Content marketing can be helpful to small Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) businesses in several different ways. It is relatively cost-effective to execute. So it does not weigh heavily on the resources of a small business. Content marketing is quite different from other formats. Success depends more on the quality of content than the money spent on it.
This gives ample opportunity to small businesses to hold their own against large enterprises. Instead of spending a lot of money on ads, they can create quality content that resonates with their target audience. Furthermore, a single piece of content can serve multiple purposes. So Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) businesses can get better yields from their marketing resources.
The below suggestions focus on helping small businesses make the most from their content marketing efforts. These tips will help you build an audience and improve sales for your Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brand.
1. Use Insights to Create Content
Small Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) businesses do not have abundant resources. So they need to allocate them wisely. That is why a little research can help you identify the direction for your content strategy. There are several sources that can provide consumer insights.
You can use analytics of your marketing channels, website, mobile app etc. You can also refer to market analytics presented by reputed research organizations. First and foremost, you need keyword insights to design a content strategy.
The keywords help you identify the subjects for content creation. Some of the keywords can be content topics as well. While high-volume keywords are attractive, you should also focus on niche keywords to attract specific audiences.
During your research, you should also look for audience demographics, locations, age groups, interests, and so on. While keywords tell you what to write, these insights tell you how to write it. Based on audience demographics you can decide the format, language and tone of the content. With the help of audience insights, you can create content that reaches the right people and resonates with them.
2. Design a Content Funnel
A content funnel can serve as a guide for your marketing strategy. It is also the model for the customer’s purchase decision journey. You can begin with top-of-the-funnel content. This will help new people discover your brand.
As you start getting traffic on your Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brand’s channels, you can create content for other levels of the funnel. You can also analyze the flow of the purchase journey to identify problem areas. Then you can create content to help resolve them.
For instance, if your target audience is searching for fast deliveries. You can create content on eCommerce micro-fulfillment to show how your Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brand ensures same-day shipping. Each piece of content can help the audience move forward in the content funnel. Consequently, this also brings them closer to a purchase.
3. Segmentize Your Content
Similar to audience segmentation, content segmentation helps you target different types of people. One product may serve several different purposes for various people. You will need to associate your product with each purpose separately. Hence, you need distinct content to promote your products to different types of audiences.
For instance, if you are selling sun-screen cream. You need different content to target a beach-going audience and urban-cyclists. In this case, the product serves the same purpose for both of these customers. But, they have different interests. And you need to create content concerning their respective interests to get engagement.
You will need to identify the different types of people who could buy your product. Then you need to identify the interests and behaviors that connect to your product. This way you can bring a variety of audiences to your Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brand. You can also segmentize your content strategy based on different features and uses of a product. This too will help you expand the scope of audience targeting.
4. Use Diverse Content Formats
People consume content in a variety of ways. They read blogs, watch videos, scroll through social media, and so on. You need to create content in different formats to target different types of people. A variety of content formats will also help you improve digital presence on different platforms.
You can also make the most from the same piece of content if you repurpose it in different formats. For instance, you can convert a blog content into an infographic. You can also use the blog content to create a video podcast.
Furthermore, you can break down large pieces of content into smaller chunks. You can create several social media posts from a large infographic. Similarly, you can edit reels and short videos from a podcast. These smaller pieces can serve as clusters for the larger content.
5. Create Interactive Content Pages
Interactive content can help you engage the user in a variety of ways. As the user has to take action, it creates a more memorable experience. This also helps you set yourself apart from other brands, which is crucial for small Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) companies.
Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands can use a variety of interactive content for different types of audiences. Some of the most popular ones include quizzes, calculators, augmented reality, VR experiences, and so on. A small Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brand can begin with simpler formats such as quizzes and calculators.
You can also convert several of your existing blogs or videos into such quizzes. For instance, you are a Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) furniture brand and you created a blog on “Different Types of Coffee Tables”. You can convert this piece into a variety of quizzes. You can quiz the audience about their house and suggest the best coffee table for them.
This type of content not only helps you engage your audience, but you can also gather crucial information about their interests and preferences. This in turn will help you design your future content marketing strategy.
Summing Up
The success of your content marketing strategy depends on how well you can resonate with your audience. Use the insights to understand the people you are targeting. Then design a purchase journey for the audience. You can use a content funnel for this purpose.
You can create different content to guide the purchase journeys of different people. Similarly, you need to use several content formats for a variety of audiences. Finally, you can create interactive content to engage your audience. Once the audience engages with your brand, you can drive them towards conversion.