Ep.2 – Why Content Marketing is So Important

[00:00:09] Hey everybody. I’m Chris. I’m the CEO of Social INK. And today I’m joined by Anna Simmons our Head of Social Media here at Social INK. And Gareth Alvarez Head of Content at Social INK. And in this next episode of All About Digital Marketing, we’re gonna be talking a little bit about why content marketing is so important to small businesses. Obviously as being Head of Content. We’ll start with yourself and just talk a little bit about why content marketing is important from your point of view and what the benefits you feel are.

 [00:00:45] Yes. So content marketing is effectively your digital marketing your online marketing. So you know as a small business you’re not always capable or able to invest in sort of larger advertising campaigns or outdoor marketing in any sort. So what content marketing gives you is a cheap quick and effective way of establishing your brand online for other people to find you see you and engage with you. So effectively that’s what what content marketing is. And that’s what’s important to a small business because it doesn’t take much effort to get yourself out there online and start seeing results and start seeing traffic come your way.

 [00:01:35] Yeah. I think that’s a really good point and I think one of the biggest things that I struggle with still today when I talk to businesses small businesses even mid-sized businesses and they basically turn around and say you know what we don’t really do blogging we don’t really use social media. The term content marketing and when people start talking about content marketing is king or content is king. The real crux of it is it’s a hugely beneficial and valuable asset for a small business and it potentially can cost nothing at the beginning.

 [00:02:08] Yeah absolutely. And a lot of people still don’t understand content marketing is because it’s a phrase used to sort of encapsulates a whole host of sort of marketing activities that you can do so content marketing includes e-mail it includes social media. Your website is part of your content marketing your landing pages blogs or podcasts even. It’s all different styles of content but can be used to engage with prospect’s potential customers. Your current customers your audience so it’s just a way of sharing knowledge expertise insight and your services products etc. with your audience. As Chris said you know it can cost you pretty much next to nothing as you’re starting out and obviously the more complex it becomes the more involved you get then you can experience some sort of costs as well. But you know as a small business when you’re starting out it doesn’t really have to cost you very much.

 [00:03:20] Yeah, and it’s it’s something in terms of the cost it’s it will scale as an investment because it is an investment. So it’s something that you will be getting a return on. I think for me the thing that’s most exciting about content marketing is that it’s a way for small businesses to become a part of somebodies everyday habits or routine in a way that doesn’t involve them necessarily buying something. So that’s you know when people are talking about you know we use all these buzzwords like brand awareness and generating traffic but ultimately it’s because that happens because somebody will look forward to reading your blog they’ll know that they can get the information that they’re looking for from you because you’re a trusted source they’ll you know they’ll get updates from you on email and when they see your posts on social media, the thing with the content marketing is that you’re no longer interrupting people. It’s about being part of their day to day being helpful. Building a relationship and I think that’s what’s really exciting about it. And you know a lot of people when they think about business get a little bit too focussed on I don’t know they get like tunnel vision about the fact that this is my business and they sort of forget how they themselves as “human beings” like all of us interact with the businesses that we ultimately buy from whether it’s the service or it’s a product and that’s you know. It’s a daily thing. We interact with these brands even when we’re not buying from them. And that’s important to remember and that’s what content marketing is.

 [00:05:02] I think that’s very interesting and I think over the course of these podcasts we’re going to get the polarizing view that we already know that all three of us have. But Gary V talks about it in terms of every company regardless of what you’re doing or anything else is a media company. Now when he says that people go no I’m not. I make cupcakes and I sell cupcakes. Okay fine. That’s okay. But the reality is the brand the messaging the content that is being created and the world we live in today is about that. It’s about what you can portray how you can showcase who you are the connection that you can build with a business with a consumer and making that relationship more human more real. And I think when we talk to small businesses and we hear them complain or struggle for example with everything from social media marketing so they had the best intentions when they set up their business and they built their own website or weeks and are happy with how it’s all going and then become a Facebook profile and a YouTube page and a LinkedIn page and all of these different things and then they’re struggling to realize that actually you need to keep these things alive or you know well Facebook doesn’t work for me. And we have that conversation which is OK. Well what sort of content you’re posting what are you actually sharing. What have you tried. What are the tests that you’ve run to be able to see what content works and what content doesn’t. And really interestingly actually the two things are linked very very closely. So by creating content. So for example if you are a cupcake baker and you’re trying to sell more cupcakes. Well how much content do you create around the process of making cupcakes. How much content can you create in terms of sharing the detail the love the care that you make that you put into making those cupcakes compared to for example somebody then thinking well I’ll just pick up some cupcakes when I’m in Sainsbury’s instead of buying something really nice.

 [00:06:50] It’s actually quite an easy transition.

 [00:06:54] Yeah and also it’s important to remember that  as you’re creating different types of content that go up on line or whatever they maybe be a page on your website or a blog or anything. You’ve also got to remember that while all this creates or develops or improves your online presence which means that you’re more likely to get found for certain keywords and maybe if you really think about it in these terms when you’re doing any purchasing for yourself online when you when you’re looking to shop somewhere you’re most likely going to start off with the Google search unless you already have a specific brand or a specific supplier in mind because you want to see what’s out there you want to get a feel for what’s available and you know just do a little bit of comparison between different sort of providers that pop up in your search. So the more of a presence you have the more likely you are to get found but also you build up more of an authority and it all feeds into the people finding your business and choosing you over the next possible person in your in your sector your competition.

 [00:08:12] What’s interesting about that actually is that so marketers on a survey recently said that content marketing generates three times as many leads as Paid Search Advertising and that’s obviously based on budgets that are being spent etc. but more people are looking for the information and connecting with a brand that’s providing that information or whatever it is that people searching for through pieces of content that are being created that are indexed on Google then they are likely to click on the search or the sponsored ad at the top of the Google listing so people are becoming more and more aware of this and they’re looking for something a bit more in depth or they’re looking for that free bit of information but all of these things are touch points that allow you to connect with your business sorry with your customers. And I think that’s kind of an interesting shift from companies that aren’t really willing to do anything and then we’re seeing the free lance or the the Instagramers world or the influencers who are completely the opposite. These guys have created a business purely based on creating content but actually they probably don’t even have a product or company themselves. They just create content and that’s how they make a living. So trying to get that sweet spot in between starting writing a blog a lot of company say to us will especially small businesses say to us. I can’t write blogs I’m not very good at writing I don’t like the blog start doing like videos and start posting up more pictures start giving out an insight into what you do behind the scenes and all of these things are pretty easy and pretty simple to do, once you’ve got the basic understanding and they don’t require a lot of money or investment I think this is one of the main things where people get worried or scared about trying to get into this. If you currently own an iPhone you can go live on Facebook for your business on a daily basis and it will cost you absolutely zero. Zero pounds zero Pence. Nothing in terms of monetary value what it will take is you to spend ten minutes getting on your phone getting ready on what you want to say clicking the Live button and then talking that’s all there is to it. So the content marketing from a small business point of view is huge as to what you can actually do and achieve but it’s also the opportunity of a lifetime. You know, we’re talking about social media today and social media having three and a half nearly three and a half billion people. That’s nearly half the planet. So if you can’t take and leverage those networks to find 100 potential clients or thousand potential followers then there really is something that’s that’s not quite right about either the business model or what you’re selling. But the reality is most businesses can use this content marketing to help funnel through that.

 [00:10:48] Yeah. And again it all comes down to the fact that when you’re spending this money and you’re spending this time it’s an investment. That’s the biggest thing that content marketing offers small businesses is a massive return on investment compared to other things like paid ads you know billboard advertising, advertising in your local paper. Those sorts of things. So it all comes down to the fact that it’s important because it’s the biggest opportunity for you to compete and grow your business.

 [00:11:26] Full stop.

 [00:11:28] Awesome I think that’s probably a great spot to leave it on. So yeah any questions about content marketing for your business for small businesses feel free to get in touch with us please make sure you subscribe. We’re launching this podcast and hopefully you’re enjoying the content so far. We’ve got a lot more to come and we look forward to sharing it with you. Thanks everyone.

 [00:11:48] Thanks.