Content marketing allows you to educate your audience, introduce new pages to boost SEO, and bring more traffic to your website. The returns on great content include many different things, like more profit, better sales, and more leads.
Sure, you know all that. But if you’re not using the right content, you’re not going to see many returns – it all depends on how much you’re willing to invest in your content marketing strategy. Sometimes, the issue of budget (or lack thereof) will rear its ugly head to slow you down. So, what should you do if you don’t have the funds to really develop the right content marketing strategy for your business? Not having the financial resource for new content shouldn’t hold you back from doing all that you can. There are actually a few things you can do to launch a successful content marketing campaign without breaking your budget. Let’s go!
Not having the financial resource for new content shouldn’t hold you back from doing all that you can. There are actually a few things you can do to launch a successful content marketing campaign without breaking your budget. Let’s go!
Create a Content Marketing Strategy
Before you get started, you need to create a content marketing strategy. If you don’t properly plan how you’re going to create your content, you’re only going to waste time, lose money, and hurt your brand’s reputation.
First off, keep updated on the latest marketing trends – this will be crucial for the type of content you will create. Secondly, lay out your content goals, which should be consistent with your long-term business plans. Then do your research to determine what kind of content your audience is looking for and what performs best with your target market. All this should help you narrow down the themes, styles, and formats of your content.
Finally, create a content calendar that lays out when and where you will post your content. A calendar will help you stay on track. Of course, all this takes time and effort – but won’t cost you a single penny.
Start Blogging
If you run a blog on your website, it is a free and easy way to upload new content consistently. Posting new content just once or twice a week can bring you great results.
To create your blog without spending money, write yourself or assign a team member who has excellent writing skills. If you’re unable to complete the work in-house, consider outsourcing your blog to a freelancer.
Pay Attention to Quality
Don’t overproduce. Content that isn’t high-quality is a waste of time and money – it will fail to achieve the desired results. While you may think you need a lot of content, you would be better off focusing your time and efforts into creating a few pieces of engaging content that doesn’t suck. Remember – it is better to create one amazing and share-worthy post than ten mediocre or even bad ones.
This is something to keep in mind when you’re hiring a freelancer. If you’re trying to get an article for very little money, you probably won’t get high-quality content and will need to make edits and adjustments. So be careful if you’re outsourcing the task of writing and try to find writers with a reasonable ratio of price and quality.
Recycle Old Stuff
There is nothing wrong with re-introducing old content. If you’re looking for ways to create content without spending the time or money on research or topic ideas, consider turning an old article or post into a different form of content. It’s inexpensive, it’s effective, and it can get you a new audience.
For example, if you’ve had a blog post that has been extremely popular, reformat it into a video, slideshow, podcast, or infographic. You can use information, research, and images from the original content to save yourself some time and nerves. And if you get creative, the result can be great.
Utilise Guest Posts
If you run a large blog or website, many writers out there will jump at the opportunity to get a piece of writing published on your site. So consider guest posting – you can have content come to you without much effort on your part.
To find guest writers for your site, you may want to create submission guidelines and host them on your page. You could also directly approach writers whom you would like to feature and ask them to contribute to your site. Although there are writers, especially the high-quality ones, who require payment for their work, there are also many great and aspiring writers who will do it for free to get online exposure. Those are the ones you want if you are looking to save a few pounds without compromising the quality of your site.
Don’t Forget to Share
You can’t just create content and hope your audience finds it. If you want to get as many eyes on your content as possible, you need to share it appropriately. This includes emails, social media, and landing pages. There are various ways to spread your content and your message, but always know where your target audience is hanging out – that is where you will strike.
Aside from the traditional social media pages like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, don’t be afraid to get creative. Sites like Reddit or StumbleUpon are also great for bringing in new traffic to your site. Finally, you can always track how successful your content is through the right key performance indicators.
Content marketing is crucial for any business, but it doesn’t need to break your bank.
If your budget is tight, get strategic about how you use it and focus on creating the best content you can.
Content marketing has the power to take your business to new levels of success. When you create valuable and interesting content for your audience, they are more likely to purchase from you and return for another buy when they are ready.
Keep these content marketing planning tips in mind when you’re creating your strategy. When you allocate your money into the right places, you can see that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get the content marketing results you were looking for.
About the author
Jill Phillips is a freelance writer and content manager at assignyourwriter.uk hailing from Buffalo. She is a tech enthusiast, who loves to share her insight on various media, tech and business topics. When she is not writing, Jill enjoys taking photos and hiking with her dog. You can contact her via Twitter @jillphlps
