For startups, content marketing needs a targeted, flexible strategy as well as deft execution. See expert success advice and recommendations. People often hire a Digital Marketing Agency for this purpose.

Content marketing has a low barrier to entry, making it easier and more cost-effective than ever for companies to employ this proven marketing tactic.

But here’s the thing: the stakes are bigger than they’ve ever been.

A simple blog article devoid of multimedia will no longer suffice. Your prospects’ and customers’ expectations are increasing.

We’re seeing a winner-takes-all situation in several categories, with high-quality content pieces capturing the great majority of eyes—and clicks. In reality, according to Ahrefs, 90.63 percent of all material receives no traffic from Google.

How can your startup succeed in the face of adversity?

In this column, you’ll learn how to create a content marketing strategy, how to be memorable on a tight budget, and how to measure content marketing success for companies.

Throughout, content marketers from successful startups discuss their best practices and lessons learned to help you get the greatest results possible. Let’s get this party started.

How to Plan Content Marketing Campaigns for Your Startup

There are a million things you could be doing: SEO, public relations, social media, and so on. It’s easy to become overwhelmed, spend a lot of money, and become distracted.

If you’re on a tight budget, don’t start all of your channels at once; you’ll end up spreading yourself too thin.

Long-term channels (SEO, social media, podcasts) should be balanced with initiatives that can get you the attention you need right now.

A promotion on Product Hunt, being featured on Hacker News or TechCrunch, or appearing on the podcasts of industry experts are all examples of short-term promotions.

This exposure allows you to have a better understanding of the market, fine-tune your messaging, and develop your initial opportunities.

The 4-point framework below can help you develop a content marketing strategy, whether it’s for a long-term campaign or a short-term venture.

Objective

Set your objectives before you begin your campaign. This aids in team alignment, communication of the mission, and measurement of progress and success.

Your objectives and measurable targets will be divided down into sub-goals.

Your goal, or vision, is your reason for being. The goal elucidates the wider picture. The following are some examples of marketing objectives:

• PR initiatives should be used to raise awareness among software founders.
• Organize an event to connect with people in your field.
• Build out the blog in order to use SEO to drive organic traffic.

Target

Your objectives are measurable and quantifiable. You may have also heard the terms important results or KPIs. A goal should be so detailed that you can tell if you’ve met it or not.

Here are some examples of targets:

• By the conclusion of Q3, you should have published 20 press items.
• By the end of Q3, host two media dinners with significant industry influencers.
• According to our content pillars, publish four keyword-focused blog pieces per month.

Messaging

The value and advantage of your target audience are conveyed through your messaging. The target audience for an SEO or social media campaign is your potential prospects, leads, and customers.

Discuss their problems and provide them with one-of-a-kind, practical answers. Keep in mind that content marketing isn’t only about the items your firm offers; it’s also about educating people about them.

If you’re running a public relations campaign, your target audience is the journalist with whom you’re attempting to collaborate. They’re seeking a new story to cover, and their requirements may differ from those of your potential customers.

Your messaging should, in theory, be highly relevant to the people in your target audience.

Consider where each campaign is in the nurturing funnel for each campaign. What makes sense to someone who has received 10 drip emails may not make sense to someone who is just visiting your website.

Promotion

“More brands need to decrease the pace of content and focus on wringing out every piece to obtain the maximum value and return on money and effort,” Holly Pels of Casted (established in 2019) explains.

“For instance, consider a webinar. Marketers spend a lot of effort into producing these assets, getting people to sign up for events, and hosting them. Most brands post webinars on their websites as “on-demand” materials and then let them collect dust.

“Instead, turn the different takeaways from the webinar into written content. To encourage users to return to the information, cut up short sections of the webinar and offer snackable snippets. Did anyone ask any questions? Turn it into content for your blog, social media, or even audio and video. Consider developing an audio series that your audience may listen to on the go if your webinar is conversational in nature. The list could go on and on.

To have an effective (and amazing) content marketing plan, you don’t need a large budget. Every content marketer should practice reusing, repurposing, and repromoting material, especially content that connected with their audience.”

3 Factors to Improve Your Content Marketing Effectiveness

There are a few crucial factors to consider if you want to win at content marketing with your business in a landscape where the barrier to entry is low but the bar is high:

• Focus: Choose a small number of channels and master them.
• Quality: Acquiring proficiency will take time. In the first few weeks/months, don’t put too much emphasis on metrics; instead, concentrate on generating high-quality work.
• Consistency: With the compound impact, content marketing is a game of winning. Stick with your channel if you want to see exponential growth over time.

“Because content can be such a driving force for so many aspects of the business,” Holly Pels explains, “too many organizations have fallen into the trap of believing that more content equals greater results.” More content, on the other hand, almost always equals more content, more cost, and less efficiency.”

Good Content Marketing Makes You Memorable

“Early-stage firms should focus on building their distinctive go-to-market message and then finding like-minded people to buy into that message,” says Ian Luck, VP Marketing for CustomerGauge (established in 2007). Take a stand in the marketplace and be unique.”

Content marketing’s strength is in its ability to generate and capture demand. You might get the click if your material reads like everyone else’s, but no one will remember you.

Your brand and voice are extremely important. They convert a prospective fan or lead into an SEO or social click.

“In-house content resources are crucial,” said Matthew Brew, Head of Marketing at EduMe (established in 2016). You can read someone’s level of interest in what they’re writing about by reading their writing. That’s why you’ll need everyone on board to be true brand protectors and truly represent (or craft) your tone of voice.” 

First and foremost, good content marketing is one-of-a-kind. When a potential consumer begins their purchase cycle, good content marketing keeps you at the front of their mind.

Buffer’s “open blog,” for example, where they reveal their whole startup process, including financials, is a well-known example.

It was one-of-a-kind, made a statement, and continues to attract attention, clicks, and consumers.

Measuring Success as a Startup: A Counter-Intuitive Approach

Content marketing is a strong instrument for testing your offer and building first relationships in the early days of a firm.

Producing high-quality content and fine-tuning your messaging and offerings should be your primary objectives.

“Remember that the measure of success for that early material may not be in terms of views, links, or keyword rankings, but rather focus on acquiring market validation for ideas/topics,” explains Ellie Mirman of Mulberry (established in 2018).

“You’ll understand the role different sorts of content play in your marketing mix over time — what’s needed for SEO, nurturing, PR, and so on – and then you’ll be able to connect your success metrics with each of those goals.”

“The advantage startups have over larger established enterprises is agility,” Ian Luck adds. Startups should focus on building a community around their unique go-to-market strategy and point of view of the market, then bringing 5x the amount of material to market than their nearest competitors.”

After you’ve mastered the art of creating high-quality content, you can devote more effort to measuring the traditional marketing metrics in greater depth – search rankings, page visits, conversions, and income.

Content Marketing Ideas on a Small Budget

“Nothing is off limits!” argues Matthew Brew, who advises businesses to get innovative. From coming up with strategies to make your employer brand stand out on social media to asking top leaders for content, there’s a lot to do.”

Here are a few low-budget content marketing concepts that can produce quick results by leveraging platforms with an existing audience:

• Podcast appearances in the industry.
• Employee advocacy and employer branding
• Attending conferences and giving presentations.
• Hosting or speaking at webinars are both options.
• Influencer marketing and brand alliances
• Putting together a co-branded industry report
• Getting involved in an online community (Facebook or LinkedIn groups, Slack, Whatsapp).
• I’m doing a ProductHunt campaign.
• On AppSumo, you may post a deal.
• Creating articles for LinkedIn or Medium.
• Organizing a targeted outreach effort (LinkedIn or email).

Summary

Content marketing may be a great tool for generating and capturing demand if you stay focused and don’t get sidetracked.

Rather than launching a slew of new activities and channels all at once, narrow your emphasis. Select a few activities that will make use of current audiences to gain feedback and generate first leads for some fast wins.

After that, concentrate on the channels that your target customer prefers. Before dipping your toes into the next, master the first.

Find out what works in your specific market and replicate it!