A Simple Content Strategy For Your Small Biz

Powerful, compelling and uncomplicated content planning for busy small biz owners.

As a busy small biz owner wearing ALL the hats, you don’t have time for complex content strategies.

What you need (and want) is simple and easy.

A strategy that you can replicate time and time again.

A strategy that is powerful, compelling and uncomplicated.

Sounds good, right?

Here is a simple content marketing strategy that will have your small biz seen, heard and loved!

• Step One: A Big Ticket CTA
• Step Two: Hero Content Piece
• Step Three: Plan your content
• Step Four: Develop your content

Step One: Call-to-Action

OK, usually you put the CTA at the end of a blog post (see the bottom here for an example 😉), or a social media post. So why am I putting this as step one?

Simple. For every piece of content you create you want your audience to take a particular action.

It is so much easier to create compelling content when YOU know what outcome you want from it.

For this particular step I want you to think of your overarching goal of this particular content campaign.

This is your big ticket CTA.

For example, if you are selling a course your CTA is to have people buy this course.

That’s the money shot right there.

Now HOW do you get people to buy this course?

You need to build trust and authority so that people can see that you know what you are talking about. Your course will solve their problem and they will want to buy it.

How do you build trust and authority?

You guessed it! A content strategy. The next few steps will guide you through how to make this happen.

Step one action: Decide on your big ticket CTA.

Step Two: Hero Content Piece

Your hero content piece is what all other pieces of content in your strategy will point towards. Think of it like your “selling” piece of content that directly points to the product or service you are selling, like the course we used as an example earlier.

Your hero content piece could be:

• A webinar
• A long-form blog post
• A video on YouTube or Instagram or Facebook

The trick is to pick a format you are most comfortable with, that also resonates with your audience and will capture your small biz. It must also suit the platform where your ideal customers (IC) hang out the most.

I mean, there’s no point posting a gorgeous Instagram video if your target audience isn’t on Instagram. So don’t forget to investigate where your IC consumes content so you can focus your efforts there.

You don’t have to create this piece right now. I just want you to jot down what you are going to create and some points of information to include.

Step two: Decide on your hero content piece.

Step Three: Build out your content strategy.

This is the step where you will flesh out your content strategy.

I want you to look at your hero piece and that big ticket CTA and set a date in your content planner that you want them to “go live”.

If you have a small (or none at all) following, try setting it for at least two months from now. I know this sounds like a long time before you have people buying from you, however you NEED to build trust and authority.

And remember the golden rule of marketing:

Someone needs to see or hear your message at least seven times before they buy!

Two months gives you time to gain loyal followers and build excitement so they are ready to buy from your small biz.

Now I want you to evaluate WHERE your target audience is hanging out and focus most of your time and energy there.

Is it Instagram?

Is it Facebook?

Maybe it is TikTok or Twitter.

Wherever it is, this is where you will be focusing your attention.

Sidenote: I know people are fans of having multiple social media accounts, and it would be hypocritical of me to tell you to only have one. I mean I have several!

So by all means, establish as many social media accounts as you want. But for the purposes of RIGHT NOW as a small or new biz, I want you to focus on just one for the next two months. Let’s continue using Instagram as our example.

Now I want you to set yourself an ACHIEVABLE schedule of posts.

You absolutely do NOT need to post every single day. This is overwhelming and exhausting. It is about quality over quantity.

Let’s say you know that you can stick to posting on Instagram four times per week CONSISTENTLY.

4 x 8 (weeks) = 32 posts.

32 opportunities to provide value and engage with your IC.

Pencil in “Instagram Post” four times per week on your planner. (It can be more or less, just make it work for YOU).

Step three action: Pencil in posts into content planner.

Step four: Develop your compelling content.

Now this is the hard part!

You have penciled in those 32 posts, but what are you going to write about?

Each of those 32 posts presents an opportunity to attract, engage and compel your IC to take action.

Think of them like building blocks all leading to your big ticket CTA.

The key here is to lead your IC through their buying journey, to develop and nurture leads and grow an engaged audience who will buy your product or service.

You don’t want every post to be selling something. That’s just sleazy and doesn’t offer any value for your IC.

But you also don’t want every post to be about your home life or fur baby (unless that’s your biz 🤣)

You need to find a balance between educational, entertaining and selling.

(Check out my 4 EASE Pillar strategy here which uses four pillars to create a compelling content strategy).

But for now, let us keep it as simple as possible!

Your first two weeks (which is eight posts) I don’t want you to post anything salesy in the slightest. Nope. Not at all.

What I want you to do is focus on two types of posts: educational and entertaining.

Entertaining posts

Create posts to entertain, excite and inspire your audience!

Don’t “sell” your product or service, but be sure each post is related to your small biz.

• Motivational or inspirational quotes
• Funny stories
• Bloopers (I have a gazillion from trying to shoot reels).
• Stories or questions that seek to engage your IC.
• Posts, stories or reels that show the person behind the biz — be authentic and real!

Educational posts

These posts should add value for your readers and compel them to look further into your small biz.

Show your audience that you are an expert and WHY they should choose you. Use how you solve their problem or fill a need as the basis for these posts.

• Intro posts/blogs
• A “behind the biz” story.
• How-to posts and articles
• Tips, tricks or hacks.
• Tutorials
• Industry news.

After two months of these two types of posts, start introducing your sales posts.

Your sales posts should be snippets or point towards your hero piece (from way back in step two). Remember, your hero piece is what directly leads to the product or service you are selling!

Ideally aim for one sales post per week (when only posting four times a week). This creates balance and shows your IC that you are not just about the bottom dollar.

This balance shows that you are the small biz to buy from because you are real, you provide value, you engage and you know what you are talking about.

Example of a compelling content plan:

Week 1:

Post 1 EDUCATE

Post 2 ENTERTAIN

Post 3 EDUCATE

Post 4 ENTERTAIN

Week 2:

Post 1 ENTERTAIN

Post 2 EDUCATE

Post 3 EDUCATE

Post 4 ENTERTAIN

Week 3:

Post 1: EDUCATE

Post 2 SELL

Post 3 ENTERTAIN

Post 4 EDUCATE

Week 4

Post 1 ENTERTAIN

Post 2 EDUCATE

Post 3 ENTERTAIN

Post 4 SELL

Then simply rinse and repeat weeks 3–4.

There you have it, a simple content strategy to be seen, heard and loved! 😍

Recap of the four steps:

• Step One: A Big Ticket CTA
• Step Two: Hero Content Piece
• Step Three: Plan your content
• Step Four: Develop your content

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