The Yakkety Yak guide to developing content as a start up
Congratulations on starting a business! It's a wild ride, but fun, rewarding and an enormous challenge, but so darn worth it. Now that you have your business idea in place, you've reserved your domain names and charted out your growth strategy, it's time to start thinking about your content. The content that your business puts out to the universe will help convert prospects into customers and help you to build an effective brand. It really matters, but developing content can also be a challenge. To help make it easier, we broke down the process into phases that are easier to tackle—and you might even have a little fun putting those words together.
Here is our guide to developing content as a new business.
Target Audience
First think about the people you are trying to reach. Consider your ideal client and what key attributes they might have, from geographic location, gender, age and income. Develop actual personas for these people, even give them a name if it helps you better identify with the audience. This exercise will help you establish the voice and tone of your content. For example, a law firm may be writing to people who need their services, rather than other attorneys, so their voice should be helpful, educated and inclusive.
Tagline, Boilerplate and Mission Statement
Before diving into your website copy, first think about the basic messaging of your business. Start with a brief tagline that summarizes your services. In less than 10 words you should be able to explain what your business is all about. The boilerplate should be four to five sentences and can be used at the bottom of your press releases and marketing materials to summarize your business model. From there, expand further into your company mission statement, thinking about target audience, impact, the problems your business will solve and the culture you're trying to create. All of these descriptions are great baseline tools for developing your website content and social media platforms.
Website Copy
Now, you can develop the content for your website and most of the work has already been done for you. Include the vitals on the home page, then elaborate on your services on the other pages. Remember to write with your audience in mind and include the information that will help you land more business. Be concise and don't forget that you can always incorporate a blog to explain your processes in more detail.
Social Media
Now that your website is ready to roll, use the content you've already created to set up your social media accounts. Use the tagline, the boilerplate and your mission statement to build out the accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram. If you think it makes sense for your brand, then feel free to incorporate more casual language on the social media pages to attract a broader audience. Then, start posting!
Blog
A company blog is a great way to market your business. Not only is it a perfect space for further explaining your services, it is a fantastic way to populate your social media outlets. There are endless ways to market your business through a company blog and it's a perfect foundation for a company newsletter. Check out our post on using an editorial calendar to get started.
Developing content for your business isn't easy, but it is so worth it. By following these steps, you will have a great foundation for marketing collateral, press releases and building interaction with your target audience. And if you need help getting started or get stuck along the way, we are here for ya. Contact us for more information.