This blog was updated in May 2020.
You’re a small business and you don’t have the biggest budget to work with in terms of your marketing and advertising. That’s okay. Before, it might have been hard to make it work, but now it’s easily possible to make a lot work with a small budget. Don’t close the door on your ability to market yourself as a small business with a very fixed budget. The main thing to focus on is getting creative: Learn how to use what little budget you do have wisely and utilize the following strategies to help stretch your cash as far as it will go. Keep reading for 17 actionable content marketing tips you can follow even with a small budget.
17 Content Marketing Tips for Brands With a Small Budget
- Find the last three questions you answered on social media or your inbox. Take these topics and turn them into blog posts. You’re killing two birds with one stone: creating marketable content and clearing up confusion.
- The Internet’s answer to Microsoft’s staple program PowerPoint is SlideShare. SlideShare allows you to embed slideshows directly into blog posts. You can also easily take PowerPoint files and turn them into files that SlideShare can use.
- You can repurpose the above slideshows into articles. Basically, you can turn anything into another form of content. This is called content repurposing, and it’s your best friend as a business.
- Don’t be afraid to cross over into a new medium, either. The content you have that’s text-based? Make a video out of it. Have a video you’ve already made? Turn that into an article. You can essentially make a list of all the possible media you want to use and mark off all the forms of one content piece you have. You can also easily shoot a quality video with a smartphone — no expensive equipment necessary.
- If you have a topic that isn’t in-depth enough for an article, create blurbs and summaries out of it. (Has it already been mentioned you should be repurposing content?)
- Create pieces based on small questions that you can turn into guides or how-tos. If people often ask about certain aspects of your business, tell them exactly what they want to know. These also double as great ways of getting people to your blog. Titles that tell people they can learn something or receive new information can be very productive for lead generation.
- Lists are always great for lead generation, even if they aren’t as on-point with your brand as you’d like them to be. Inform your audience about people they should know, blogs they should follow, or resources they can use that you find helpful.
- This can also be a useful strategy when compiling resources from others. If you network with other businesses, share the love by compiling lists of their content and posting about them.
- Don’t be afraid to get negative and use some fighting words. Do a comparison piece showing off how you match up to your competitors. It’s risky, but it can pay off.
- Infographics and statistics are powerful ways to bring in traffic leads. It’s proven that audience members love facts, so build some posts based around stats that center on your business ideologies and purpose.
- Consumers like to click on links that keep them updated. Post content related to the future of your business area and how you can stay innovative in your field.
- You can sometimes find inspiration in the oddest places…like your Netflix queue. Find a way to take your favorite movie or TV show and turn it into a think piece that draws from both the canon and your business realm.
- You probably use tools in your business life. Just little things to make it easier. Show off the tools you and others can use as a list of productivity hacks.
- For smaller content, keep it simple and tweet messages telling people to have a good day with pictures or GIFs that you like. This can be a very simple way to generate leads and get more followers.
- E-books are an extremely underutilized medium when it comes to advertising. Put a little elbow grease into your work and make an e-book about your business and areas of expertise. You don’t have to write a novel, but make it enough to count and provide real valuable to your audience/readers.
- Don’t be afraid to use the content of others and post with credit (always with credit!). It’s an excellent way to expand your reach and open up possible opportunities for collaboration.
- Look to others to give you ideas about content and potential articles. You can go through your own resources, but you might have forgotten a few points to touch base on. Talk to co-workers, customers, and other employees to generate fresh content ideas.
Which one of these content marketing tips will you try first? Let us know in the comments section below.
