Startups have a lot on their plate. Between securing funding, hiring a great team, and finalizing the tech, there’s not much energy for other things. So why should content marketing for startups be a priority?
Keep reading to learn about the benefits of content marketing and start building out your plan.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing utilizes informational resources, whether blogs, social media posts, webinars, or flyers, to attract and retain customers.
Why is Content Marketing for Startups important?
Content marketing is an excellent way for startups to raise brand awareness, develop customer trust, and gain credibility in their industry. In the earlier startup stages, before loyal customers and word of mouth have become lead generation sources, potential customers need a way to learn about your company.
Prioritizing content marketing also has internal company benefits. By preparing content that answers common questions and guides customers to a sale, team members will save time and energy on each lead. You can use this extra time for other essential business tasks or supporting even more customers.
Choosing the Right Strategies: Content Marketing for Startups
Content marketing strategies are not one-size-fits-all. When choosing strategies, it’s helpful to think of content as an extension of your brand and company. Is the content being released in line with your brand’s voice? Is it driving conversions or helping your company reach a specific goal? And, logistically speaking, does it fall within your company’s budget?
All content should attract and resonate with your buyer personas. If potential customers are moving through the buying process and converting to a sale (if that’s your goal), then your content marketing strategies are working.
Here are some questions to ask when planning your content marketing strategies:
4 Effective Strategies: Content Marketing for Startups
1. Keep it Evergreen
Trends come and go fast. Creating content marketing strategies that are true to your company and that can be reused and repurposed in the future is a great way to educate your audience and drive conversions. Sharing this educational, high-quality content will help establish your startup as a trusted source. For example, if someone searches for the basics of cloud storage and comes across your purely informational blog, they become aware of your business and will come back when they start considering options.
2. Match the Buyer’s Journey
Ideally, we want all customers to convert to a sale, which means there needs to be content that supports them during all stages of the buyer’s journey. For example, If all your content is surface-level industry information, your customer might drop off at the consideration stage. Or if it’s highly specific about a particular product, you might not be getting people in the door. Here are some content ideas that coincide with the different stages of the buyer’s journey.
- Awareness: Focus on the basics of your industry, educating the audience, and naming the problems for which you have the solution.
- Consideration: Now that they know what they need to solve, provide their options and the differences.
- Decision: What sets you apart from competitors? The customer has a shortlist of potential companies at this point. Now, it’s time to sell.
3. Optimize
You have great content; now, let’s get it in front of people. Your thought-out video detailing your company’s service doesn’t mean anything if the right people aren’t seeing it. Choosing valuable keywords and optimizing content accordingly will cause it to rank higher in search results and get more eyes. Our key optimization tips are:
- Incorporating the keyword consistently throughout the piece
- Adding internal and external links
- Dividing up text with H2 and H3 headings
- Adding images to enhance your points
4. Test Things Out
Though there will always be a need for evergreen content, don’t be afraid to get creative. Try new media forms and platforms to see what works best for your startup. The marketing industry changes fast, and buyer habits are constantly evolving. Testing out new tactics and analyzing the results is crucial to keep up with competitors. Here are some more recent content marketing strategies that are on the rise:
- Short-form video
- Audio: webinars, podcasts, etc.
- Influencer marketing
- Niche, ultra-targeted content
Building your Content Marketing Strategy with Lake One
Content marketing for startups is crucial to becoming a trusted brand in your industry. Tailoring your content marketing strategies to your business needs, goals, audience, and industry is essential. Lake One is here to help you do so. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any content or digital marketing questions.