Recently I was listening to a radio station on my way to San Francisco that advertised a small business branding workshop in Modesto. It was a bit surprising, because the radio station was kHOP, which is a pop music station that I wouldn’t normally associate with small businesses.
Still, anyone can start a business these days, and anyone that does needs to market their brand. But those listening to kHOP – like most businesses in the Central Valley of California – probably have a limited budget.
Online Branding and Content Marketing
When you have a limited budget, there simply is no better way to brand your business than by investing money in online marketing, especially “content marketing” which involves adding informative pages to your site in a way that impresses search engines.
Content marketing favorably compares to nearly every other type of budget branding:
- Every piece of content can potentially last forever – no shelf life like other marketing tactics.
- Content costs less, and each month you’re getting more and more value.
- Content marketing allows you to target specific audiences.
- Content can send customers immediately through a purchasing funnel.
The best way to understand it is with a comparison. Think of a billboard, for example – a common old school way of branding. Billboards cost $1000 a month minimum, sometimes as much as $10,000. They last only a month, then you have to pay for it again. You can’t target your audience, and no one that needs your services now is likely to call you. Billboards are branding only.
With content marketing, for only the $1000 investment, you can get 20 new pages on your website, that content will last forever (you won’t need to return it in a month), it is directly targeted to your audience/potential clients, and if anyone is in need of your services they’ll consider you immediately. People can also come back to your site as needed, and you can establish yourself as more than a logo – you can establish yourself as an expert.
Small Businesses and Content Marketing
As someone familiar with the lack of marketing in the San Joaquin Valley, I’m glad kHOP is offering this branding workshop. But really, the truth is that the best type of brand marketing on a budget right now is content marketing, and it’s not even really that close.
