Content marketing, a great way to get your small business known

I'm quite sure that the expression “content marketing” is enough to make anyone who is a small business owner feel dizzy and want to run away.

Why the hell would you do that? Without realizing it, you yourself in your everyday life put this concept of content marketing into practice.

This natural tendency that we have to introduce our company in conversations, to share advice or information: all of this is content marketing!!

The good news is that it doesn't stop there and there are practically an infinite number of ways to do it

What's that? What is it?

The idea is therefore to build, distribute and share quality content that is interesting to a certain audience and that reveals what you are! What's the point? Attract the attention of these people, make them users of your services and retain their loyalty. At first it may seem as if you are making known what you are doing, but beyond that it is a matter of proposing content that interests individuals to get them to use your small business.

The difference with advertising as it is traditionally understood is that it corresponds to an individual desire:

be able to choose what they will read, listen, see

find an interest and usefulness in the content that your company has offered

Remember that you are an expert in the field, a contact to keep and… advise!

Now it's your turn!

Content marketing, you are already doing it: talk to your baker about the last mountain bike training course you have just set up around the local summit, send your wishes by email to all the customers who trusted you last year, answer an interview for a regional newspaper with some of your photos….

We will soon offer you complete blog posts to carry out this or that action, but here are some ideas to deepen what you were thinking about or invent completely new ways to shine:

Offer free discovery sessions in your area: for example, if you are a mountain guide, you could plan an afternoon “Choose your own ice-cream racing equipment” for local or visiting hikers. In partnership, with a shop and using flyers and your blog to advertise it

Send an email to all your 2011 customers wishing them the best for 2012, thanking them for their visit and inviting them to come visit you again

Participate actively in a forum on the Internet that concerns your industry and for which you can answer questions: use a signature that mentions your name, your company's name and all your contact details (telephone, mail, website…)

To bring together other local professionals of your industry and facilitate a workshop on a theme in your industry: use of new technologies, training courses for children, foreign language training…

Talk about the books, movies or newspapers you like – for example, if you are a kayak rental company, you could talk about a kayak trip story you read on your blog

……

and so many others that we will help you discover in our blog and thanks to our services!

What have you used in your small business so far? Are there any strategies that are best for you? Others who don't look promising at all?