Content marketing has been attracting a lot of attention on the internet and in small business communities.

But, like many people, you may be asking yourself, what is content marketing and how can it benefit my business?  

Well, if you’re looking for an answer, this article should help you get a general idea of content marketing.  

The 50,000 Foot View

In a nutshell, content marketing is very simple.

It just means that you create content (for example, a video, a blog post, etc.) and share it with your audience.  

Then, you hope that some of these people love your free content and learn more about your company, eventually becoming customers.  

Seems simple right?  But I bet you’re wondering, how do I create content? Or how do I share it appropriately?

Let’s get started!

Creating Content

There are many different types of content you can create but generally, if you’re doing content marketing, you’ll want to create content that appeals to your audience (i.e. people who would be potential customers).  

This is a bit more of an art but you may already have a good idea.  For example, if you sell guitars, perhaps your customers would be interested in videos showing them where to put their fingers.  

Or, if you sell software to small businesses, maybe they would be interested in a podcast that interviews other small business owners about relevant topics.  

The key here is to focus on creating high quality content that is valuable to people who could be potential customers.  

This doesn’t mean that every piece of content has to be directly related to your business or an advertisement, just provide content that is valuable to your audience and we’ll walk you through sharing it and eventually getting customers!

Share Your Content

Once you’ve created an awesome piece of content your audience will love, the next step is to share the content so your audience can actually find it.  

There are a number of different ways to share content and it does depend on what type of content you created but we’ll cover a couple of the basics.

Facebook - Great for all sorts of content and allows people who like your content to share it with others.  Offers paid and organic ways to promote your content.

Youtube - If you create a video, Youtube is pretty much the place to put it.  Make sure to pay attention to Youtube SEO which can increase the odds of your video getting a lot of views.  

iTunes Podcasts - If you create a podcast, sharing it on iTunes is a great idea.  If it’s a good podcast, it might even get featured which can lead to lots of views.

Website Blog - If written content is the way you’re going, start a blog on your website and promote your content that way. Especially if you already have some visitors to start with.  Then, work on your SEO so that you can rank in Google and get more traffic.

Creative Alternatives - Heard about a new platform?  Have a creative idea?  Try it!  If it’s a way to distribute your content to your audience, it’s worth checking out and generally, the more creative, the better.

Your content doesn’t need to be an advertisement but just make sure that your customers know that it was your company that shared the content.  This could mean posting it under your company’s Facebook page, putting a link to your company in the description of the Youtube or something similar.  

That way, if someone is interested in who created the content (and they will be), they can find your company!

How This Translates to New Customers

If you create great content and get some exposure for it, your audience will start receiving value from your company.

As a result, they will start to see your company as helpful or trustworthy.  

And, they will remember the name of your company or get curious and do some research on the company that is publishing all this great content.

When they need a service you provide, you guessed it, they’ll look to you first.  

Conclusion

Creating content and distributing it should be fun.  Just focus on being creative and finding great new ways to deliver value to your audience for free.  

If you’re able to do this successfully, you’ll naturally start nurturing an audience that will receive a lot of value and will be much more likely to become customers.  

If you come up with any unique ways to share your content that are effective, put it in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!