Content Marketing on a Budget: 7 Steps to Success

“I know I need to be active on social media. I know I need to do content marketing and demand generation, but I don’t have the budget. And I don't have time for all of that.”?

Sounds familiar? ??

We’ve been there too.?

I want to walk you through the 7-step process for content marketing that we’ve developed internally here at OneIMS after many years of frustration and inefficiency.?

Using this approach, you can implement a content marketing strategy that produces lots of high-quality educational content and attracts more customers to your business.?

This will allow you to do content marketing on a budget and as you grow in proficiency and experience, you can increase the sophistication of those steps to infinity.?

Let’s get right in.?

Step #1 - Commit to the process

You'll need internal expertise to create quality content. So before you do anything, get full commitment from whoever is going to be involved in this process. Take it seriously and hold each other accountable. You can’t quit halfway through. You’ve got to make it through the whole time.

Step #2 - Build your network on LinkedIn

People often underestimate the power of going out there and connecting with people on LinkedIn. You can build a very large network by spending some time on personal connections. And it doesn’t cost you anything. I’m sure you have your ideal customer profile. Connect with those who match it, even if it’s 10 or 20 people every day.

Step #3 - Answer your customers’ questions

Creating content is a struggle for a lot of B2B organizations because typically, they are anything but writers. As manufacturers, engineers, or software developers, they might not know where to even start, let alone get the ideas. The easiest way to begin is to do a Q&A with your subject matter experts - either from your team or from your LinkedIn network, answering common questions that your audience or your ideal customer would have.

Step #4 - Record a video and post it on YouTube?

Capture step #3 on a video and upload it to YouTube. It is still the second largest search engine, so with a little optimization, anyone searching for products or services similar to yours can find it organically. You don’t need any expensive gear to start - just use your smartphone. Or if this is an online thing, record it on Zoom, or Skype.

Step #5 - Reuse your video for other media?

Your video can be turned into a podcast if you extract the audio, record the intro and outro, and mix everything together. Put a proper title tag, write a nice keyword-rich description, and you will have created another piece of content that shows up on search results. You can upload it to Anchor and it will be distributed to all of the major podcast platforms.?

Step #6 - Split your video into shorter clips??

You can create lots and lots of content by simply taking your existing video and chopping it into smaller bits. For example, if you have a Q&A with five questions, cut them into 5 short videos. Transcribe it, and you’ve got your social media posts for a week. You’re not making any new content, you’re just extending the life of what you already have.???

Step #7 - Rinse and repeat

Naturally, this will not be a smooth process the first time around. You’re going to bump into challenges and learn as you go. Lots of things will have to be tweaked until you get to a place where you will be able to get everything going smoothly. But remember step #1 - you can’t quit.

The only expense you have is time ?

This process is straightforward. It’s simple. But not that easy. You and your team are still going to put in a lot of work. If you do it once in a blue moon, it’s not going to be effective. That’s why the first step is “commit” and the last step is “rinse and repeat”.?

And remember, every pro was once an amateur.??

Thanks for reading and see you next week!