Everything You Need to Know About Small Business Content Marketing
- Rachel Meyer
- May 26
- 7 min read
So, you’ve decided to invest in content marketing for your small business. That’s a great step, and I applaud you.
But now you're wondering: how do I do that?
When you’re starting to dip your toes into the content marketing world, it can be overwhelming. There are so many terms, methods, and metrics people claim you absolutely must know. It can make beginners back away slowly before they even give it a chance.
I’m here to tell you that content marketing isn’t as complicated as you think. Sure, it takes work and know-how, but so does all marketing.
That's why I wrote this ultimate guide to small business content marketing. We’ll walk through what content marketing is, the various forms it takes, and how to use it for your business. By the end of this post, you may not be an expert, but you will have the confidence to start.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a form of marketing that attracts customers to your business by creating shareable assets such as blog posts, videos, or social media posts. Its job is not direct sales, but to attract and build trust with potential customers.
Why is content marketing important for small businesses?
Better reach
Let’s be real for a minute. You’re never going to have the same kind of ad budget or marketing team as a million-dollar business. However, content marketing allows even local mom-and-pop shops to reach a large audience online. Through the power of the internet, you can have customers from around the world, not just whoever stumbles across your booth at the craft fair.
Build authority
People trust those they perceive as “experts”. When you have a library of valuable, high-quality content, you signal to potential customers that you're an authority in your market. You don't even have to tell them that- they can browse through your content to see for themselves.
Increase leads and sales
While sales are secondary when it comes to content marketing, they're still part of it. Blog posts and videos are the first step in your marketing funnel, introducing people to your business and leading them closer to buying.
Help your SEO
We all know how important SEO is for getting your small business’s website found online. But you can only target so many keywords with a static webpage. That’s where content comes in handy. It lets you target a wider range of keywords, catches attention with helpful content, and then converts browsers into buyers.
Content marketing ingredients
Content marketing is a bit like cooking. You need a recipe and the right ingredients to achieve the dish you’re trying to make. But instead of flour or sugar, for content marketing, you’ll need:
A goal. Aka, the dish you're trying to make. Without a goal, you won’t see results from content marketing, because you won't know what you're trying to achieve.
A plan. This is the recipe guiding you toward the goal you set. Without a plan, your marketing results will be hit or miss.
Content calendar. A content calendar helps you organize your content and keep it on track. If you have a marketing team, this is a must-have.
Content tools. Like kitchen appliances, content marketing tools make your life so much easier. They include anything from an ESP to a content scheduler.
Time. You have to let your content marketing cook to see results. Like a watched pot, nothing may happen at first, but eventually, your marketing will hit a full rolling boil.
Types of content marketing
Blogging
Despite what anyone tells you, blogs are still alive and well. A business blog is the perfect way to target the questions your customers are searching for. They also let you discuss topics in more depth than you could on a platform like Instagram.
Video
A YouTube channel can go a long way these days. The video format is more popular than ever, and lets you share information quickly and succinctly. It does require more to produce, not to mention the desire to be on camera, so it’s not for every business.
Social media
Instagram, Facebook, X, and more are all great ways to reach your target audience. But these platforms are highly competitive, require constant new posts, and have low conversion rates, so they shouldn't be a core strategy.
Podcasts
If you like the idea of talking to your audience, but don’t want to be on camera, podcasts are a nice alternative. They’re a lot easier to produce and can be easily reused for other platforms later on.
Infographics
These are those informational graphics you see on social media or Pinterest. They’re also fairly easy to produce and include in other content marketing, such as blogs. Plus, when people share them, you can reach even more potential customers.
Email marketing is a type of marketing on its own. But it’s also kind of a part of content marketing, which is why I included it. To learn more about email marketing, check out the post below.
White papers
This is an in-depth, authoritative report on a product or service. You see them a lot in the B2B space, as they help build authority and trust. They’re great if your customers are interested in high-level information on your products.
E-books
Giving away a free e-book is a simple way to share value with your customers. They do take time and skill to produce, but you can continue using them for a long time, giving them great value.
UGC (user-generated content)
User-generated content, such as reviews or social media posts, is marketing gold. These people loved your product so much that they posted about it without being prompted, which says a lot to other potential customers.
How to create a content marketing plan
Set a goal
Start by setting your content marketing goal(s). They should be something specific and achievable, with a clear timeline built in. What that goal is depends on your business, but common options are subscriber growth, conversions, and website traffic.
Example
Poor goal: Grow my email list
Good goal: Double my email subscribers in the next six months
Choose your metrics
Metrics is just a fancy word for the numbers you should track to see if your goal is working. To continue with our example goal above, one of the metrics you should track during the next six months is subscriber growth. Metrics vary a lot depending on what your goal is, but some of the popular things include:
Conversions
Email sign-ups
Link clicks
Sales
Revenue
Outline the plan
Now you can finally create the plan part of this plan. If you want to double your subscribers in the next six months, what do you have to do each quarter to achieve that goal? What do you have to do each month? What are the exact steps you need to achieve those things?
Write it all down somewhere you can refer to often. Be thorough, too. Break it down by week and even day if you have to. The clearer you are on what you need to do, the easier it is to accomplish.
Create your content calendar
Next, you’ll want to set up and start using your content calendar. This is where you’ll record each piece of content you’re going to publish, what your goal is with it, and more. For more information on content calendars, read the post below.
Publish the content
At this point, all you need to do is create and publish your content on the days you decided. That’s why I love content calendars so much. They take all the guesswork out of content marketing and make it easy to keep up with what you need to do.
How to promote your content
It’s not enough to publish your content, although I know we all wish it were. The content is out there, but you need to promote it if you want it to land in the hands of your target audience. There are a few ways you can do that.
Social media posts
There’s nothing like a good ol’ social media post to get the word out about something, such as your new piece of content. The key here is to make getting from the social media platform to that content easy. Consider linking it in your stories or having DM automation set up so they can comment and have it sent to them.
Email is another wonderful tool to get the word out about new content. And best of all, these are your most loyal customers, so they’re even more likely to check it out. (This can also help you see what your audience is actually interested in reading.)
Other methods
Paid promotion. If you have the budget, you might consider paying to have a new piece of content promoted, especially if it could perform well.
Repurpose it. You can use most pieces of content to create more content, such as turning a podcast episode into a blog post or a YouTube video into a social media post (with a link to the original, of course).
Backlinks. Basically, going on other websites and trying to get them to link back to your content in their post. In a non-spammy way, of course.
How to measure your content marketing success
Remember goals and metrics
You made those goals for a reason. If any part of your content marketing doesn’t align with those goals or help move those metrics, consider whether you really need to do it. Going back to our example, if you want to grow your email list, maybe you should focus less on social media for now.
Check in monthly
At the end of each month, check in with your monthly goals and assess your metrics. What progress did you make? Did everything contribute toward your goal? Make sure to keep track of everything, as you can analyze this later to see where things are or aren’t working.
Adapt as needed
Lastly, never be afraid to adapt your plan. If you realize something isn't working, change what you're doing. Just don’t get too trigger-happy when assessing your goals. Most tactics need a few weeks to six months to show results, so if you change too quickly, you could be missing the benefits.
Content marketing takes a little effort. But it's well worth the time it takes and can benefit your business for years.
Is this whole “content marketing” thing still overwhelming you? Why not hire a marketer who can help? Click the button below to learn more about my services and how they can help your small business.
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