This guide is for those who are eager to invest in content marketing and get their brand’s name in blue lights on the SERP. It is suitable for businesses of all sizes, ranging from startup to enterprise level, that are looking to increase their marketing budgets in order to create content that yields results. If you’re wondering if your startup is ready for this, the guide will provide you with step-by-step insights.
Siege has created startup strategies that have resulted in a year’s worth of increased organic traffic value by $796,000 or more. Additionally, 85% of posts that were keyword-driven have achieved a ranking on the first page. Our assistance has also led to a 213% growth in the backlink profile of a personal loan startup within a span of 12 months.
Achieving that goal in the finance industry is no simple task.
The success of content marketing for startups is heavily influenced by factors such as timing, project priorities, and execution, as they can create a buzz around your brand.
1. Build a Foundation for Growth
You need to start thinking about your content strategy even before you start working on it. And during the initial phase of your business, you can establish a strong foundation for future growth by focusing on two important aspects: creating a well-designed website and developing a distinct brand identity that generates excitement.
A good content management system (CMS) is crucial in SEO optimization as it plays a vital role in ensuring a positive user experience. It should prioritize ease-of-use and prioritize the end user’s experience to benefit your content marketing efforts.
Some of our most popular options among clients include:
- WordPress
- Contentful
- Webflow
After your website is live, it is important to think about techniques to obtain links and acknowledge them through press. Having a solid backlink profile from trustworthy and pertinent websites enhances the authority of your site and helps to establish your content strategy in the future.
When looking for potential customers to contact, competitor coverage can be extremely valuable. You can reach out to startup and industry publications that discuss your competitors in order to promote your own startup and initiatives.
2. Set Objectives, Performance Metrics
An efficient content marketing strategy provides various advantages to businesses, such as increasing brand awareness, enhancing user conversions, and building trust through thought leadership.
If you want to boost your sales, one good way to begin is by optimizing your landing pages for SEO. In order to establish your reputation, you can utilize thought leadership and case studies to demonstrate your credibility. The initial step is to determine and rank your campaign objectives before developing a content strategy. Some potential goals for your startup may be:
- Generating relevant organic traffic
- Growing your backlink profile
- Driving visitor conversions
In order to measure your success, it is important to identify key performance indicators (KPIs). By tracking these KPIs on a monthly basis, you can assess the effectiveness of your strategies and make necessary adjustments while documenting your progress.
Your KPIs may resemble depending on your primary objectives.
- Improve monthly organic traffic by 15% in six months
- Generate 15 links per month through manual outreach
- Publish four SEO posts each month
It is important to remember that content marketing is a strategy that takes time to yield full results. It may take six months or longer to see complete outcomes. However, you can use other key performance indicators and metrics to assess your strategy and identify positive and negative signals sooner.
3. Strategize With a KOB Analysis
By conducting a keyword opposition to benefit (KOB) analysis, you can extract pertinent keywords and metrics, such as search volume, keyword difficulty, and estimated traffic value. This analysis is instrumental in determining the most advantageous keyword prospects for your website.
When you start out and can’t quite outrank large competitors, this analysis enables you to focus on low-difficulty keywords in order to rapidly generate rankings and traffic value. These victories help to build your brand and establish authority.
When considering your business vertical, as a startup, it is important to adjust the estimated traffic value, as it may not directly align with search intent. Meeting users’ needs is crucial for achieving a high rank, and if you are unable to secure the number 1 position on the SERP, your traffic value will be lower.
Create detailed articles that aim to educate your users.
In the past, companies utilized blogging as a means to inform individuals about their existence or offerings. Content marketing takes a more strategic approach to marketing by exploring the entire consumer experience, starting from buyer awareness and extending to building loyalty. With the help of SEO tools, startups can now surpass the constraints imposed by their physical size.
Producing articles that are relevant and compelling on a regular basis can assist your brand in establishing a personal connection with readers. Instead of solely focusing on selling a product, concentrate on topics that align with the audience’s interests and effectively promote your brand.
Observe how D2L has utilized content blogging to nurture users’ interests by thinking step by step.
The edtech solutions provider, based in Canada, is known for its Brightspace LMS platform. They are actively connecting with potential stakeholders by providing informative articles that address common questions about eLearning, learning management systems, and edtech. This strategy boosts website traffic and generates a larger number of leads.
Instead of using hard-selling tactics, the articles demonstrate how Brightspace LMS can enhance accessibility and efficiency in education.
5. Leverage User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) has the potential to lead to viral marketing at a minimal expense. This pertains to any form of content produced by individuals who are not compensated.
The obvious advantage of UGC is that it reduces the expenditure on creating exposure and credibility for your brand. Nonetheless, modern consumers carefully manage their personal platforms and do not post about everything. Thus, the challenge lies in finding ways to make things go viral.
As a result of social distancing measures, which have limited our ability to connect with the world, brands have turned to apps such as TikTok as a means to reach their intended audiences.
Companies like Grab have utilized USG as a means to launch their newest promotion, known as the #GF7SecAd challenge. This initiative aims to motivate users in creating 7-second videos featuring their GrabFood orders, which are later transformed by the company into advertisements for the respective establishments.
What is at stake? An opportunity for 20 participants to each win a $20 GrabFood voucher. Grab managed to generate a significant amount of user-generated content without incurring expensive advertising expenses.
Since its creation, the hashtag on TikTok has accumulated 4.7 million views. This not only provides publicity for Grab but also generates numerous free ads for their partner restaurants. It is important for even well-funded startups to have scalability.
6. Integrate Influencer Marketing with Content Marketing
Influencer marketing has existed for as long as influencers themselves, and it certainly comes at a significant cost. Brands are willing to spend generously on popular figures to endorse their product/services to a dedicated group of followers. It is effortless to convert the loyalty that fans have for these influencers into profits.
In recent years, influencer marketing has gained a reputation for being inauthentic, resulting in trust issues and being perceived as mere paid promotions. On the other hand, content marketing emphasizes cost-effectiveness. Combining these two approaches can enhance your marketing strategy by offering more value to consumers beyond mere awareness enhancement.
In the past, vloggers used to talk non-stop about a product for five minutes, but now things have changed. Content marketing builds trust with audiences by showing them how influencers actually use the product through captivating stories. Moreover, influencers can cater to specific markets that startups are seeking.
After devising a campaign, it is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies to ensure that implementing a killer content strategy can either launch your startup or drive it towards the desired success.
7. Diversify Your Content Types
SEO posts can effectively increase organic traffic, whereas promotable content has the ability to generate backlinks. Incorporating development elements appropriately can enhance user experience and assist in surpassing the competition with your content.
Every content format possesses unique strengths, and having a variety of content supports a comprehensive campaign and its goals. For further information on different types of content marketing, you can visit our blog, and below are a few examples of different categories.
SEO Content
SEO content is engineered to achieve high rankings for particular keywords and provide informative answers to user inquiries. After achieving a high rank, SEO posts generate organic search traffic and deliver value, ultimately aiming to convert users.
The startup mortgage lender was able to increase its sitewide monthly organic traffic by 458% in 12 months using keyword-driven content marketing. Currently, their guide to affordable new construction homes holds the top spot in rankings and brings in a monthly organic traffic value of $5,200.
Therefore, what attributes contribute to the success of this post?
The first sentence contains the answer that users are seeking, which benefits user experience and makes it easy for Google to extract. By optimizing the title and introduction with the keyword and quick answer, search engines can better comprehend the content of the post and categorize it accurately.
In the second half of the sentence, we include various factors that influence affordability to address readers’ potential inquiries and provide a comprehensive coverage in the post.
Writing content that ranks well in search engine optimization (SEO) posts is an excellent way to begin content marketing.
Promotable Content
Infographics, resource guides, and data studies are intended for the purpose of disseminating and creating exceptional content that can be effectively promoted. Engaging in manual promotion can yield short-term links that assist in the ranking of content and the growth of your backlink profile.
To create content that can be effectively promoted, it is essential to offer readers value by sharing engaging insights or providing actionable advice that brings clear advantages. Our guide on ways to express affection to your pet without spending much money explores the topic of nurturing your pet’s well-being, incorporating appealing visuals and informative text that strikes a balance between being easy to read yet enlightening.
By presenting budget-friendly ideas for pet parents, this infographic successfully gained 17 links through manual promotion. The outreach was targeted towards a receptive market and the inclusion of a survey element appealed to mid-tier news outlets, resulting in coverage from pet industry publications.
It is recommended to rephrase the following text while maintaining the same meaning: The goal is to create content that is both promotional and optimized for search engines. This involves finding relevant keywords that are commonly searched for and incorporating them into your content. By doing this, you provide more information to the reader and also increase the chances of your content being shared and linked to naturally or through manual efforts.
Passive Link Opportunities
Passive link content aims to achieve a consistent flow of organic links at the lowest possible cost per link over a long duration. When combined with a strong keyword, tutorials, articles presenting statistics, and interactive features can serve as effective means to naturally build links that have the potential to become passive link opportunities.
8. Monitor Your Content Marketing Strategy
The most effective content marketing strategies are adaptable and consistently reassessed. Conducting a review every three months provides a valuable chance to assess your progress and goals. While it may take longer for your content to achieve higher rankings, you should be able to detect encouraging signs in terms of rankings or natural traffic.
When evaluating previous projects, think about how your content relates to your readers and brand. It is possible that the most successful posts directly address the questions of your readers, while posts with high conversion rates are extremely relevant to your specific field.
By tracking your KPIs and other performance metrics on a monthly basis, you can effectively identify seasonal trends within your industry and content. Moreover, it allows you to identify lost rankings or traffic promptly, enabling you to make necessary adjustments to your content strategy.
Invest In Growth
If you establish a solid content strategy, content marketing for startups can yield notable advantages. Having defined performance objectives, producing high-quality content, and showcasing expertise can help your startup achieve great success.
