10 Easy Content Marketing Ideas for Small Business

If you have a business blog, a Facebook and Instagram account, an email list or a YouTube channel, you’re probably giving content marketing a try. You know it’s a great way to communicate with your customers and promote your business without doing the hard sell. But how do you keep coming up with fresh content ideas for your small business that will attract, engage and retain your target audience? You might have a few ideas to start with, but how do you keep on generating more?

Having to constantly come up with content marketing ideas for your small business can be tough. Even though I do this for a living, I still struggle sometimes over what to post on Instagram, or what blog content to write next. Some days I go to the ideas well and it’s completely dry. But there are plenty of methods I can use to get my content creation juices flowing again. And I’d love to share them with you.

Here are 10 easy ways I generate content marketing ideas for my small business and my clients.

1. When you get an idea, write it down immediately.

Inspiration can strike you at any time: on the bus, at 3am in the morning, when you’re talking to someone, or when you’re reading someone else’s content. It’s such a simple idea to write down your idea straight away in the moment. I use the notes app on my phone to jot down my ideas whenever and wherever they strike. I carry my phone everywhere for this reason, but I also scribble down ideas in notebooks, or email ideas to myself. When I don’t write ideas down in the moment, I usually forget them. Or I remember them but not in the same way. It really helps me to write ideas down as they occur.

You don’t have to write an essay — writing a sentence or a couple of dot points should be enough to jog your memory. If writing ideas down isn’t your thing, you can always use the voice recorder on your phone to record a memo. Do whatever works best for you. Just get that idea down when it happens!

2. Bookmark anything and everything that inspires you online.

If you’re active on social media and follow other bloggers in your business area — or even in a completely unrelated area — then you have a whole library of inspiration at your fingertips. You can be inspired by the way another Instagrammer styles a photo or writes a caption. Someone’s thoughtful blog article addressing an issue happening in their industry could spark an idea about something happening in your industry. You could see a blogger do a fun post which mixes memes and video in with great advice. The list is endless…

Whenever someone else’s content inspires you, save it. On Instagram you can save posts by hitting the bookmark icon under a photo (see picture below). This will save a post to your saved collection. You can do the same on Facebook by clicking on the three dots in the right hand corner of a post and hitting ‘save post’. Bookmark website pages on your phone. If you subscribe to emails and you get an inspiring email, save it in a swipe folder in your inbox. You can even go old school and save any marketing collateral you get in the mail box, such as flyers, direct response letters, catalogues, flyers etc, in a folder for future inspiration.

I like to save posts which inspire me and then refer to this collection if I ever need content inspiration. My posts are never plagiarised or a direct copy of this content. Instead, I use the saved posts as a launching pad for my own content creation. On those rare days when inspiration is hard to find, looking over these saved articles can help me generate fresh, new content.

3. Ask your customers/community for their input.

If you’re fresh out of content ideas, ask your existing community what content they would like to see? Instagram stories are a great place for doing this. You can post questions to your audience or do a fun poll to find out what content your followers would like to see. If you have an email list, you can ask your subscribers to fill out a short, online survey. Give people an incentive to complete the survey. For example, they can go in the running to win a product/service from your business or a gift card.

People love being asked for their opinion. Their answers will help you craft content that appeals directly to your audience. You can also ask your community if they have any questions about your business. For example, if you sell baby products, people might want to know what natural materials you use? Or where you source your products from? As well as how you test your products to make sure they are safe for a baby? The answer to each of these questions can form content such as a blog post, infographic or a short video.

4. Look for inspiration in the comments section of your posts.

You can find content marketing ideas for your small business in the comments section of your blog or social posts. I love getting comments as it’s a great way to have a two-way conversation with my followers. People often leave very thoughtful comments in response to something I write. These comments can sometimes generate new ideas which I can explore in a future post.

If you’re inspired to create content based on one of your follower’s sparking the idea, you can get further engagement by tagging them in your post. So, not only do you have new content, you’re also creating some engagement by doing a shout-out to your follower.

5. Pay attention to what is going on in your industry and the world.

Has a new law passed or has there been a newsworthy event which impacts your business? Has there been a new breakthrough in technology which is a game changer in your industry? Is this news something that your customers and followers would like to learn about? Or is it something that will impact them? Then this is a great opportunity for you to blog/post your own take on this event.

To keep up with news in your industry, subscribe to industry group newsletters, or follow them on social. Go to conferences and events in your industry. Set up Google alerts for key words/topics. Join online forums about your industry or closed Facebook groups. That way you will always know what’s going on and can pass this Intel on to your customers/clients.

6. Keep an eye on what your competitors are saying and doing.

There’s a whole world of people out there who work in your industry — and they blog, tweet and post content. What are they saying about their business and industry? How are they using content to engage with their customers and communities? Check out what they are doing and see if it sparks your own ideas. Don’t plagiarise of course, but it’s okay to follow people for inspiration.

For example, I’m a keen bookstagrammer and book blogger. I’m followed by people just like me and I follow them back. Technically they are competitors, but we all love the same thing. Everyone has their own unique way of writing captions in their own voice and taking photos of books in their signature style. It’s an endless well of inspiration. And there’s plenty of room for everyone. You just need to find your own voice.

I also subscribe to many newsletters from marketing professionals. There’s always someone I can learn from. I hang out in copywriting forums online and I do a lot of short courses to further educate myself. All this new information helps me to come up with more content marketing ideas for my small business.

7. Get personal.

What has happened in your small business recently? Have you hit any milestones? Are you about to celebrate your first or tenth year in business? What lessons have you learned along the way? Have you helped your 100th client? Or did something happen to one of your staff members/or yourself? For example, you ran your first marathon or overcame some personal obstacle?

As part of your content marketing strategy, you can share a personal story or a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your business. Doing this helps to humanise your brand and put a face to your business. People like knowing who they are doing business with. I often notice that my most popular social media posts are the ones where I share my face or a personal story. Some business owners won’t want to do this and that’s fine. For others, it might be the basis of your whole content strategy. I try to do a balance of both.

Also think about sharing your customers’ stories. Did you complete a big project that your client loved and you want to share the successful outcome? For example, a personal trainer might share a client’s successful fitness journey. Instead of sharing a before and after photo, they can share a story about how their client now feels more confident after their weight loss. A hairdresser could share the personal story behind doing a client’s hair for their wedding…

8. Write the headline first for blog posts.

This is a strategy that works well for me when I’m coming up with content marketing ideas for my small business. Some writers leave the headline until last, but I find writing it first keeps me focused when I’m writing the content. If your headline is a ‘how to’ guide on a certain topic, then your content can be simple step-by-step content. If you lead with a number and a topic, then you know you will need to write a certain number of tips. I often leave the number out until I see how many tips I can actually come up with. For example, the headline for this blog post helped shape my content. If your headline is “5 Vital Lessons I Learned in my First Year of Business”, you will be sharing five personal lessons you’ve learned while working in your industry.

I like to do a brainstorming session where I write down a whole heap of headline ideas for topics related to my business. When I come to write the article, I will then do keyword research and refine my heading and topic further. These planning sessions give me enough content ideas to last a while, instead of having to start from scratch each time.

9. Repurpose old content.

If you’ve been blogging and using social media for a while, you will have a large catalogue of old content. Look through your past posts and see if there is content that needs updating. Tweak the angle, update the content, come up with a new title and you have new content to share.

Or do you have some great content on a particular topic? Did you write it in a series of Instagram posts, or blog posts? You could package up all these separate bits of information into a handy eBook. People can sign up with their email address to download this eBook from your website. It’s super useful for people to have your content in one easy to view document. Another idea is to take an old post and turn it into an infographic or use it as the basis for a video or webinar. For more ideas I suggest reading this extremely detailed article on repurposing content written by Neil Patel.

10. Address your customers’ pain points.

Always remember that the purpose of any content you create is to provide value to your target audience. Sometimes you want to reassure them of your expertise. Other times you want to entertain, educate or inspire them. With every piece of content that you create ask yourself: “What is the purpose of this content?”

One area that can prove a deep well of content inspiration is creating content that addresses your audience’s pain points. How can you solve a problem your ideal client has or answer a common question about your services? For example, if you want to hire a house painter you might want to know how long it will take to finish the job. Will you have to be there while they paint? Will you need to cover or move furniture before they paint? Are undercoats involved? What products will they use? What about paint fumes? A painting company could create a series of blog posts which answer these questions. Or they could design short social media posts which address these issues and educate prospective clients. Or they could do a Q&A video for their website where they answer these common questions.

In a nutshell…

There are plenty of ways to come up with content marketing ideas for your small business. I recommend reading a lot about your industry, writing down ideas and keeping up-to-date with changes in your industry. You can also share personal stories and milestones, as well as write content that’s useful to your clients and addresses their concerns.

No time to create content for your business? Or maybe you’re fresh out of content ideas? I offer content writing services and can write all the content for you in the tone of voice of your business. So, you can relax and get on with running your business. Get in touch today for an obligation free chat or quote.