When starting up It’s hard not to view content marketing as an absolute madhouse. We have so many different marketing channels to communicate our message, it is extremely difficult to determine how to engage effectively with content marketing. Time is precious and money even more so. Let’s look at what the internet tells us about content marketing for start ups.
What the Internet Tells Us about Content Marketing
I read a lot of great blog posts, listen to podcasts and watch videos and there is quite a lot of similarities in the best ways to create content and drive traffic to it:
- Create search engine optimised blog posts
- Shoot some video for youtube
- Capture great pictures for instagram
- Boost some posts on facebook
- Relentlessly post on Twitter
- Guest Blog Posts
- Request links to your content
- Write subject titles that are catchy and stand out
- Send an email blast to your subscribers
Hearing the same thing from multiple sources is re-assuring, but is it good advice for you and your start up business?
What Google Tells Us about Content Marketing
Don’t worry, Google can tell us what we need to do. Because Google is the most important place on the planet for your business right?
Google’s search algorithm, demands a great deal from your content to be deemed suitable for high ranking.
The length of content is important. The longer the better apparently. But what if it doesn’t have any inbound/outbound links?
What if you have a short article and it’s got a lot of inbound links. Maybe too short for Google to rank highly.
Your meta tag, headline and subject doesn’t feature the keyword.
You did everything right but forget to submit it to Google’s Search Console.
I don’t need to go into any more detail about the complexity of Google’s algorithm here.
For any start up or existing company there are so many areas to consider.
Create Great Content
With this guidance in mind we go away and do everything that is “required” of us when it comes to content marketing.
We tick all of the boxes, jump all the hurdles and burn 1,000 brain calories for a single blog post, video and selection of instagram pictures.
Await influx of website traffic and enquiries right?
Wrong.
Your website got 20 hits that day (if you are lucky)
This is generally how it actually works.
You feel dejected.
Content Marketing for Start Ups Conundrum
When we do our research on content marketing, it’s too easy to feel as if we need to create every piece of content, to a certain standard to succeed in our space.
Doing all the things the experts say creates more opportunity to succeed, but it doesn’t guarantee it.
Does it really matter if your content ranks in Google, gets loads of likes on facebook and instagram?
I don’t think all of of these factors are important to everyone and especially not start ups.
All that matters is receiving relevant traffic that converts.
The Key to Content Marketing for Start Ups
This whole debate boils down to fully understanding your target market and where you are as a business before approaching content marketing.
Business’ that already have a captive audience have a foot in the door, which makes it easier to experiment with different types of content marketing.
As a start up you might not have a following or network at all, therefore it’s hugely important to be focused on a clearly identified audience.
If all of your target audience are flicking through instagram or facebook, create great content for instagram.
Yes, spend limited time creating other types of content such as blogs and youtube video as these will be of value at some point, but recognise where your audience are and double your efforts in that area.
If you need to neglect every other area of content marketing to maximise the opportunity of success then do it.
As an existing of start up business, if we fail to identify our target market and choose a blanket approach to our content marketing we are destined to fail.
Avoid the Content Marketing Madhouse
Here is a good strategy to adopt when approaching content marketing as a start up:
- Define your target market
- Identify where your target market is most responsive
- Double your content marketing efforts in that area
- Build a foundation of followers from that marketing channel
- Identify complimentary channels of content marketing
- Create content and share with existing audience
- Grow audience through referrals and shares
- Repeat and succeed
Content marketing for start ups needs to be extremely focused, otherwise you will get lost in the mad house.
