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11/11/14 | Uncategorized

10 Content Marketing Tips for Startups

Don’t underestimate how important it is to have a clear content marketing strategy in place for your startup: content equals commerce.

By Clark Buckner (Content Marketer & New Media Strategist, TechnologyAdvice.com)

I spoke to content strategy consultant Monica Selby as she shared her tips and strategies for content creation, content marketing and creating an effective content workflow.

Monica Selby is the COO at Serious Startups, a Nashville-based content company focused on helping startups and entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level.

Founded by John Maddox and David Ledgerwood, Serious Startups offers a suite of solutions, ranging from tech startup investing and branding to content strategy, marketing strategy, and mobile app and website development.

With all the noise surrounding content marketing in today’s world, Selby stressed the fact that it’s not a fad and is vital to any business. Content strategy doesn’t have to be overwhelming, but is a necessary part of marketing today.

To that end, Selby offered these ten content marketing tips for startups, which you can also listen to here.

1. Publish Quality Content

This is the essential driver of content marketing. Companies and marketers shouldn’t skimp on creating high-quality, useful content, from blog posts to white papers to social media updates to infographics. Create content that actually helps people.

2. A Content Strategy is Not Just about Blogging

Being strategic with content also means how you handle social media and being intentional with the content you produce and distribute, whether it’s blogging, guest posting, infographics or podcast interviews.

3. B2B Companies can Benefit from Content Marketing

Selby noticed how B2B companies have a notion that they can do away with social media or blogging since they’re not directly reaching out to the consumers. But this is no longer practical, and especially in this digital age.

4. Be Content-Smart

Get away from the idea that you have to blog seven days a week. This is not content strategy. Additionally, write blog posts that fit your company culture.

5. Guest Post on a Myriad of Sites to Get Your Company Name Out There

This is effective for SEO purposes and also helps establish and build your reputation as a CEO, founder, thought leader or subject matter expert.

6. Repurpose Content

For example, a podcast can be turned into multiple articles. A video interview can be turned into a podcast. Blog posts can be turned into ebooks.

7. Choose Publishing Destinations Wisely

Selby recommends LinkedIn as a current best place for content marketers to publish. But, there are so many ways to publish content, and it doesn’t take too much time once you learn the ins and outs of those specific platforms.

8. Don’t Jump the Gun

If you’re still in the early stages, hold off on marketing of any kind. Don’t talk to the press.

If you’re a writer and that’s what you do, go ahead and keep blogging. But if it’s not what you do naturally, don’t focus on marketing while still figuring things out – because you don’t have anything to market. But, once your products and market begin fitting together, then focus on content strategy.

9. Take Advantage of Podcasting

Selby emphasized the great benefits of podcasting:

“Regardless of what you produce content-wise, it [podcasting] gives you an amazing opportunity to get to learn from really successful people and this will open doors for you. You can create quality content that you can share with your readers. It adds [a] tremendous amount of value for both the content creator and the content consumer.”

At Serious Startups, they have a talk show hosted by Maddox, Ledgerwood, and Selby where they interview successful entrepreneurs and investors. They discuss crowdfunding, investing, and bootstrapping in any way to seek funding and get capital.

10. Build an Effective Content Workflow Process

Serious Startups has built a great content workflow through campus-sourcing. They are currently working with Skill Spectrum, where they utilize talents from students and campuses in the United States to help them accomplish tasks.

Once they’ve recorded their podcast interviews, they send the raw files to Skill Spectrum, who then do a range of tasks from audio editing to transcribing to publishing.

Finally, Selby pointed out that although Serious Startups is a content company, they identify with entrepreneurs who are building a company that’s not focused on content. Because of their connections with the startup community in Nashville, Serious Startups understands the challenges such young companies face. Selby encourages them to be patient and work toward their goals step-by-step with smart processes in place.

For more information on Serious Startups, visit www.seriousstartups.com. Follow Serious Startups on Twitter and connect with Monica Selby, John Maddox and David Ledgerwood. Also, be sure to check out TechnologyAdvice.com’s Tech Conference Calendar.

Which of these tips did you find the most useful?

Image credit: Cienpies Design via Shutterstock.

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