It seems like every day there is a business attempting to use content as a marketing tactic to build a connection with existing customers and attracting new ones.  Some of their content is highly relevant to their target’s life, others completely miss the mark.   Big marketers pay publishers lots of money to create content that aligns with their brand’s purpose and voice and that provides expert tips and valuable information to readers. 

Personally, I think that investing time and resources in creating and marketing content is a great approach for any business – big and small – if it is done right. 

Years ago, I remember telling my brother-in-law, who works for a huge, Chilean salmon distributor, that they should use salmon recipe content to prompt action from prospective customers and drive sales.  This week I came across a website created by a newly formed Chilean Marketing council.  Turns out they have a Cooking and Recipe section!  My recommendation started with an insight uncovered (prior to the pandemic):  most people consume salmon at restaurants but are intimidated by the idea of cooking fish.  So voila, create and promote great, easy salmon recipes and associate your company with it!

Here are three of the best content marketing tips that I have learned over the years:

1. Research and Insights should be at the front and center of your content marketing efforts.   Find an insight about your audience – a pain point to solve or a passion point that is unique and defining to your customers.  And do not stop gathering and analyzing the data that you collect on your readers and your content to evaluate what messaging and formats work best with your target audience.
2. Quality Is King:  Sticking to the theme of recipes, think about the devastating effect a low-quality picture of a dish or food item can have on a brand or restaurant.  Many of the small business owners whom I have worked with try to do it all themselves.  Invest your resources in high quality, expert photos, articles, and videos. 
3. Consistently Promote and Repurpose:  creating good quality and relevant content is a great start but it will not benefit your business unless you promote it.  It is getting harder to get your customers’ attention as they are being constantly bombarded by marketing messages from others on their social media feeds.  You need to be consistent to remain top of mind.  And be creative about repurposing all or some elements of your content.  Reuse that salmon recipe photo on Instagram or publish the recipe again a month later to reach new users. 

Finally, a great way for small businesses to broaden the reach of the content published is to incentivize micro-influencers to repost with special discounts or perks.  Do these things and I guarantee that you’ll see results!

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