Build momentum for the launch of your startup by learning the basics of content marketing.
Content Marketing for Startups
The basic concept behind content marketing is that by producing original, relevant and high quality content, and distributing it to potential and current customers, you will be able to influence their purchasing decisions and improve brand loyalty.
The one downside of content marketing is that you need a way to get potential customers to see your content. Unfortunately, building a high ranking website and attracting a steady stream of search traffic takes time. Paying for traffic works, but for a cash-strapped startup it is not the best option.
By building a large network on social media sites, your startup can overcome this common challenge faced in content marketing.
Leveraging social media, you can quickly distribute content to potential customers, fans and followers. This can generate retweets and additional exposure from people sharing your content. If you are lucky and your content goes viral you will see a huge spike in website traffic.
This can drive literally hundreds to thousands to your website every day. In turn, a portion of that traffic will convert into email registrations interested in your launch.
If you don’t have a strong social media presence to get the ball rolling, there are other things you can do, such as writing guest blog posts and leveraging internet press releases.
Basics of Content Marketing for Startups
Content marketing for startups is a fine dance between the energy you put into a piece of content and the reward it generates.
Writing a 3,-word guide or blog post won’t necessarily be as popular or drive as much traffic as a short list of the 1 best blogs post on a trending topic. Remember, effective content marketing is an art that requires practice.
Take the time to see what types of stories and content are popular with your network on social media sites. Use that as a cue for determining what you write about and how you present it to your audience.
Here are a few ideas for creating quick, high-value content for your startup:
- Best of Lists
- Basic How To’s
- Progress Updates
- Commentary on News Story or Industry Developments
- Highlight Key Points in a Video or Inforgraphic
- Tell a Story About your Startup
- Share Insights from your Startup and Team
Once you find the type of content that resonates well, create an editorial calendar. Get the support of other team members, and ask them to commit to contributing a blog post or two every month.
Regularly publishing new content is important not only for search engine ranking, but also for generating traffic to your website. Since you don’t want to spend all of your time writing blog posts, find content that you can quickly produce, and that is still very valuable.
Great Content Marketing Resources
- The Beginner’s Guide To Content Marketing
- 1 Must-Have Templates for Content Marketers
- A Quick and Dirty Guide to Content Marketing
- 4 Step Content Marketing Framework for Start-Ups
- The Matrix Guide to Content Marketing
For more content marketing advice, check out the What is Content Marketing series.