When it comes to running, owning, and operating a small business in today’s day and age, there is no doubt that the virtual marketplace is a crucial one. No matter what field or industry you’re in, and no matter what product or service you’re offering the consumer; if you’re trying to be competitive in 2022, you have to be mobile and virtual compatible. The virtual marketplace has become incredibly popular specifically over the last few years.
While the world of ecommerce has always been popular, the amount of consumers spending their money online skyrocketed in the last few years. This was largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even in the wake of the global pandemic, though, the virtual market is one that is here to stay.
As such, it’s an incredibly important place for small businesses to concentrate their efforts. This is also because the virtual marketplace offers direct access to a much larger number of consumers across a much wider array of consumer segments. In other words, small businesses, in some ways, have a better chance of succeeding in this virtual setting.
In order to succeed in the virtual market, though, a content strategy is a must-have.
“Content marketing is a powerful practice that fuels your social media engagement, increases brand loyalty, improves SEO results and boosts conversion rates.” – Emily Heaslip, Contributor, US Chamber
Hiring a Content Creator
Small businesses are often synonymous with small budgets. As such, it may be difficult for an organization to figure out how to weave a content marketing strategy into their overall marketing efforts, without a big-budget to do it. This is part of the beauty that has made content marketing such an impressive and popular tool for advertisers and brands alike. Content marketing has an extremely low barrier of entry when it comes to cost.
Depending on how small your business really is, you may be in a position to bring on your next full time employee. If you find yourself in this position, a content creator might be the hire that you want to make. Content creators in 2022 come in all different shapes and sizes, and with varying skill sets. However, if you know the market, you’ll likely be able to identify some specific content types that will resonate with your target audience.
Having this information in your backpocket can help you pick a content creator who meets the needs and qualifications that you’d be looking for. From there, you can start developing a full content calendar and start realizing the benefits of powerful content marketing.
“When we hired our first content creator, that was a game-changer. I mean now, our content team has 6 people on it, and it’s still growing. It blew me away, I love everyone on that team. They make my life so much easier, and they’re just incredibly talented. Every one of them.” – Chris Coote, CEO, California Honey Vapes
Working With an Agency
If you’re not ready to take on a full time employee, maybe you’d prefer to work with an agency on your content marketing strategy. Agencies have a lot of benefits. First and foremost, agency teams are going to have additional marketing and research tools that will help them create and curate marketing campaigns to your specific target audiences.
Beyond that, an agency can work with you, even if you have a small marketing budget. While it may limit them somewhat in certain campaigns, it’s their job to make your marketing budget work for you.
Not only that, but content agencies will typically come with a fair amount of experience, making them trustworthy and industry knowledgeable.
“We decided to start working with an agency when we realized that content marketing was going to be a big focal point for us now and in the future. Maybe one day we’ll pull it in house, but for now, they just have more tools in the way of marketing analytics, so why not let them do their thing.” – Lina Miranda, VP Marketing, AdQuick
Following Trends
Another important part of creating an effective and engaging content strategy is the ability to follow trends. When it comes to content, social media is going to be one of the biggest platforms through which the content is actually distributed and shared. As such, your team of content creators, or the agency with which you’re working need to know and understand the current trends on the social media platforms campaigns are targeting. This will help the marketing professionals design the content to perform specifically well with the targeted platform.
“It was surprising to me at first, but social media is actually one of the biggest traffic funnels to our website. I guess it makes sense. Our consumers spend their time on social media, see a piece of content from one of our brands, and then click right on over to a web-browser. It’s fascinating watching the data tell a story.”
– Rym Selmi, Founder, MiiRO
Connecting With Your Intended Audience
When it comes to social media marketing and content marketing specifically, you need to have a foundational understanding of the target audience. By learning the likes, dislikes, drives, and motives of the target audience, organizations can design content marketing campaigns to directly connect with consumers on these points.
“Our campaigns are successful because we sink so much time and energy into the consumer analytics side of things. We really prioritize understanding the pain points consumers are experiencing and trying to alleviate those pain points through products, services, and of course engaging content.” – Lydia Boychuk, VP of Marketing, More Labs
Getting Creative
No matter what industry you’re in, what your product or service is, or who your target audience is, content marketing is a critical marketing strategy in 2022. Not only that, but it’s projected to only grow in importance in the future. As such, it’s vital that organizations, even startups and small businesses, get creative in the creation and execution of their content calendars.
“It’s clear that in 2022, we will see even greater investment in content marketing as an intrinsic part of our ongoing marketing strategies.” – Maria Baker, Author, SEO Blog
