The benefits of content marketing are abundantly clear, but executing a flawless content marketing strategy is much easier said than done. When done well, it’s a wonderful tool that does a great deal for your promotional efforts. But when content marketing goes wrong, you’re basically flushing money down the toilet. However, we’ll let you in on a secret from the small business marketing consulting arena — you just have to refine your niche.
Content Marketing Bloat
When you started your content marketing efforts, you probably had a lot to say. In that early run of enthusiasm, you likely created a lot of great content. But over time, it’s not so easy to keep the momentum going. You run out of ideas, or you question your ability to put a new spin on a familiar topic. It doesn’t mean you failed. It happens to everyone.
What happens next, though, is up to you. Many companies feel as though they constantly have to create more content, even if that content isn’t directly tied to their core strengths. This results in content that doesn’t move the needle for potential clients, which essentially means the effort used to create this content was a total waste of resources. Needless to say, you don’t want to waste time and money during the content creation process, nor do you want to mislead current or future customers.
The Hedgehog Concept
The main goal of content marketing is to educate customers about the specific niche in which your company resides. But how can you do this if you don’t even know where your niche lies?
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins advocates a theory called The Hedgehog Concept. Collins argues that a company’s true niche is the overlap between three areas:
- What you care about
- What you’re good at
- What drives your revenue
The cross-section of these three factors is a niche that’s exclusively yours. It’s where your passions lie, and it’s what makes you money. Therefore, it’s only natural that you should focus your content marketing on this specific area.
A Narrow Focus
In conventional marketing, many companies try to be all things to all people. With content marketing, it’s just the opposite, especially as a small business. Your goal should be to create content that caters only to those people who are most likely to do business with your organization.
If you find that you have a niche with a very narrow focus, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, that’s a good thing. This means that there are people out there who want exactly what you offer. As long as you deliver content that will move them along the buyer’s journey, you’ll likely be able to convert them into customers.
It’s not uncommon for marketers to think that nobody will care about the content they produce if it’s not based around a popular topic. However, the loyalty derived from being the thought leader in a niche market will pay dividends for years to come. As you define your niche and create content specifically for that niche, you’ll transform from just another company into an authority that should be sought out for ideas and products. From there, you’ll be able to take your content marketing to a whole new level.
Bryan B is a freelance writer based in Long Island, NY. He will miss Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum very much.
