Creating A Sustainable Content Marketing Strategy
For Your Small Business
Strategy is a big word in business and one that, if you are currently trying to juggle all aspects of your small business on your own, might just feel a little overwhelming. But, when it comes to content marketing, having a strategy that is sustainable might just be the thing that stands between your business smashing those big dreams and it disappearing altogether.
As an independent business owner, you might not have a marketing team. You might not have a social media manager or use a consultant to identify your plan of action for creating and using content to market your business.
And that’s ok.
You can most definitely successfully market your own business online! There are tons of platforms and tools that make doing just that easier than ever before. There is also a wealth of advice out there that you can draw upon to ensure that the approach you adopt is going to see you get the results you dream of!
But, that might just be the problem.
You see, spend no more than a few minutes googling ‘How to create a social media marketing strategy’ and one word will start to show up on repeat…
Consistency
And whilst I do believe that a consistent approach to creating and sharing content is important, I also know (sadly, from personal experience) that placing this at the forefront of any strategy without addressing any other areas of your approach will undoubtedly lead to burnout of one kind or another.
And, trust me, that is NOT fun!
So, I want to help you create a content marketing strategy that will not only allow you to effectively promote your business and grow your online presence but also have fun and connect with people in a way that is actually enjoyable too.
Because you didn’t decide to run a business to feel bad about it, right?
When you are putting the pieces of your marketing strategy together make sure they are you shaped!
Remind yourself WHY you are here in the first place
Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, even inside email inboxes might be places you have been led to believe that you MUST have a presence.
The truth is, you don’t.
They are AMAZING tools that we have access to that can allow us to connect with new audiences and potential clients and customers for free but, you don’t NEED to have a presence there.
And you most certainly do NOT need to be everywhere.
Taking time to remind yourself why you are on social media in the first place will allow you to identify what your time spent on there should look like.
Noting what you want the time you spend there and creating content to share there to feel like will also allow you to better understand what your measure of success should look like.
This will also allow you to have absolute clarity on what metrics you want to measure so that you can focus on those rather than beating yourself up when it feels like you are under performing in one area or another.
If it is all about making sales, who cares about the reach of that reel?
If it is about growing a meaningful and supportive network of others in your industry, does that follower count need to be over 10K?
Get straight on what matters to you and begin there. Remind yourself of this often because the online world will try to tell you something else entirely!
Reflect on where you are currently at
Understanding your own unique strengths and weaknesses is the most powerful thing any independent business owner can do. For most of us, this will tell us where our superpower lies and it will also give us clarity as to what our unique approach to our content marketing should be.
Regular journaling or reflection built into your working week will allow you to get straight on what does and doesn’t work for you and your business. But, getting clear on these things at the start of the year is always going to be a great way to go!
It will tell you about the type of content that leads to the results you want to see but also where you are investing time, energy (and potentially money!) into an area that is not working the way that you would like.
In addition, taking time to identify current opportunities you might have such as leads or potential collaborations can give you a clear focus and a way to make some quick wins!
However, it is possibly even more important to acknowledge potential threats to your business. This will allow you to create content and position yourself in a manner that negates these as best you possibly can.
As you do this, identifying what is and isn’t within your control will also allow you to free up some brain space from potential fears and focus on taking meaningful actions instead.
Get clear on those goals (and work backwards from there)
Having a proper picture of where your business is currently at is the only way that you will be able to actually envision where it might be. That gap between where you are and where you want to be is the one your strategy is looking to fill.
Because whilst big dreams are important and, without them, your business is unlikely to take off in any real way, without tangible goals and a plan of action to get you there, dreams are just that.
And, hey, if you aren’t a fan of the language used here, reframe it in whatever way works for you but, ultimately - dreams, goals, plans, strategy - it's all the same. What we are talking about here is that route that will take you from where you are right now to where you want to be.
When you get super clear on what The Big Picture is for you and your business, you can then identify the role your content plays within it. Because, without it, any content you create is just noise in a space that is already pretty damn loud!
Make sure that you understand the purpose of the content you need to put out before you begin thinking about any of the specifics of what that content might be.
Create a plan that is just the right fit
Only you will know what the perfect plan will look and feel like.
Like searching for a pair of jeans, some might look perfect but feel so stiff and restrictive that they seem to be wearing you whilst others might not quite meet the criteria of what a proper pair of jeans needs to be but have enough stretch to allow you to walk your walk and go where you want to go.
Some strategies look great on paper but simply aren’t workable for you in the real world.
Get clear on what degree of flexibility feels right for you. If you are just starting out or are someone who needs discipline in order to create, you might need to map out all of content you need to produce for a few months in advance, whilst if you are someone who prefers to go with your creative flow, simply having a detailed understanding of the direction you need to head in can be enough.
Either way, identifying the purpose of your content then applying your unique messaging should be a priority over any hard and fast rules over frequency of posting or the tools you use to create and share.
Get clever with the places your content comes from
Reminding yourself that creating content to market your business can be a full time job (one that content creators and social media managers are busy doing all day every day!) is important to get perspective around what you may and may not be able to create.
Comparing yourself to other businesses or social media accounts that seem to be showing in a way that feels impossible to you is never helpful. However, just because you are busy in other areas of your business besides your marketing doesn’t mean that you can’t be generating content there too!
Having a strategy that gives you clarity around what offers or services you are providing at any given time, those you should be promoting and the things you might be planning or working on in the background allows you to get smart with some of the places your content can come from.
Generating content as you go about the day to day aspects of your business is one way to ensure that you maintain your presence. Identifying opportunities to capture behind the scenes content, share user generated content and repurpose pieces of content that you have worked hard to produce to ensure maximum impact will mean that you can still show up without the need to continually produce something that feels super polished.