Firstly – have you picked up a copy of my book “SMALL TOWN BIG IMPACT” yet? I am currently offering signed first edition copies, so head over to get your copy! www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au
In this blog I’m going to give you 5 ways to create more content for your marketing. Creating content is one of the biggest challenges for many small businesses and probably you too!
Back in episode 250 I also talked about creating more content – but this time, it’s more practical; it is more about where to find the content you need to be creating.
Where to start – well that’s simple.
You need to know your audience, your community super well!
This blog isn’t about just creating more content, but also creating content that your audience wants to read and/or consume.
So, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the issues that your audience is talking about?
- What’s (metaphorically) keeping them up at night?
- What are they typing into search engines like Google, YouTube, Pinterest and even ChatGPT or Bard and wanting answers to?
This is what you need to be creating most of your content about!
Head to Google and type in some keywords around your ideal client into the search bar.
For example, I might write in to Google “2023 struggles of small business owners in Australia” or “what do business owners struggle the most with when it comes to Instagram”.
Specifically, here I want you to click the “People Also Ask” questions that appear on page one of the search results. The more you click, the more that appear.
That results field alone could be a source 12 blogs – a year’s worth, potentially!
Or, it could be the source of a Facebook Live or a long form caption on Instagram or a LinkedIn Article to share with your peers.
Of course, another great gift from Google on the same page one search results is the “Related Searches” prompts – check them out too, and you might unearth some great content prompting gems!
- BIG SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY
This is a great resource to find out the biggest challenges of your clients and customers, especially if your ideal client deals with pricing, staff, mental health issues, marketing and/or technology.
The results of the 2022 Big Small Business Survey (www.thebigsmallbusinesssurvey.com) are available to anyone to access.
Then, use those results to put into search engines like Google, YouTube, Pinterest and even ChatGPT or Bard to create bullet points or briefings for content creation.
For instance, the survey tells us that 22.6% of business owners cite burnout as one of their top three challenges. Is this an issue that your customers or clients are talking about? If so, is this something you should be talking about too? Or pricing, 91% of business owners saw an increase in costs in the last year. How is this affecting your community? Where’s your content around this?
- FACEBOOK GROUPS
Facebook groups are still a thriving part of the platform, and it can be a great place to source some content ideas and find out what your community/ideal client is talking about is in Facebook groups.
If you know your ideal client, then you know where they are hanging out and if they are hanging out in Facebook groups, look and see what are they asking for advice about!
Go to some Facebook groups with great engagement that you know your ideal client/community belongs to and use the search function and search some keywords around your business.
You might search “shipping” or “Facebook” or “gift ideas” – whatever are the keywords for your business.
These are your people asking these questions, why wouldn’t you create content around what you find!?!
- REDDIT & QUORA
Another great place to find out what your community or ideal client is asking and talking about is Reddit. Reddit is a website and an app.
Basically, subreddits are individual communities centred around specific topics or interests. You can use the search bar with some keywords to get involved in these communities, give some value but also see what they are talking about.
Points to know about using Reddit – (a) know the rules, (b) lurk first (c) get involved in conversations and once you’re comfortable you can start your own thread.
It’s a seriously interesting platform to be a part of. Just like all platforms though, there will be people you’ll disagree with, so just be prepared and respectful of that.
Like Reddit, Quora is another great platform to stay on top of what’s going on in your niche world.
Quora is a question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, edited, and organized by its community of users.
How does it work?
- Ask a Question: Any registered user can post a question on a topic they’re curious about.
- Answer a Question: Users can also provide answers to questions based on their knowledge or experiences.
So you can see that it would be a great place to find out what questions your community of asking.
- OTHER RESOURCES
Of course, aside from the places already mentioned above you can also use tools like:
- Instagram story stickers to ask questions and get answers from your community which will give you insights into what they are thinking
- You can read industry publications and blogs
- Looking around you at what other thought leaders in your industry are sharing on their social media and the responses and/or engagement they are getting
- Doing surveys and feedback forms to your actual clients or customers to get their points of view and their feedback.
- You can head to popular websites such as Pocket, Feedly and BuzzSumo and find new perspectives, intriguing deep-dives and timeless classic content worthy of your time over there.
There are literally tonnes of places to find content – you just need to know where your people are hanging out.
Be curious about what they are asking, what information they are sharing and how that information can relate to the content you are sharing with your community.
If you are stuck with how to get that brilliant piece of informational content out to your community – eg: how to write a blog around it or how to script a live video feed, how to write a long caption on social media around it or how to create an infographic to explain the answer – then ask ChatGPT or Bard (Bard is Google’s AI platform like Chatgpt).
When creating content that answers your ideal client’s questions:
- Be specific: Don’t just write a general blog post about your industry. Instead, focus on answering specific questions that your ideal client is asking.
- Be thorough: Make sure that your content is comprehensive and informative. Answer all of the relevant questions that your ideal client might have.
- Be easy to read: Use clear and concise language. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that your ideal client might not understand.
- Be helpful: Your goal should be to provide value to your ideal client. Help them to solve their problems and achieve their goals.
6: BONUS TIP
Once you’ve created content that answers your ideal client’s questions, be sure to promote it!
Share it on social media, submit it to directories, and reach out to other websites and bloggers to see if they’re interested in sharing it as well.
The more people who see your content, the more likely you are to attract new customers or be seen to be giving enormous value to the customers you already have because they see you as listening to them and their issues and solving their problems – and everyone wants to spend money with someone who can do that!
I hope this blog has helped you think outside the square when it comes to content creation and marketing. Loads of small business owners find marketing overwhelming and the need to be always creating content definitely contributes to this. But hopefully, this blog has helped!
I would love to chat to you more about your digital content, so come and join me over in my Facebook group Like Minded Business Owners https://www.facebook.com/groups/LikeMindedBusinessOwners – it is a fabulous online community over there where we chat all things small business, marketing, sales and everything in between!
And if you would like my guidance and support in setting up your 2024 marketing so you fly into the new year with a bang, I would love to assist you! Simply go to https://calendly.com/jenn-smm/discovery and you can make an appointment to chat with me.
Or if you want to chat, get in touch. Email me jenn@jenndonovan.com.au or DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn – I would love to hear from you.
CONTACT JENN:
I would love for you to book a free discovery call with me to talk about how I can help your nail your business goals, planning, strategy, marketing and social media! Simply click the link and grab a spot!
My Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group is also a great community to join – full of awesome people in small business!
Or you can DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn, or send me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au
I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.
About the Author:
Jenn Donovan of Social Media & Marketing Australia. Jenn’s an expert marketing coach and mentor from rural NSW. She is all about empowering business owners to earn what they’re worth so they can make a bigger difference in the world. Not only is she a sought after expert on all things marketing for Small Business, she is a keynote speaker, author of Small Town Big Impact, was the Founder of Buy From a Bush Business and a Co-Founder of Spend With Us e-commerce marketplace, and is the host of the very popular podcast Small Business Made Simple and Stories from the Bush. Jenn is all about community and humans interacting with humans! H2H Marketing – human to human marketing. Jenn talks the talk but importantly walks the walk!
Get in touch – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au
On Instagram – @jenndonovan_
On Facebook – Jenn Donovan
Or on LinkedIn as Jenn Donovan
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