The advantages of authentic content for small business

In a digital age where adverts are bombarding people from all directions, more and more consumers are becoming “ad savvy” and developing “banner blindness”. This means that while they might see the adverts, they aren’t paying any attention to them at all. Think about it. Can you remember the last ad you saw? Exactly. But for small businesses, adverts have always been an important part of garnering interest, building brand identity and generating business leads. So what exactly can they do to get that back? Well, content marketing is a great way to move forward. But only if the content is authentic. Here at Pumpkin Web Design, we are Preston’s leading web design and web marketing experts. And we work with companies and businesses across the UK to deliver high quality content marketing.  As a result, we have produced this guide to the advantages of authentic content for small business.

So what is authentic content?

Content marketing is all about producing content that will be helpful and relevant to your viewers and website visitors. But you need to make sure that your content is authentic. And by authentic, we mean genuine, and honest. People are not only immune to ads, but they’ve also cottoned on to the fact that online, they should never simply believe what they read. Fake news, anyone? So if your content sounds too good to be true, they know it probably is. And they wont hesitate to jump straight to the next service provider. So what is authentic content?

Authentic content is content that is produced to solve real world questions, to provide real information and real solutions to real people. So whether its a regular blog post about different boiler problems that your customers might encounter, or its a video on Facebook showing how to tile a floor, the information is completely relevant to the viewer.

And it has your branding all over it.

How does authentic content work as advertising?

From your company name as a link in the first paragraph of text, to a logo on your social media video, people will read or watch your authentic content, and link it to your brand. This can help to establish positive brand relationships and to build a connection with your audience. But it can also help you reach a new audience through advertising. This can take two forms:

• Social media – If your company is using social media (you should be) you need to produce quality content to share and distribute on a regular basis. And this can be a video or your latest article or blog post. But it needs to be relevant and engage your potential customers. And, if you think your content is worth sharing to a wider audience, you can always pay to “boost” your post using Facebook or Instagram. This will help you reach more people, and monitor the number of click-throughs, similar to an old style banner ad.
• Search Results- The second option is to make sure your articles and videos are ranking on the search engine results page. This involves evaluating your SEO, and making sure the page can be indexed. If you have chosen the correct keywords, and researched your topic carefully, your content will show up as a result for the specified keywords, such as “how to tile a floor” or “common boiler problems” from the earlier examples. This means that your content can organically reach a wider range of people who are searching for a similar, relevant topic. And even better, it’s completely free!

What are the advantages of authentic content for small business?

Authentic content has a range of advantages. These include:

• Focusing on your audience by really exploring the content they need and want.
• Making better content in general, that is more valuable and relevant
• Informing readers about a particular need.
• Advertises your brand clearly, so that people will be more likely to shop with you or use your services in the future.
• Builds a relationship with the consumers

If you need professional content marketing advice or support, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design.