We discussed in our last post how blogging and e-mail marketing with newsletters can help a small business “beat” the large and national chains that compete for their same business in their local market.
This post will describe two more “content” marketing strategies: social media and “old school” networking events.
First, social media. Yesterday, you could do business without a website. Today, though, you’re not taken seriously by prospects without one.
It’s heading in the same direction as far as having a presence on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. — if you’re not there, you must not “care.” And, if you don’t “care,” no one wants to do business with you.
“Relationships” matter when marketing your business today. Critically so. People want to feel they’re doing business with someone they know and trust. Even if they’ve never met you in person, they still must feel that they ‘know” you.
Business Lead Widget 1
Social media sites allow you to create relationships with customers and potential customers. It needn’t take you too much time, but you should take some time to set up a Facebook and Twitter account and start posting. You also may want to look into LinkedIn and even posting to forums that discuss your industry/offerings.
Don’t forget to cross-promote your blog posts, videos, newsletters etc. on Twitter and Facebook
Although we started this two-part series on how content marketing online can help brand you as the expert in your sector, we also believe you shouldn’t ignore “old school” style networking. That is, invest in a bit of shoe leather, make your way through eating some soggy hors d’ oeuvres and hie yourself to some local networking events.
Not only will you get the chance to start crafting some real-life relationships with potential customers, partners, etc. you also can use these events to create content for your online marketing efforts.
Place photos you take of the event on your blog (and then be sure provide a link to your Twitter/Facebook pages, and vice versa). Videotape certain parts of the event and place it on your blog, e-mail it your newsletter list, etc.
Are you ready to get started crafting a terrific content marketing campaign, one that will help you engage, relate and attract visitors to your site and increase your customer base? Then contact GoiMarketing.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
