Why You as a Small Business Owner NEED a Good Content Creation Strategy

By Jackie Wilson.

Do we really need to emphasise the importance of content creation in today's digital landscape?

Well, between 70% and nearly 90% of marketers (depending on the source) say their content strategy is their most important tool and a key investment area. So it's probably safe to say it's not a hugely controversial topic.

Okay. But here's the thing:

It's arguably even more vital for small businesses, whose entire existence rests on that all-important relationship with their audience – but the smaller outfits often don't have the marketing resources that larger companies do.

And what's one of the first areas to suffer from a lack of finances, time or staffing?

Ironically, consistency. Content creation consistency. In other words, content creation rarely gets dropped entirely – but it becomes patchy, more a needs-must kinda thing than a must-have.

Now I'd just like to draw your attention to something here. As a small business owner, you have one stand-out advantage over the "big guns" — you're accessible (dictionary definition: easy to form a social or emotional connection with; appealing, relatable). And a consistent content creation strategy leverages that very quality and can, done properly, upgrade the face and profile of your business, making you recognisable, approachable and trustworthy. (That last one, in particular, is worth its weight in gold.)

And in case you're still not convinced, here are a handful more damn good reasons for creating a solid content strategy:

Building Brand Authority

Delivering dependable content consistently helps to establish your brand as an authority in your industry or niche. By sharing valuable insights and information, you position yourself as a trusted source of knowledge.

Building Relationships 

We mentioned this already, but the importance of fostering relationships with your audience cannot be stressed enough. Address people's needs, answer their questions, provide solutions to their problems, entertain them occasionally, and build trust and loyalty.

Measuring Success 

Hate the data or love it (oh, those KPIs!), it's essential to keep track of key metrics to measure the success of your content creation efforts. Monitor metrics such as website traffic, engagement levels, conversion rates and click-throughs to assess the impact of your content.

Driving Traffic and Engagement 

Content drives traffic to your website or blog, and good content increases engagement with your audience. Make it helpful and high-quality, and it attracts visitors, encourages social sharing, and keeps them coming back for more.

SEO Benefits 

Your search engine optimisation (SEO) results are dependent on well-adjusted content. Judicial use of those keywords can improve your website's visibility in search engine results, giving you more organic traffic. Win!

Content Repurposing 

Possibly one of the BEST reasons to build up a solid library of content built consistently around your primary mission, messaging and values is this: Repurposing, baby.

Your content becomes a resource repository and can be reformatted, republished and endlessly recycled to maximise value and reach. One piece of content can be adapted into multiple formats, reused across different platforms, and if regularly updated, it stays relevant.

Here are a few examples of how you can experiment with different content formats:

• Turn blog posts into videos or podcasts
• Combine social media posts into longer formats
• Segment your content according to subject matter and create an e-book or a whitepaper
• Turn articles or workshops into webinars

The possibilities are boundless, and, oh, the time it saves!

To Summarise

When you create content purposefully, strategically and with YOUR values, YOUR stories (both business and personal!) and YOUR Big Business Why always at the core, you will automatically attract the perfect audience, an audience and clientele ready to lean in, listen and more importantly, spend money with you.

Jackie is the founder-owner of BrickHouse, a small content creation company that mainly serves SMEs, and a media professionals with many years of standing.

She has over 25 years of experience as a freelance writer, broadcaster, and media trainer. She is a scrupulously precise editor who is utterly pedantic and very word-choosy. As a trainer, she worked with young journalists and reporters in parts of Africa and Central Asia–something she still sees as thoroughly rewarding and the most fun to be had while working.

Her content these days includes marketing copy, but she describes herself as a storyteller rather than a copywriter. A journalist to the bone, she does nothing without research, and the research object is her client’s story.