The world has become increasingly digitized. In fact, many products that were once considered cutting edge have transitioned from offering physical products to digital alternatives. It wasn’t so long ago that computer games and downloads offered on discs seemed forward-thinking; now, they must be converted to easily downloadable forms if they’re to remain competitive. People have less time for physical products and want something as convenient and easy to manage as possible. This attitude can account for why, were once print and television ads reigned supreme in the world of marketing, online digital marketing is now borderline impossible for companies to remain competitive without. The Global Digital Outlook Study covering 2017 to 2018 reports that 43% of marketers are increasing their investments in digital marketing across the world. Almost 50% of them are devoting roughly of their marketing budgets to digital content. Why? Digital marketing simply reaches more people faster. Whereas once the internet was something of a luxury, it’s now accessible for the majority of people worldwide, and will only become more so in the future. Many consumers with serious buying power have seriously cut down on the time they devote to print ads; and as streaming becomes an increasingly appealing alternative to traditional television, fewer and fewer people consume the typical TV ad breaks.
But with that being said, many businesses remain uncertain about the value that digital marketing offers them. While it may seem easy for a company that markets flashy products or trends to compete in the digital marketing sphere, those with “unsexy” businesses may find it difficult to envision how they would market their products or services. While it may seem necessary to have a website, how can that website really be folded into marketing strategies? What types of content exist for “boring” businesses”? As a result, many business owners have held off on truly investing in digital marketing, and have missed out on revenue and growth as a result. In fact, there are content marketing strategy tips available for every type of business, because every type of business, regardless of how immediately interesting it may seem, can be marketed online. Digital marketing is less about how immediately interesting a concept may seem, and more about how it is made interesting through the correct types of material and approaches. With that being said, let’s look into a few of the concerns that often keep small business owners from investing in digital marketing, and the content marketing strategy tips that can help put those concerns to rest.
My Business Is “Too Boring”
Let’s face it: a lot of the businesses that offer products and services vital to everyday life simply aren’t that exciting. Often, what we need to live in today’s world just isn’t as immediately appealing as what we want, and we take it for granted. Everyone needs to contact a plumber at one point or another, and there’s no doubt that a plumbing business can be quite lucrative due to the degree to which people rely upon its services. However, you probably won’t see a viral video about plumbing anytime soon. Owners of “boring” businesses struggle with the idea of digital marketing because they have the misconception that the only successful marketing strategies are those that rely upon entertainment or humor. They believe that all content marketing strategy tips revolve around providing an exciting experience.
The fact is that digital marketing content does not have to be exciting in order to be successful. Think about your own experiences as a consumer online. Do you solely click on articles or watch videos because they’re exciting? No. The internet does not exist solely to provide entertainment or excitement. It’s evolved beyond being merely a preoccupation, and provides essential services and information, much like these apparently boring businesses. These small business owners should shift their focuses away from providing excitement, and focus more on providing online what they do in real life: value.
For example, health insurance is not very exciting. However, it is something that everyone needs. Yet many individuals do not know a lot about health insurance; they don’t understand how to get it, how to maximize its value, or what the best health insurance provider is for their specific needs. There are a lot of questions that can surround health insurance. Therefore, a possible piece of marketing content for a company that offers health insurance would be an article answering essential questions about the product. This would be different from a webpage that simply introduces the company and provides information about its services and products in a dry, blatant manner. Rather, the consumer would be gaining valuable information and having questions answered while being gently marketed to. Many of the key content marketing strategy tips revolve around offering organic marketing, which advertises without putting consumers off by overselling. While it may seem difficult for less exciting businesses to market themselves in this way, it is very much possible if they focus on informative content.
My Business Is “Too Depressing”
The issue with boring businesses is that consumers have a hard time reacting to them in any sense. Business owners that work within what they view as depressing fields have another issue entirely. Consumers actively don’t want to think about their services or need them because they deal with uncomfortable subject matter or realities. It may seem difficult to market a funeral home for a number of reasons. While everyone will need the services of a funeral home eventually, nobody wants to think about that and if advertising for a funeral home is too pushy it can come off as predatory or insensitive.
The same can be said when advertising an urgent care center. People do get hurt or sick, and they may need urgent care services, particularly if they want to avoid the costs of an emergency room. Yet the idea of going to an urgent care center is scary, particularly for parents that may seek out childrens urgent care. It’s important that urgent care centers make their presences known, as much of the time people in need of urgent care panic and, if they did not have prior knowledge regarding urgent care, may visit a less than optimal center. However, incorporating typical content marketing strategy tips into advertising strategies for an urgent care center is daunting; how can one advertise these types of businesses without bringing consumers down?
The focus should be on bringing hope to consumers. By providing a hopeful slant when marketing these types of businesses, business owners can pivot to a totally different tone that is both gentle and straightforward. They’re able to avoid concerns about insensitivity, while at the same time getting important messages across. This hopeful tone is established by acknowledging that while there is a problem, your business offers solutions. Bail bonding companies deal with incredibly stressful situations, and as nobody wants to need their services, could potentially struggle with avoiding setting a depressing tone. However, if they focus on the fact that they can help consumers open the door to a better future, they can establish a tone of hopefulness instead. Of course, you didn’t want to require a bail bond; however, now that you do you can work with a good company and begin the process of correcting the issue at hand. Again, these types of digital content marketing strategy tips further aid in avoiding the type of predatory advertising that turns so many consumers away from a company. It actually emphasizes the value and humanity of the business in question and makes consumers feel more comfortable when working with it.
My Business Is “Too Technical”
An overly technical business is perhaps one of the most difficult ones to fit with the proper digital marketing approach, but it can certainly be done. The issue with an extremely technical business is that content can often struggle to find the right balance. Information is necessary, as a lot of consumers seek out these types of businesses without truly understanding the services they provide on a technical level and what differentiates them from their competitors. An individual may be in the market for air compressor parts, but their lack of technical knowledge may lead them to simply choose the first provider that they find, and these specialized businesses may focus on content marketing strategy tips that provide education first.
However, the struggle here is that this type of content can often be too technical in itself. What could read as a great piece of informative content to the business owner, who has the knowledge necessary to interpret the information, may be completely illegible to an industry outsider. Therefore, the consumer reading that content may become bogged down and even turned off, overly confused. This opens them up to cutting their experience short and moving on to a different company, or perhaps buying the wrong products from the company and having a bad experience that turns them off. This type of content is both perhaps not exciting enough to attract impulse purchases, and too technical for a lot of shoppers.
Therefore, these businesses must seek out content marketing strategy tips that focus on explaining the basics. This would help consumers dip their proverbial toes in the water and begin to learn gradually, rather than having too much information dumped on them at once. They avoid being overwhelmed and instead are led to the information that they really need gradually. A blog can be used to break down barriers between consumers and the businesses, not only informing but creating a relatable quality for the company in question. The business becomes less intimidating, and more like something that the consumer can more easily adapt to their own understanding.
A lot of consumers that go shopping for the services of a law firm do so with some degree of anxiety. The average person only knows the basics of what a lawyer does, and doesn’t quite understand the nuances of different law fields. Finding the best embezzlement attorney becomes a lot more challenging when you don’t quite know how to tell what makes one attorney more qualified than another. A law firm could provide a blog post that perhaps focusing on confusing jargon, rather than a huge information dump of technical terms. Maybe these glossary posts could even be broken up into a series, so that consumers could peruse definitions gradually, slowly coming to learn more about the subject rather than having too much thrown at them at once. Not only does this avoid the issue of confusing the consumer; it also builds a level of trust with him or her. The consumer is learning through this business’s website, in a simple and easy to understand manner. While too much technical information in marketing content can come off as obfuscating, provoking too many questions, gently informative content creates a tone of simplicity and makes the business seem more approachable.
Again, it’s easy to understand why a lot of business owners have the misconception that digital marketing strategies are meant for flashy companies. Some of the most successful big-name strategies have revolved around viral marketing. However, this is not the only type of digital marketing approach that can be successful. Furthermore, a lot of the businesses that do gain a lot of attention through the media for their digital marketing approaches are already big names. Many of the content marketing strategy tips with the most value are meant more for smaller businesses, and creating a connection between them and their specific audiences.
Your business doesn’t have to be as flashy as a jewelry store or a trendy restaurant. Content marketing can potentially be used by any type of company, depending on how it is approached. Focus less on bending your company to fit content marketing strategy tips meant for another industry. Rather, understand that the best marketing strategies usually focus on targeting the specific types of consumers most likely to invest in your company’s products or services, and giving them what they need or want. Whether that is essential information, positive solutions, or simplified definitions, you can find an approach that works for your business.
