Is Content Marketing for the Small Business?

In short, yes.  Now let me tell you what, why and how.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is the creation and sharing of content for the purpose of promoting a product or service.

Why Should Small Businesses be Using Content Marketing

Every business wants to succeed. But not every (small) business is doing what it needs to succeed.  Corporations have invested quite a bit in blogging and social media the past few years, which has increasingly earned popularity because of its successfulness.

Small businesses who act on content marketing have an edge over those who do not.  Your niche market will be performing either localized searches, or specific searches that are unique.  Your knowledge about these items will make your content invaluable to those readers, and in turn, search engines.

How Small Businesses Should Be Using Content Marketing

Share that knowledge with the world by means of blogging and social media by means of a blog hosted on your website.  Promote your knowledge.  By positioning yourself as a resource in your industry, you will gain the trust and brand recognition your small business needs.  This will lead to more traffic on your website.

Here’s the punchline: Use That Traffic To Qualify Leads and Nurture Prospects

Getting traffic to your site and gaining brand recognition is not the end.  Promote something on your site to qualify your traffic.  Offer a coupon, an e-book, an exclusive tidbit, something.  You get the point.  Capture their name, email address and phone number.  This takes them from a “Visitor” to a “Lead”.  Compile organized lists of leads, then nurture them through email marketing.  You’ll see results faster than you can imagine.