online Investment. | In today's world, your website can make or break your business. It is imperative you invest, time, money and continued effort into your website’s content and your social media presence. Successful marketers understand that a prominent and successful digital marketplace is the key to their continued success. |
2. Client-centred Approach. | Great content is focused on building the right relationships for the continued success of the company. Clients are more drawn to what the benefits they will receive than the actual product itself. If you can solve a problem first with that client, you are on the road to a successful relationship with that same client. Then repeat it every time. |
3. Clear Messaging. | Like Successful Content Marketers, be brave, do not fuddle your message when sharing it. If you are confident and all believing, so will your audience be too. The most potent Content Marketers are never shy when speaking at events, they are continually contributing to the industry they love, they are never short of written content when asked to write an article. Remember their messages are always summing up their products & services on offer in their company. |
4. Knowing your Clients. | It is paramount to know your target audience if you are going to be relevant to them. Your tone and message should reach them in such a way that they are drawn to you repeatedly. |
5. Engaging & Educational. | To be a successful Content marketer you will need to be able to attract and inspire your clients to you with the equal amounts of helpful & inspiring content. Your website cannot just be like a brochure; it has to have a mixture of Blogs, guides, videos, books and finally infographics. If you can get the balance right between stock content and flow content, you will be successful and valued by the right clients. |
6. Transparent Sales Content. | This needs to be a mixture of useful communications via blogs, guides, videos, podcasts and followed by the sales content. A successful ratio of 80% communication to 20% Sales, works well in any industry. More on this below. |
7. Visible & Regular | Great marketers never sit on their laurels expecting the world to come to them. They stay active and current. They use many ways to reach out and assist their target prospects and contented clients via Social Media, email, Talks/Events, Guest Posts, and of course the press. They are continually sharing their valuable content directly. |
8. A Safe haven for Subscribers. | The leading content Marketers constantly stay in touch with their subscribers. These clients who subscribe do so because they value the communications, the content, and the information they receive via email, or in print. It has meaning to them that spam never will. |
9. A Congruent approach to Sales. | It has to be all seamless and connected. Why invest in a library of useful, client-focused content, and then waste it on indiscriminate Spam. Use compelling content to open doors not close them. By doing it ethically, you will build the right relationships with long-term clients. |
10. A Human Touch & Tone. | The way your clients are spoken too will reflect the entire company and its approach to its ethos as a commercial success. Remember this wise words: Help do not Sell, Show do not Tell, Talk do not Yell. |
If you are careful and attentive to writing informative content that is relatable to your range of products, the services you offer or the niche you are in, you can and will drive traffic from the big Search Engines and all the Social Networking Sites currently available. If you can confidently write organically written content that is not currently available. You will quickly see the positive results where your target audience starts to share, and not far behind this Google will want to rank. Try and think of written articles of 1000 words or more, add current case studies, include visual content such as videos, infographics and GIFs.
Start writing as soon as you are up and running from day 1. Worried about your level of writing? Do not; there are tools out there to assist you with editing and sentence forming such as Grammarly. The Free part of this tool is excellent, but I suggest investing in the all-powerful Grammarly Premium for just a few pounds per month or year and you will soon become that hidden writer you never thought possible. If you are still worried, there are a vast community of Guest Bloggers and writers out there who will willingly assist you in any field your company is relevant too.
Increasing your brand awareness takes a little time to show itself, but when it does, you will notice you are now continually appearing at the top of Google search results. If you backlink the whole effort to other relevant websites such as yours, then Google will respond likewise, and your brand will start to enjoy the increase in traffic. Experts say to expect each visitor on average to visit your site at least seven times before they make that leap into purchasing from you. So do not worry if it is not an instant success with every prospect. Let them feel they are bonding with your brand too.
Always strive to improve and add additional information to all your written content. But do not go for quantity over quality, always reverse and place QUALITY FIRST.
Make the concerted decision to write monthly and keep yourself fresh and relevant. Build a bank of written articles ready; this will give you peace of mind and boost your confidence that you have a strategy in place.
Should you start to have a bank that is growing and you begin to worry about the quantity waiting to go out, do not panic, do not throw all out there just to return to zero again. Google will see this, and it will damage your ranking with them. All search Engines will feel the same and act accordingly to the detriment of your website.
Finally
As you may have surmised, content writing is time-consuming and can be costly, but on the positive side its an investment worth doing and doing well. Your revenues which of course is your company target year on year will grow and grow. There are many excellent examples where some of the global successes in startups have launched their businesses solely by using written content as their marketing strategy. It works for them, and it could work for you also.