Many small businesses are on a tight schedule and budget when it comes to their marketing. But content marketing has become a necessity for any business, especially a small business.
Content marketing is no longer an option, it is a necessity.
In his book, “Content Warfare,” Ryan Hanley defines content marketing as:
Content marketing is the process of creating, publishing and distributing media content to build an audience of targeted, profitable customers and repeat buyers.
Imagine if you only had 15 minutes a day to create content and do content marketing? What would you do if your business was constantly pressed on a tight schedule (and budget). How would you do it?
Can you do your content marketing in 15 minutes a day?
In their slide deck for the restaurant industry, called “Content Marketing – Can we do this in 15 minutes a day?”
Ann Handley of Marketing Profs and Shelly Kramer of V3 Integrated Marketing detail how you can achieve this.
They address two of the greatest challenges and pain points in the Internet era for any small business (including mine!):
Limited Budget + Limited Time
They also realize that:
Today…
Every company is a media company.
Every company needs a content strategy.
Every company needs a social media presence.
With the rise of the Internet, blogs, and now the importance of social media, you have to ask yourself…how can your business do this all if you have no time? A media company? A content strategy, and a social media presence?
According to the report, From Social to Sales by Vision Critical (Sign up to download):
4 in 10 social media users have purchased an item online or in-store after sharing or favoriting it on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.
With many surveys and customers saying that social media impacts purchases and purchase decisions, how do you get started and include it in your 15 minutes?
Ann and Shelly detail several ways to get started but the foundation is:
- Do a competitive analysis
- Understand your customer
- Develop a content strategy
Reading through this presentation you have to realize there are a few underlying themes:
Ensure that you have a prepared content marketing strategy. Plan for your success so you can do content marketing in 15 minutes a day.
Be sure your content is interesting, engaging, and helpful and includes social media marketing!
If you can’t create your own content in the time frame, be hyper-focused on the customer and use great curated content that helps them solve their issues, problems or relieve their pain points.
Always be thinking about what you can do to educate, entertain, engage, and importantly…entice your audience and customers.
Great practical advice and many examples how to save time and money on content marketing – Not only as a restaurant, but as any small business.
Bob Strassel Jr.