In recent conversations with business owners I have been up against almost every excuse for not starting a content marketing programme and in this article I’d like to show you just how simple it can be to get started.
I always come back this famous quote:
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great” – Zig Ziglar
I know that most business owners can’t start with an advanced content marketing strategy, and therefore it’s important to find find something that is manageable, that you can implement easily and commit to and grow/mature into over the longer term.
You may be holding yourself back from starting a content marketing programme because you:
- Don’t have a platform
- Don’t know what to write about
- Don’t have time to commit to content marketing
- Don’t know where to start with content marketing
Once you’ve read this article these will no longer be valid reasons for not getting started.
A content marketing case study – with Sarah Gathercole
I’d like to introduce you to Sarah Gathercole, entrepreneur and Owner of The Office Fixer.
I’m going to share with you Sarah’s answer to content marketing and demonstrate to you how simple and straightforward it can be to start your content marketing programme.
You certainly don’t have to be a social media and content marketing genius to successfully create and share content. In fact, you don’t even have to go anywhere near social media or have an owned platform for your content.
The Office Fixer
Over the past eight years, Sarah has grown and developed her business. Starting out as a Virtual Assistant under her own name, the business has since grown to be The Office Fixer, a range of services that aim to help small business owners who want to grow a sustainable business whilst reducing their working hours.
Along with networking, Sarah also has a weekly email programme that is aimed at her contacts and subscribers to her ‘Weekly Business Nuggets’ and has been running this programme since October 2013. This article is going to explore the top four reasons why Sarah’s content marketing programme has been successful.
One – Platform
Social media is not a necessity for sharing great content and Sarah is a shining example of that. If you’re not ready to take the leap into social media or, like Sarah, it simply does not ‘float your boat’, then email is a valuable platform that’s right at your fingertips. Most of us are familiar with email and almost everyone has access to it, making it easy to reach as many people as you wish.
In addition, through applications such as Mailchimp and GetResponse it is possible to identify which recipients open your email and further content, such as links within the email, giving you more valuable feedback.
It’s also important to note that different platforms have different audiences and therefore if you do have a blog, website or any form of social media, you should be sharing your content on those platforms in addition to your email. Sarah does exactly that and has a blog section on her business website, where the content of her weekly emails is uploaded every week and grabs the attention of anyone who visits her website.
Click here to see examples of Sarah’s content on her blog
Two – Content
Needless to say, one of the key reasons for the success of Sarah’s Weekly Business Nuggets is what she writes about, ie. the content. The content must be relevant, accurate, and in this context, non promotional to entice the audience to read it. Sarah has achieved this criteria by designing her content to be short and helpful, by simply focusing on something she has encountered in her week.
From small blue eggs bringing a smile to her face to remembering to have a healthy work/life balance. Sarah writes about the world around her in a way business people and owners alike can all relate to and enjoy reading.
Three – Tone
Sarah’s Weekly Nuggets are written as friendly emails. She chats about occurrences in her week, writing in a way that comes naturally to her. This approach has proven effective and recipients have commented on how they enjoy her chatty style and look forward to reading her emails each week. This is great feedback for Sarah as the initial intention for the weekly nuggets was to reconnect with people and build relationships. Connecting with people weekly in a friendly and chatty manner has achieved just that.
Four – Consistency
One of the most important factors in ensuring the success of a content program is consistency. The main aim of Sarah’s Weekly Business Nuggets is to build relationships with people on her mailing list and reconnect with past acquaintances. It was therefore important that her content goes out regularly and efficiently. This means that Sarah must ensure that her content is written and sent by Tuesday afternoon every week.
I could write a whole other article on the importance of consistency, but to sum up, consistency helps to build brand awareness and differentiates a business from its competitors. In addition, it keeps a constant door open for the readers to communicate with you. They can comment, start a discussion or ask questions based around what you have written and in doing so this builds a relationship.
Sarah’s audience are now trained to expect her email at the same time every week and therefore they are more likely to engage with it. They have also learned that she is not trying to sell to them – there’s no call to action.
Success with simple content marketing
Sarah confesses to not knowing all too much about marketing and yet has had great success with her Weekly Business Nuggets. Her weekly emails have succeeded in reconnecting her with old contacts, building relationships with recipients and creating a talking point between Sarah and her contacts. These four factors of Sarah’s success are a good starting point for anyone thinking about starting a similar programme, whether you’re using social media or not.
Sarah has excellently demonstrated that with the right focus, social media is not fundamental to content marketing. So if you’re baffled by the world of blogging, twitter and facebook but want to share great content, Sarah’s Weekly Nuggets are a great example to keep in mind.
Remember to take a look at Sarah’s blog to see examples of the content she sends by email.
Key takeaways
- You don’t have to own your platform to share content – email works just as effectively as a content platform
- Consistency is the key for successful content marketing – people know when to expect your content
- It can be a simple as a few hundred words a week – it doesn’t have to take too much of your time or creative energy
- Use your content to build relationship, not to sell – your audience are more likely to read your content if it’s not trying to sell them something
Your turn
- What can you do today to connect with your audience?
- Do you think you could commit to a consistent weekly email?
- How does this case study help you with your own content strategy and planning?
Please join in the conversation in the comments section below.