Content Marketing Basics For Startups (Short On Time & Money) That Work Like Magic

5 Basic Content Marketing Tricks for Startups (Short On Time & Money) That Work Like Magic

Competition in the startup world is high. 

You must jump through hoops and set yourself on fire to stand out in the ever-increasing pool of new businesses. And, like with anything, it seems you have to throw money at your business to get results.

But as a startup, you’re on a budget. Money is tight, you have a limited number of team members, and there are only 24 hours a day. 

This is why many startups put content marketing on the back burner. 

Research shows that strategy, creation, and promotion can cost $50,000 monthly. If you’re starting, this probably seems like crazy money.

You don’t have to shell out tens of thousands of dollars per month to create outstanding content. 

But you do have to create content if you want to stand out. 

Content marketing (also known as inbound marketing) is one of the most effective ways to boost your business in the early days. Now’s the time if you’re not already tapping into this powerful marketing activity.

Don’t fret, though. You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg. To help you, we’ve rounded some content marketing basics that work like magic on any budget.  

1. Write a Guest Post On a Blog That Already Has Traffic 

Many businesses dive straight into creating their blog – and why wouldn’t they? Setting up an on-site blog and publishing is easier than ever.

However, creating tons of great content for a new blog to generate qualified traffic can take a year or two. If that sounds demoralizing, don’t let it get you down.

Instead, you can find a site with lots of traffic and write a killer post that has a chance to rank in Google for a topic your target audience is searching for. 

When you write a guest post, you’ll want to link back to your business’s site, so over time, you build up your domain authority. Once you have enough domain authority, you might consider writing content on your blog.

How to Get Guest Blogging Right 

Getting guest blogging right takes two distinct stages: finding quality blogs with traffic to blog on and creating amazing content.

Here’s how to do it:
  • Step #1: Search Google for sites in your niche that accept guest blogs using the search phrase [your niche] “guest post submissions” or “write for us.” 
  • Step #2: Read the guest post guidelines and develop relevant blog post ideas to pitch. 
  • Step #3: Create a blog post with valuable tools, examples, and actionable advice.
  • Step #4: Pitch your guest post and get it accepted. 
  • Step #5: Promote your guest blog posts in the places where your audience hangs out.

2. Get Your Happy Customers to Write You Glowing Reviews

If you have little time (and, let’s face it, which startup owner doesn’t?), you can turn to your customers to help you create content.

Reviews provide a great way to promote your business without you having to do much apart from encouraging customers to leave reviews.

Not only do they provide your business with credibility (i.e., social proof), as 90% of consumers read reviews before making a purchase, but they can also drive qualified traffic to your site. 

Here’s how to do it:

3. Drive Traffic to Your Site Using Your Competitors 

Your new business might not have a lot of website traffic yet, but your more established competitors do. You can take advantage of their search traffic by creating competitor comparisons.

These web pages compare your business to your competitors but pitch your services as a better alternative. This is a great way to capture prospects in the sales cycle’s consideration stage. 

These pages often provide a better opportunity to rank buyer-intent keywords and send qualified traffic to your site. 

Here’s how to do it:
  • Step #1: A sided-by-side pricing and feature comparison between your product and 3-5 of your top competitors’ products 
  • Step #2: Your unique selling proposition (USP).
  • Step #3: The benefits that differentiate your product from competitors

To win customers over, you must truly understand their pain points and clearly explain how you solve them better than your competitors.

4.  Capture Site Visitors Using Lead Magnets

Lead magnets provide a mechanism for capturing site visitors and converting them into leads you can follow up with.

They are usually in the form of downloadable pieces of content that visitors to your site can sign up for by entering their name and email.

Lead magnets provide added value to your site visitors while giving you access to the email addresses of people who have shown interest in your product. 

Once you have a list of email addresses, you can follow up with subscribers and keep your brand top of mind.

Lead magnets can come in all shapes and sizes, from one-page checklists to multi-page eBooks, webinars, or video series. 

Here’s how to do it:
  • Step #1: Get your bait. The most successful lead magnets give subscribers a quick win, so think about ways to offer something that immediately solves your target’s pain point.
  • Step #2: Set your trap. Use a lead magnet tool to collect email addresses in exchange for your target’s email.
  • Step #3: Reel them in. Nurture your subscribers by sending regular emails about product updates, offering discounts, and sharing your latest content.

5. Increase Conversions by Re-Targeting Your Website Visitors 

Re-targeting, also called remarketing, is a form of online advertising that keeps your brand in front of customers who have previously visited your website. When customers visit your site, it uses cookie-based technology to anonymously ‘follow’ your site visitor, advertising your services to them as they surf the web.

Why is this useful? Think about it. Most of the traffic you dive into your site doesn’t convert on the first visit. Like lead magnets, re-targeting is another tool that maximizes your opportunities to turn website visitors into customers.

What’s the easiest way to get started with retargeting? Use a service like AdRoll.

AdRoll is a retargeting platform that makes setting up retargeting campaigns across the web easy. It’s the most affordable and efficient way to run paid ads because reintroduces your brand to warm prospects and keeps yourself top-of-mind to customers looking to make a purchase. 

Here’s how to do it:
  • Step #1: Sign up for an AdRoll account.
  • Step #2: Embed a simple line of Javascript code.
  • Step #3: Create personalized ads that retarget your site visitors.

Content Marketing Basics

Contrary to popular belief, content marketing doesn’t have to put a huge dent in your budget. For many startups, paying for content creators, agencies, and marketers isn’t feasible early, so content marketing often gets pushed to the sidelines. 

Luckily, you can use some low-cost but incredibly powerful content marketing basics to create content that boosts your brand and gets you more customers efficiently.

Let’s recap these basic tactics:
  • Guest posting
  • Customer reviews
  • Competitor comparisons
  • Lead magnets
  • Retargeting

These five basic tactics are perfect to get you started with content marketing because they’re easy to pull off and guaranteed to provide you with a high ROI. 

So, try them — and you’ll see they work like magic.

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Editor’s Note: The article is part of the blog series Grow Your Business, brought to you by the marketing team at Unitel, the virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners.