Outperform Big Brands With Content Marketing: Small Business Edition
“Big brands have an advantage…they have the brand awareness, the huge audiences talking about them online, hundreds, of not thousands of reviews. How in the world can my small business compete?”
Great question young marketing grasshopper. Let’s master this concept, shall we?
Let us ask you a question:
Why do avid cyclists go to smaller specialty bike shops instead of a big box store that offers bikes?
Simple: Because of the level of knowledge and expertise that the smaller shop offers is something that cannot be easily replicated by the bigger box/brand stores.
Publishing valuable content will lead consumers to discover your business and product offerings as they search for solutions to the problem they are facing. By making content available to consumers, your business will communicate an awareness of consumer needs, humanizing your brand with a personality that is friendly and helpful, as well as creating the opportunity for customers to form a relationship with you.
Content Marketing Breeds Brand Equity
Content that is relevant to the needs of consumers and offers them a valuable solution establishes your business as a thought leader in your industry, which helps build a trusting relationship with consumers. Attaining this level of credibility will lead consumers to prefer your goods and services over alternative solutions, since they are aware of the unique value proposition offered by your business: that you are the knowledgeable experts in your field.
The Speciality Bike Shop (above) is an example similar to how content marketing can work to increase thought leadership and brand equity for your business. By sharing your expertise in the form of content (with consistency, frequency, and recency), you will easily boost your credibility with customers. They know that they can come to you for solid advice because you have provided them with relevant, helpful information in the past.
Content marketing, also referred to as inbound marketing, involves the creation and distribution of relevant content that provides value to your business’s target audience. Content marketing can be shared with consumers in numerous forms: infographics, ebooks, white papers, case studies, how-to guides, etc. The main purpose of content marketing is to offer consumers value by presenting a solution to their needs, thus influencing the buying cycle.
Effective Long-term Results With Stellar Content
If the content your business releases is designed to be a mix of time-sensitive and evergreen pieces, your business’s content library will still be relevant to consumers as time passes. High-traffic content will also improve search engine rankings, and the consistent release of content can serve as a continuous source of interested consumers.
Content Marketing: The Main Sell
Content marketing is an effective strategy to interact with consumers and introduce them to your business’s brand. By providing consumers with value before they even visit your store, you are building positive relationships and connections to your brand, resulting in long-lasting customer loyalty and brand equity for your business.
