Ultimate Content Marketing Strategies for Startups

When you first launch your business, developing a solid plan for content marketing probably seems overwhelming. With all the other hats you need to wear as the owner of a startup, it’s hard to imagine finding time to focus on content marketing.

After all, a solid internet marketing strategy involves more than just creating blog posts that engage users, content that stimulates, videos that get shared and infographics that drive sales.

All of that sounds like enough on its own.

But you’ll also need to know how to spread your word throughout the entire digital world. This will involve the effective utilization of web data, content management tools and social media algorithms to help boost the performance of your content.

There are a lot of hats you’ll need to wear if you hope to develop a powerful content marketing strategy. But, when done correctly, content marketing can be your best form of advertising.

Start By Setting Your Goals

What are your key performance indicators for your content marketing strategy? Keep in mind that actual sales, not web traffic or social media shares, needs to be your ultimate goal.

A common mistake a lot of startups make is failing to define object goals before they start content marketing. These business owners end up spending countless hours creating content the ends up losing steam because there is no goal in place.

To help set your content marketing goals, you’ll need to:

• Determine your target
• Make your goals easily measurable
• Make your goals achievable
• Stick with the goals
• Have set deadlines

Defining the success of your content marketing campaign should be simple. Start by setting a goal for sales within a specific timeframe. If the goal isn’t being met, it’s time for adjustments.

Start Developing Your Strategy

Now that you know what your goals are, it’s important to thoroughly document your entire content marketing plan. Doing so will help give your plan more structure. It’ll also keep you organized while you work on building a framework that helps you remain consistent with your plan.

When developing your strategy, you’ll need to determine which content management system your business will use. A CMS like WordPress is perfect for most startups. You can easily build your website and content marketing strategies on free or inexpensive themes.

Brainstorming Ideas

Before you start creating any content, brainstorm ideas about the type of content you want to create. What subjects do you want to cover? What are the best content marketing mediums you can use to cover your chosen subject matter?

Do you want to work direct sales material into your content marketing, or will you keep it purely educational and informational? How can you find quality writers and content creators to make the content for you?

When you’re brainstorming, remember that any subjects that bring up controversy or lead to a deeper discussion are the kinds of hot-button subjects you’ll want to cover.

Remember to think non-traditionally during this process. Focus on:

• Covering the complete buyer’s journey
• Effective ways to distribute via social media
• Creating a detailed editorial calendar

You’ll be surprised what you come up with.

Tools For Content Marketing

You can’t create shareable content if you’re not tapped into what’s going on in the industry. What problems are people in your industry having and how can you solve them? What help do they appear to be looking for?

Fortunately, there are many software options you can utilize that will parse relevant industry information for you automatically.

An effective tool for content marketing will keep you in the loop while also making sure that your content gets visibility within the larger conversation.

Do regular research on the most popular industry keywords currently in use. Then use those keywords strategically throughout your content to boost search results.

Content marketing tools also keep you in the loop on the trends in your industry circles. It helps you generate better content ideas than brainstorming alone. For example, when you see a popular post from a competitor, you can see how much better you can do it.

Relationship Building

As a startup, you’re probably operating on a relatively tight budget. This means you don’t have a lot of money to spend on public relations.

It’s time to get creative.

See what you can do to get a popular influencer to mention you or your product. That alone could give you a huge initial boost.

Develop mutually beneficial relationships with writers, YouTube personalities, and various content creators. The more talent you have to work with, the better your content will be.

Feature Original Videos

You can make professional, yet inexpensive, content marketing videos with any current smartphone. A strong video content marketing strategy gives your business personality and larger visibility.

You don’t need to be a cinematographer to put out effective original videos. Have fun. Give great information. And most importantly, be yourself.

You Can Conquer Content Marketing

Starting out, content marketing sounds like a lot of work. But the work can really pay off in your bottom line.

At its very nature, your startup needs to adapt, overcome and improvise if it’s going to survive. The same holds true with your content marketing strategy.

There’s no better time to get started than right now.