Let me first start by saying ‘in this day and age, content marketing is an absolute must’, especially for small businesses. But don’t run screaming for the hills just yet, because it doesn’t have to be as difficult as you may make out.

To understand what content marketing is, let’s take a look at the definition “a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.”

You see content marketing is a great and affordable tool in your toolbox. It can drive you web traffic,  turn followers into leads & sales, get you great engagement, have a competitive advantage over your competitors and get your business the kind of free visibility you just couldn’t otherwise get. I like to think of it as a ‘swiss army knife’… Out there warming up your audience for you, whilst you get on with those that are ready to buy.

Myth buster 1: You really can plan and create content for the month ahead in just 1 day… Yep that’s 8 hrs! Don’t believe me? Check out my signature course ‘’Content Planning for Business” where I teach you how to get 30 ahead and stay there is just 1 day per month.

Why is it so important for a small business

Being a small business myself, I know the constant juggle of being the person who answers the phones, makes the tea, makes all the decisions and does all the work… It’s a plate spinning battle that would get any small business owner a place in the circus!

Not only that though, we need to be savvy about where we spend out advertising budget (if we have one at all!) Which is why content marketing is your friend… Imagine for a moment we’re in the 80’s (hello Rick Astley!) and you have to tell 100 new people about your product or service. What free audience building work would you do? Cold call 100 people? Chap the doors of 100 people? Post flyers through doors of 100 people? (ok so you’d have to pay for the flyers… But you get my point). These days you can create 1 piece of content (be it a blog post, video, social post, podcast) and that 1 time ‘conversation’ can be had with a 100 people just in the click of a button… We are so lucky these days!

Now that ‘conversation’ can be about a multitude of things, from new products, to overcoming objections and even testimonials. But once it’s out there, it’s working on repeat for you without having to do anything more.

Just imagine a perfectly SEO’d blog post shared on social getting instant eyes on it, whilst over the coming weeks it’s ranking for search terms on Google, that will drive you new leads… It’s out there doing the door chapping for you. And guess what… everyone is at home (YAY!)

Or maybe you’ve built up a loyal following on social media and you share a social post about the changes your product or service makes to people… It resonates with your audience and they are feeling pretty proud as punch that they made such a wise decision in buying and they want all their friends to know and they share your post… Getting fresh new eyes on your business. Post after post, week after week.

You see done right, content marketing is like having an army of sales people at your finger tips, making you hit those big business goals, that you maybe thought you couldn’t do alone, but you can!