What small businesses need to know about content marketing in 2020

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The landscape for small Australian business has changed inextricably over the past 12 months but even amid economic uncertainty there are ways you can get your business in front of paying customers.

Marketing means different things to business owners depending on the type of business they own or operate in. For some, marketing may be a word-of-mouth client referral strategy, for others it may mean as complex suite of data driven ads and sales funnel lead generation to turn casual clickers into paying customers.

But no matter your experience level or business one thing is certain; content marketing can play a huge role in any campaign, even with a pandemic putting pressure on almost every pillar of the global economy. Here are eight things all small-business owners need to know when it comes to invigorating, refreshing, optimising or even just including content into a marketing campaign this year.

  1. Know where your audience is

You may think you know where your customer base is but Covid-19 may have changed that. Bricks and mortar stores have seen a huge decline in passing traffic due to social distancing, border closures and a move to working from home.

Small businesses can benefit from video and photo content that actively seeks to understand where and how their customers are shopping in 2020. Use content to advertise product that are in stock, notify customers of a new online service such as free delivery.

2. Meet your audience where they are

Does your business sell complicated systems direct to consumer? Ensure you understand the average level of understanding of your customers when it comes to things like technological language and use this in your content strategy.

3. Know your competitive pricing (CPC)

Ensure you do your market research and find out what sort of spend your competitors are paying to push their content. Put the ceiling of your cost per click too low and you could be grabbing low value customers with a very low yield to conversion – effectively ensuring you waste the spend you do have.

4. Create content that adds value

Adding value to your customers in return for nothing is one of the best ways to encourage them to buy something. In 2020, value for nothing is extremely important.

5. Create content fit for platform

Content operates differently depending on the platform. Facebook Groups are a great way to collect a group of like-minded people together to discuss a particular topic. YouTube favours longer-form content in a traditional 16×9 format. Instagram is best served for short form content.

6. Create content that connects

2020 is the year of disconnection. People feel further apart than ever before yet we have never had more technology to help bring us together. By creating content that brings people together you can be a business that supports and facilitates positivity among customers.

7. Have a clear call to action

Create content all you want but unless you have a clear call to action at the end. Make sure to include an action such as “sign up”, “read more”, “contact” or “buy today” and encourage your customers to do something of value.

8. COVID-19 has changed the way we market, not stopped it

2020 has been a year of restrictions. We have been restricted by where we can go and what we can do. Small businesses can use these times as a platform for positive change and see content marketing as a new step in the businesses evolution.

Jack Phillips, writer, photographer and founder, Snackable Media