As you dip your toes into the world of online marketing, you’ll likely hear some buzzwords like “engaging” and “content.” We know we use those terms frequently. But what does that mean, exactly? And how can you, as a small business owner or non-profit representative, create engaging content to market your business or organization?
Why make content?
As defined by Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” With that definition, you can see the value behind content marketing. A more watered down version is this: Show your expertise. Build a good reputation with your audience. Watch your business grow.
For starters…
Let’s define some terms, just to be sure we’re all on the same page. By “engaging” we mean something that people want to see and that will be likely to get a response. The response you aim for will vary depending on the goal you are trying to achieve. If your marketing efforts are mainly focused on growing your business, the kind of responses you’re looking for will differ from those that someone who wants to raise awareness about a social issue will get. Both goals can be achieved through content marketing, though.
Unlike our first term, “content” is a little broader. It refers to anything you are sharing on social media and your website. This blog post would be considered a piece of content. A photo of your business’s storefront is another piece of content. In this case, “content” is an umbrella term and it can applied pretty liberally.
Types of content
There are lots of approaches you can take when you use content marketing. Here are a few jumping off points to help you get started:
Humorous content
People love to laugh. It’s the best medicine, after all. Content that makes your audience laugh is going to get more engagement, especially on social media. You can share memes or relatable stories as a way to draw your audience in. This kind of content can help to humanize your business or organization, which will help your audience to see you as more than a cold, faceless entity.
Factual content
Now, let’s be clear. This is not a suggestion that you lie when you share other types of content. By ‘factual content,’ we mean the kind of niche facts your audience is less likely to know. This might come in the form of statistics or interesting trivia. People love to learn new things and sharing this type of content can be a good way to start conversations with and among your audience.
Emotional content
This sort of content is especially good for non-profits. Content that your audience can empathize with will humanize your business or organization even more than humorous content. Humans of New York does an excellent job at sharing this sort of humanizing, emotional content. People respond to people so you should market like you’re marketing to people.
Historical content
Along with the interesting trivia people can learn from your factual content, you can also share bits of your company history with your audience. You can use long-standing trends like #ThrowbackThurday and #FlashbackFriday to help you get your company history out there. Company history can stir nostalgia in your audience, and it can reinforce the quality of service you provide by showing that your company has stood the test of time.
For enders…
Whatever approach you decide to take, content marketing can help to improve your marketing efforts. For more help with this, contact Bold River Marketing. We will work with you to create engaging content that will appeal to your audience and grow your business or organization.