From budgeting to recruitment, you’re bound to have at least 99 issues on your mind as a start-up business owner. Content marketing might come some way down your list of priorities, as you look to develop your offerings and begin connecting with your best prospects. But, you’ll be missing a trick if you don’t set your start-up apart with quality content.
Consider the stats:
- More than 500,000 start-ups are created in the UK every year
- Just 42% of businesses make it past their fifth year
- 78% of start-up business owners say that they’d like to invest more in marketing.
Give your start-up business the best chance of thriving (not just surviving), with the types of content covered here.
Website Content
Despite the recognised importance of having a digital presence, 36% of start-up businesses don’t have websites. Whether because of the expected time commitment or lack of digital expertise, this presents you with the opportunity to stand out. The first step should be to research your audience and consider the kinds of content that are most likely to resonate. Digital tools can then be used to identify relevant keywords for the best chance of ranking.
Here are some more web content writing tips:
- Keep to a clear and jargon-free style for the greatest engagement
- Break the text up into small paragraphs and use bullet points for visual interest
- Ensure that all of the content fits in with your brand style
- Include calls to action that match with your business goals.
Blog
Search engines like Google are known to reward the regular publishing of content. So once you have your core web pages in place it would be worth assigning time for blogging. If you write in a suitably captivating style and weave in your chosen keywords then it shouldn’t be long until you start seeing positive results. Indeed, companies that blog have been found to generate 67% more leads per month than those that don’t.
Here are some start-up blog suggestions:
- Tap into various sources of inspiration (blogs could be based on everything from the conversations that you’ve had with your customers to the topics that have been covered in podcasts)
- Get into the habit of noting down your blog ideas
- Invest in the writing of comprehensive blogs (pieces of between 1,500 and 2,000 words are more likely to rank highly in the search engine listings).
Press Release
There’s bound to be plenty of scope for the writing of press releases specific to your start-up. As an example, you could write a feel-good piece about your motivations for going into business. Stories might also be based on your involvement in local events or the benefits that people have seen in using your products. Such feel-good news could have a big impact on your reputation and sales prospects.
Winning press releases typically have these features:
- Attention-grabbing headlines
- A brief summary of the key details
- Follow-up paragraphs for added context
- Supporting facts, stats and quotes.
Social Media Content
With people spending ever-increasing amounts of time on sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn it makes sense to build a strong social presence. However, care should be taken over the crafting of your social content, ensuring that it ties in with the style of your other promotions. It might be best to post consistently across a limited number of platforms, given the demands on your time.
You can get started with these social media tips:
- Define your goals (perhaps you’re keen to drive more website traffic and/or boost brand awareness)
- Find out as much as possible about your target audience (what are their personal characteristics and what types of content do they engage with?)
- Decide whether you’re happy to post off the cuff or whether you’d be better off with a structured social media calendar.
Video Content
With YouTube being the world’s second most popular website, you’re also well advised to make the investment in video content. Even if you’re reticent to be in front of the camera, there are bound to be opportunities for recording captivating videos. Perhaps you could record conversations with your customers, letting the world know about the value of your products. You might even be prepared to make the investment in advertising features.
Take a look at our video marketing tips:
- Keep your videos relatively short, with those under two minutes likely to receive the most engagement
- Focus on the audience’s interests and pain points
- Record suitable content, based on the platforms that you’re targeting
- Script your videos, with a little bit of flexibility for maximum engagement.
Get In Touch
Right now you’re probably feeling inspired and eager to get started on your content marketing journey. However, written content creation will still be just one of the pressing tasks on your ever-increasing list of start-up business tasks. That’s where the Word Orchard comes in. From full-length blogs to short and snappy socials, our writers can help you find the right words.
Give us a call on +44 (0)7846979625 or email hello@wordorchard.co.uk to find out more about our expert copywriting services.