The Content You Didn’t Know You Could Use to Grow Your Business

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Content marketing strategy = customer engagement = business wins left, right and centre. Want in, but got no time? We bet you’ve got the foundation of a great content strategy already, without even realising.  

Content marketing is a way for you to engage your customers through the age-old technique of storytelling. It’s where entertainment meets education, and aims to capture your audience’s curiosity or interest and answer their questions. It comes in all shapes and sizes (words, images, video, infographics, reports and more), and lives on your website, social channels, email newsletters and blogs.

One aim is to establish your authenticity and credibility as a brand. Credibility means trust, and trust means value. 

The other aim is to start and continue a conversation with your clients; they talk, you listen and the two of you fall in love. Ideally, people fall for you so hard that they share or link to the content you’ve created on their own platforms and become brand advocates. 

That’s the thing – while content marketing sounds intimidating, and can be a huge undertaking if you pour resources into it, it can also be as simple as using what you’ve got and sharing it cleverly. And we reckon you’ve got more than you think. Here are 5 easy ways to get started with content marketing without having to lift a finger (basically. A few fingers may need to be lifted, but it will be low-effort, we promise). 

Everybody loves to see the faces behind the business, so use what you have and share across Facebook, Instagram and on your own site/blog to keep it real. Instagram’s new carousel function, where you can upload up to 10 photos/videos in a single swipe-able, slideshow-esque post is perfect for this. You can even share milestones and funny anecdotes from day-to-day office life, to tell the story of your business and get personal. 

Showing off recent work you and your team have produced is not only a virtual pat on the back, it shows potential clients how fab you are. Whether it’s A+ design work, some sick research or an activation that went off without a hitch, we bet you’ve got something up your sleeve you could share. Pop it in an eDM or post it on your site/blog and feel chuffed. 

If it’s relevant to you, it might be for your audience too. You’re already reading throughout the week, so why not save the links to the best articles/videos/whatevs and send them in an eDM, or share them throughout the week in Facebook posts? Give your customers an insight into what you’re finding interesting, and listen to see what they’re into. 

If you’re a good guy, chances are your business contributes to a charity in some way, shape or form. Share your values with your customers and talk about what you’re doing in the lead up to the event (e.g. Biggest Morning Tea) to drum up some enthusiasm, throughout the event and then afterwards. Another one for social media, or great to share a wrap-up post on your blog. 

5. Tell the story of your office pet
 

This is not a drill. The internet loves dogs, so jump on the bandwagon and introduce the world to your cutest team member (no offence Kristy). The Pedestrian office pooches Ollie, Bibi and Gary have made appearances across many a content piece, and it works a treat. This is perfect for Instagram or Facebook, especially in the later hours of Friday when all anyone’s ever doing at their desk is looking at photos of dogs anyway. Ask your community to comment with their dog pics to really start a social fire. 

Sharing (content) is caring. So is making the right hire.