Content has become an extremely important strategy in online marketing so its natural for a lot of small businesses to ask how content can help their overall strategy to produce the desired results.  Here are a few of the top questions we are often asked here at Banyan Creative about content marketing.

1.  What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is the process of producing useful or helpful information to your target consumer's, rather than just sharing all about your product or service.   The purpose of producing that content is to build trust and authority on a specific topic.   This hopefully builds trust with the consumer and eventually entices them to buy.

2.  Isn't content just a blog?

Most people think of content marketing as regularly updating your blog.  And thats a great place to start.  But content marketing could include PDFs, Slideshares, Video, Social Media posts, whitepapers, infographics, ebooks, webinars.  It can be be any medium used to distribute your content and message to your audience online.

3.  Where do I start with content marketing?

It can be a temptation to just start blogging without any strategy.   But the most important part at the outset of content marketing is to develop an overall plan and goal for why you are doing and what you hope are the desired outcomes.

4.  How do I define my content strategy?

Like any form of marketing, the most important questions we ask our clients over and over is "who is you are target persona", and "what are the problems that they have that you are solving."  Using these two questions we can reverse engineer the types of content we are writing about.  For example:   If our target is realtors, and we are offering a software that saves a realtor time and money, we want to lead with topics about "how realtors can better manager their time to make more money for their business."   We want to stay away from leading with our solution at the outset, and offer helpful tips before just selling product or solutions at the outset.  Be helpful and interesting. Not so salesy.

5.  How often do I need to be putting out content? 

It depends.   I know most people don't like this answer, but there is no universal answer here.  Putting out fresh content all the time is extremely valuable to your business but it does take time, energy, resources, and a good plan for it be successful.  Your strategy will help dictate how often you are putting out new content.  For most local businesses, it really can depend on what your competitor's are doing.  We always say here, if you aren't putting out content at least 1-2 times a month on that topic, its difficult to say you are an authority online on that subject.  While we don't necessarily know that posting twice a week vs multiple times a week to have a proven impact in terms of percentage of growth, we do know that Google clearly prefers websites that update their content on a regular basis and helps with the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts in showing up in the rankings on the search engines.   

 For a great example of a great case study and long term content marketing strategy that has had a huge impact on the bottomline, check out our friends over at https://buffalojackson.com/.  They have committed to weekly blogs and monthly helpful tips to their target audience for several years running.  And the results are quite impressive helping boost their online sales through their website.

As a small business owner your website is one of the most important tools you can have.   It does 3 really important things for you.

1.  It can add value - You want to educate your customers and your prospective customers on what the value of your product or services.    Keep in mind, a website has little value without business goals, objectives, or a solid marketing strategy behind it.   Does your website add value to your business today?

2.  You can collect data -  Its a wonderful tool to figure out what their needs are so you can meet those needs.  Its all about having the relationship with your clients and understanding how to enhance those relationships.  Using a proper website strategy, it allows you to collect the right data you need to drive business decisions and grow relationships with your customers.

3.  You can conduct business 24/7 - In the middle of the night, someone can click, put their credit card in, and guess what, you have made a sale!   A great website is your frontline sales force.   It helps quantify, qualify and for e-commerce business close the sale without any human interaction.   Check out buffalojackson.com and see some of our recent work to help grow their online business ten-fold using this 24/7 strategy.

4.  It can be found head of your competitors - What good is a website if your customers can't find it?   Its like having a billboard in the middle of a desert.  A well optimized site using (SEO) Search Engine Optimization.     When people don't know who to call for services the first place for most people is to "google it".  Are you able to be found for services you offer?  Or are you competitors showing up ahead of you?  If thats the case you are losing sales.  

Need help with your small business website strategy?  Contact us at Banyan Creative.  We love helping small businesses grow!

I met a guy recently who lost over 50 lbs. I hardly recognized him, because I hadn't seen in a few years and obviously with that much weight loss he looked much different.    So I asked him "what was your secret to losing all that weight?"    

He said, "Eating better and regular exercise for about 2 years straight."  I was expecting some dramatic crash diet at the latest quick fix exercise.  So this was not exactly the exciting answer I was looking for, but it got me thinking.....   We get contacted several times a week from Charlotte small business owners looking for a "quick fix" in their marketing.    They want to know "what's your most basic plan to optimize my website?"  or   "I need leads now! What can you do quick?"     I more often respond with something like.  "We can't help you if you are looking for a shortcut."  

The truth is we are all looking for shortcuts without putting in the hard work over a long period of time.   When it comes to their online marketing, small business owners often in tight cash flow situations don't allocate enough resources to advertising or marketing until they are in dire straights.    It doesn't help that businesses are bombarded with emails or cold calls with things like "Guarantee SEO #1 Ranking on Google" or "Do this 1 Weird Trick on Facebook to increase your following 4000%"

So lets change our thinking a bit here.  If you want to build a web presence like the man who lost 50 lbs. instead of signing a 90 day trial with another web marketing company, why not invest in 2 year strategy of "healthy eating and exercise" for your website.   

1. Wean Yourself Off Shortcuts in Your Online Marketing

It’s so easy to adopt SEO or even social media tricks, and when they actually WORK it can be incredibly hard to turn them down.    Or maybe you found a certain keyword within your PPC strategy thats driving tons of traffic, so you crank up the budget on it.   Another example, if all of your competitors are outranking you thanks to their huge volume of paid/spammy links, the moral high ground’s not gonna put food on the table, or leads in your CRM?   So I feel your pain.   But keep in mind.  Shortcuts are often just for short term results.  Regardless of my personal feelings on whether or not they’re good for the Internet, I’m not going to say tricks don’t ever work, but what I am saying is focus on your longterm goals, not a short term ranking or other web traffic strategies.  

2.  SEO is Hard and Requires a Long Term Investment

It is way harder to build great content and fix bad code and build linking relationships and get people to share and link to your content and then do all that again, over and over, than it is to submit to a bunch of directories, and hire a freelancer or Fiverr.com to spin some content to syndicate on article sites and to comment spam neglected blogs and then buy a bunch of links.    But you really get what you pay for here.   Small investment often means small return.
 
However, it’s a lot easier to build great content and fix crummy code and build linking relationships and get people to share and link to your content and then do all that again, over and over, and have it NEVER STOP WORKING, than it is to completely change everything you do every year or so because your websites keep getting algorithmic hits. And it’s a lot less stressful, in the long run, not to have to explain to business owners why their site is never going to rank because of low level tactics.

Just like with weight loss, doing things the right way (the hard way) may not work as fast, but it will work for the long term.   Check out one of small business clients results below.  They committed to blogging 6-8 times a month, in addition to publishing keyword rich buyers guides for commonly asked questions.   While their competitors poured more money into paid advertising, they focused on good, quality professionally written content.  They focused on their strengths, not on their weaknesses.

The result 

• Doubling their traffic and online sales are up 150% year over year for 3 years straight now.  
• They focused on long term goals with SEO.  And they are reaping the benefits after many of their competitors are long gone.  
• They are hiring staff, while their competitors are going out of business.
• They chose long term growth over short term gratification

Are you small business in need of a long term SEO strategy?  Give us a call.  We are in it for the long haul and have a handful of happy clients who have reaped the benefits over the years.   Now take the road last traveled.  Trade in that ice cream for an apple. You get it?

About the Author: Sam Casey is the Managing Partner at Banyan Creative based in Matthews, NC.  We enjoy working with small businesses who are focused on long term goals for their web marketing.    
  

​You want to engage your customers. You want to keep your business top-of-mind for your target audience. You want to increase sales. But how? Aha! An email newsletter!  You throw everything you have into it, and you send your little e-miracle out into the world. You envision your customers finding you in their inbox, their delighted expressions, eyes devouring every word, fingers clicking every link. Filled with pride and anticipation, you check your open and clickthrough rates.

And then you cry a little bit.

The hard truth is, just because you pour your time and energy (and heart and soul) into an email newsletter doesn’t mean people will open it, much less take the time to read it and act on it. E-newsletters are one of the most common types of emails to send -- but they are also some of the hardest to do well.

A critical question to answer before you begin: do you really need an email newsletter? Sounds basic, but it’s important. Do some research in your industry and determine if an email newsletter is actually an effective form of communication with your target market. Does your target audience subscribe to email newsletters? If so, what kind? Do you have the time/budget/resources to produce the kind of e-newsletter your target audience wants? What is the goal of sending your e-newsletter, and can that be accomplished through this platform?

Here’s the thing: the answer might be no. And that is okay. If that’s the case, make the smart decision to direct your resources toward a platform better suited to your particular target market. If, however, you determine you should proceed with an email newsletter (or you have an existing one that needs help), we’ve compiled 7 crucial tips to be successful.

7 Tips for Creating Email Newsletters People Actually Want to Read

1. Focus. 

​You’ve determined you should create an email newsletter. So, answer this question: Why are you sending the e-newsletter? If it’s to tell all the people all the things all at once: stop it. It’s too much.  Good email newsletters are not a weekly information dump; they are focused. Rather than including general information about every aspect of your business all at once, choose one vertical, or choose a particular industry topic, and create a theme around it. Each email should have a common thread to tie it together.

2. Define the Relationship.

Expectations can make or break any relationship. So, set the expectations regarding your e-newsletter right there on your “subscribe” page -- and be specific. Tell potential subscribers exactly what kind of content will be in the newsletter, and tell them how often they’ll hear from you. Not only does this improve your potential subscribers’ experience, having provided this information up front is a great way for you to lower your unsubscribe and spam rates later on.

3. All about that… subject line.

Okay, so your e-newsletter has subscribers now -- but how do you get them to actually open this specific email?  It’s all about the subject line. You have to get creative with the email subject lines. It’s tempting to keep the same subject line each time -- it will be familiar, and your subscribers will recognize your e-newsletter by it, right? Well, yes, that is probably true. But unfortunately, it’s also boring. Repeating the same subject line offers no intrigue, no incentive to click this one. Right now.

A much more effective approach is to come up with new, creative, and engaging subject lines each time you send your e-newsletter. Need some help? Check out these tips.

4. 90/10 Rule (Don’t be that guy.)

​Even your most devoted customers can only tolerate so many sales pitches before they tune you out. Writing a good email newsletter is like being a good friend: stop talking about yourself so damn much. You know that guy. Don’t be that guy.  You also know that company. You know, the one you subscribed to that one day and then everyday thereafter flooded your inbox with “Buy! Buy! Buy!” Think about it: were you happy to see their emails in your inbox? Or did you roll your eyes, click delete, and eventually unsubscribe altogether?  What if that same company would’ve sent you emails with relevant, educational, and timely information? Information to help you, interest you, or entertain you -- not just ask something of you. Totally different experience, right? Bottom line: the content of your email newsletter should be 90% educational and only 10% promotional.
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5. CTAs give me ADD

We all know the Call-to-Action (CTA) is critical. So don’t muddy the waters with too many of them. Choose one primary CTA to highlight above and beyond the others. You’ll likely need multiple CTA’s in one newsletter, but they don’t all need equal emphasis. Position the non-primary CTA’s as more of an afterthought, kind of like, “if you get around to it, click here too.” Don’t expect your readers to bushwhack their way through a cluster of CTA’s and hope they figure out what’s most important. Clear the path and show them.

6. Minimalism

​Email newsletters are notorious for looking cluttered, so when it comes to the design & copy of your email newsletter, the minimalist approach has it in the bag.  Your two most effective weapons against e-newsletter clutter are concise copy and adequate whitespace. So, channel your inner Kon Mari, and purge the page. Edit ruthlessly, ensuring your copy is tight, clean, and concise. Then, maximize the whitespace in the design. Utilize margins, spacing, and image placement to visually alleviate the cluttered feel.

One note about images: be sure they include alt text. Alt text is the alternative text that appears if an image doesn’t load. Many people don’t have images enabled in their email, which creates a problem if your email newsletter is image-heavy (and an even bigger problem if your CTAs are images). Alt text will show your readers what to click even if the image isn’t enabled.
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7. Bye, Felicia. (A.K.A. Make it easy to unsubscribe.)

​(Yes, really.)You’ve worked hard to determine your e-newsletter’s focus, you’ve laid out specific expectations on your subscribe page,  you’re writing short and engaging subject lines, you’ve developed a strong content balance, and your CTA’s are clear and inviting on an uncluttered page. Your subscriber numbers are rising, as are your open and clickthrough rates.

But you can’t stop staring at that “unsubscribed” number. Your email newsletter is amazing. So, why do some people still unsubscribe?

Stop. Stop worrying so much about your unsubscribe numbers. You want your emails delivered to people who will be happy to see them and who actively engage with your content. So really, by removing themselves from your list, unsubscribers are doing some valuable targeting work for you. Leverage this as an opportunity, and don’t bury your unsubscribe link in a miniscule footer or ambiguous wording -- you don’t want anyone marking your newsletter as SPAM because they couldn’t figure out how to unsubscribe instead. Having a clear unsubscribe process keeps your subscriber list thriving and healthy.

​Banyan Creative is Charlotte digital marketing agency helping small businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profits with their digital marketing campaigns that look beautiful, attract customers, engage visitors, and inspire buyers.