ContentCategory

How content marketing is used to drive growth in startups

7 min read
Hanan Khashan

Content marketing is all about creating and sharing content across different content sharing platforms and channels. The information that content includes should be highly beneficial for both the companies and their target audience. There are many content marketing strategies and ideas. Nonetheless, there is a subtle difference between marketing in its traditional sense and content marketing.
Investing in content marketing means: your target audience is the one who seeks to attain your content. Unlike other marketing methods, content marketing is self-sufficient whereas other marketing methods rely on reaching the audience and trying to attract them to visit accounts or websites.

Keep in mind that good and valuable content that targets your audience can act as a machine for generating visitors and leads for your business.

Content Marketing Strategies

Content is a loose term. If we are to try and define it, content can be seen as an image, video, or, even in its simplest form, the words we use to express ourselves throughout the day. We have a large number of ideas for content types and content strategies, but in general, there are common and straightforward types that can be listed as follows:

1. Blogging

Blogging is the most popular type of content in content marketing strategies. Personally, I cannot imagine any startup or SME intended to grow without a blog on their websites for providing content that serves the company’s target group. A blog is a space where you help your audience understand the true value of your startup as well as allow them to engage with you. Your job is to employ content in a way that creates interest within the product or service that you provide.
On the other hand, SEO is a critical point that you need to take into consideration when thinking of blogging. Writing SEO friendly content will increase the organic traffic to your web page from results in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo and help you generate the best ROI with your content.
You can start with selecting the writing topic, conducting keyword research by using one of the Keyword research tools to boost your SEO, and conducting a content strategy.
You can check "Your SEO guide to writing a search-friendly blog article" for more help.
Some ideas which you can share on your blog:

  • 5 ideas that contribute to promoting (a topic that interests your audience)● Top 10 projects in (your field of work)
  • Topics we look forward to seeing in 2021
  • How did it help us (Company X) achieve success in (a distinguished number in sales or growth ..)
  • Interview with the founder (X)
  • A day in the life of a teamwork
  • [New Product / Service] All you need to know about it
  • How [Product X] helps you save time and effort
  • 6 [X] influencers you should follow now

For more check the following articles from GoDaddy:

  1. Learn how to blog in 5 simple steps.
  2. 5 ways to come up with fresh blog ideas.
  3. How to plan your company blog editorial calendar for 2020.
  4. Why do you need to start creating Arabic content?
  5. Best tech blogs to follow.

2- Sharing content via social media platforms

Sharing is the backbone of social media platforms as it can provide useful content to your target audience. Whether through infographics, pictures, or any form of content, it allows you to share the content by utilizing these platforms.
Content that startups should considering sharing includes:

  • Content about the service/product provided by the company
  • Information and ideas of interest to the target group
  • Project news and updates
  • The teamwork and the true stories behind the project
  • Live broadcasts, either to clarify specific characteristics or even answer users' questions
  • Engaging in different digital communities, whether they are groups or even hashtags

And always remember: the higher the quality of the content, the greater the chances of its spread and impact.
You can check this article to know more about how to create a winning social media content strategy or to boost your Facebook content to reach more customers.

3- Video making and sharing

Content is constantly evolving. With the continued arrival of more platforms and solutions to publish and share content, videos have become one of the most important elements because of the direct and effective impact it can have on the target audience.

According to Hubspot, 51.5% of online marketers consider video content to have the highest return on investment. (ROI).

So, it is important for startups to embrace video content NOW.

Video content ideas you can adopt as a startup:

  • Educational content: short and straightforward videos make the user’s understanding of services and their ability to deal with them in a more engaging way rather than relying solely on text or image posts.
  • Usage models: by providing examples of how your product can be deployed in users' lives. This helps in boosting awareness of the product and in creating desirability.

    The user's subscription to the service alone is not sufficient. Users must try and test the product to ensure durability.

  • Specialized academy: The idea of providing an academy or library that helps users succeed in their business and not just in using your product is fundamental as it creates and builds trust.

4- Show-off your expertise with content marketing

If you have experience in your field, why not present this experience as an e-book? You could also provide useful content that includes interesting topics for the target audience as impactful as a video. An e-book would attract your target audience for a longer period and not just a few minutes, as with a post or a video.

Note: You can use GoDaddy Email Marketing to create your first email newsletter in 30 minutes or less. It makes it a snap to create newsletters that perfectly reflect the look and feel of your brand.

How does content marketing help with the development and growth of a startup?

  • Increase users' trust: users prefer to deal with brands they trust. Therefore, content helps you show that you are committed to helping the target group solve their problems. This would happen by implementing an effective content marketing strategy for your project that focuses on the target audience's needs. This strategy enables you to create a strong and distinctive brand, locally and internationally and it will always put you at the forefront of your field because people trust you as they can see what you are up to!
  • Increase your project's visibility: content marketing makes you always appear to the target audience and helps you reach the largest possible number of the target group. Good content appears to your audience better than that of an advertisement. This increases the number of your followers or subscribers to the mailing list, which will continuously grow.
  • Better return on investment than traditional advertising: advertising and content marketing are two methods that bring you sales, but content marketing costs less and is a long-term investment. Advertising works as long as you spend more money. As for content marketing, it just needs to be constantly looked after and updated. You are here to grow on your own land and reap the fruits of it, even if the harvest is slightly delayed.
  • Content Marketing is Good for the Present and the Future: as mentioned previously, you plant your land. This content is published on your own channels and your site. It will always appear to your target audience. Search engines are one of the most important tools that you should take care of, as they are the lifeblood of your website/blog and can bring you daily visits as long as you provide useful and important content to the target audience.

In Conclusion

Content marketing is a niche field, but content context and quality are keys to success in this field. To achieve your goals, it is essential to display a correct and clear message for your content and employ it with a good content strategy. Emphasis must be based on placing several ideas and types of contents within this strategy while ensuring that it is comprehensive.
Ultimately, you cannot succeed in achieving growth through content marketing if the content strategy is not part of the company's overall marketing strategy or project.

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