Content marketing is your message driven by a structured plan. Whether you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur, understanding how to share your message effectively will determine how far your brand can grow. In this guide, we’ll break down content marketing in simple terms and explore how to use it to grow your brand.
Think of your favorite drink…
Got it? Great!
Now, how would you describe it to your best friend?
Maybe you’d text them:
“It’s like ginger ale but with natural flavors and no added sugar”
Or call them and say:
“It taste like lemonade, but sweeter with a hint of tea”
If you were face-to-face, you’d probably just show them the physical product.
Now let’s imagine telling 5 people. Then 15 more. See what’s happening?
At its core, content marketing is simply communicating relevant information about your product or service. It’s value-driven and strategically designed to attract the right audience, engage with them as well as build trust.
The demonstration above? That’s word-of-mouth. You identified your product, selected your audience and message and chose a strategic method to share it. Content marketing formalizes this process and amplifies it.
But it doesn’t stop there…
Telling one person is easy. Reaching 50 or 500 people? That requires an effective and sustainable strategy.
With a goal of telling 50 people about your favorite drink, what do you think would be the most effective message? What would be the most efficient method?
What if your goal is to get at least 3 of those 50 to buy it? How does your message and method change?
Here’s the secret:
Picking The Right Message
If people have never heard of your product, you start with the basics:
If they already know you, your message focuses on:
Picking The Right Method
The method rarely changes, it only evolves. Once you have one, you’re repeating your message or introducing a new message. The right method maximizes time, effort and resources while reaching as many people as possible.
Word-of-mouth works but only for the very beginnings of your marketing. To be sustainable and grow, you’ll need other methods like:
The goal? Reach more people maximizing your time, effort and resources.
Content marketing begins the moment you have something valuable to share. It's crucial to the success of your business, never “one and done.” It's also neither sustainable nor efficient and effective to rely on just one method. You need a mix of messages and methods to keep growing. Do this well and you’ll attract attention, build trust, and make your product stand out.