Create Great Digital Marketing Content on a Budget

I just read an article that said marketing technology budgets are now bigger than advertising budgets. There are a couple of lessons hiding inside this factoid.

First, the fact that companies are now spending more on marketing technology than advertising shows how marketing has pushed advertising out of the number one position in terms of promoting sales.

Second, the “technology” part of that statistic points us in one direction: the Internet.

If we add these two things together it’s a double-barreled blast that demonstrates the preeminence of digital marketing. Much of that is going to be content marketing and this is where we can diverge from the statistic I started out this article with.

You don’t have to spend millions or even thousands of dollars to mount a good content marketing campaign in your business. In fact, it might even be to your advantage not to be backed by the big bucks; you’ll be forced to be more creative.

Let’s look at a few ways you can pull together a fantastic content marketing program without bottoming out the balance of your bank account.

Pull in Your Employees

You probably have some masters of the social media right in your midst! With a little bit of direction and a lot of freedom, they can bring voices to your digital content that you would have never thought of yourself.

Don’t limit your social media posts to just the people who have marketing titles printed on their business cards. For example, if you’re a fashion retailer, have the team who stocks new merchandise post photos to Instagram. Have members of your sales team encourage customers to post to their accounts with a hashtag you have come up with.

You might also have some budding writers on your staff who would love to try their hands at writing some blogs for you. Give them a chance. Provide them with some direction and constructive criticism along the way. With a little mentoring, you may discover a new source of content for your blog and at the same time show your willingness to help your employees advance their careers. That builds loyalty, which is priceless in business.

Discover Fiverr and Other Freelance Providers

Fiverr.com is a site where you can hire people from all around the world to do jobs for you. I know one small business person who uses Fiverr freelancers to create infographics for him. There are some extremely talented (and fast) graphic artists in places like the Philippines who will produce fantastic graphic content for $5. You’ll also discover videographers and cartoonists on Fiverr.

Among the sites where you can hire freelancers, Fiverr is probably the least expensive and the one with the fastest turnaround times. However, it’s not the only site. If you would consider a longer term relationship with freelancers, check out Upwork, Freelancer, Guru, 99designs, among others.

Repurpose Content

One of the best strategies to pull off a digital marketing campaign on a tight budget is to repurpose content. Above I suggested you hire an inexpensive graphic artist to create an infographic for you. However, it usually takes data to create an infographic, so instead of merely creating the graphic, write an extensive blog post explaining the data and publish that first. Later, translate the data into an infographic.

And don’t stop there. Why not videotape a round table discussion of the data or bring in an industry expert to discuss the data and record the conversation for a podcast? Further, whenever you give a presentation, be sure you capture it on video so you can also post it to your website or YouTube channel chine viagra. Further, do this when you hold a Google Hangout session or a Periscope broadcast.

Find Volunteers

Guest posting is huge and it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to find experts willing to write an article or two that you can post to your website. Attend networking events and casually mention that you’re looking for guest writers. I think you’ll be encouraged by the response you get. And the great thing about this strategy is that your guest writers will promote their work throughout their social media accounts!

In the same way, if you see an article on a related site that you think would interest your website visitors, ask permission to republish it. Credit the site where it originally appeared, this makes it a “win-win” situation for both sides.

Update Old Content

Look at your older content marketing materials. See which have proven to be the most popular over the months. Update and republish these pieces, even if you don’t have to change very much of the content.

As you can see from the strategies outlined here, you need to view your digital marketing materials in sort of a “Lion King” circle of life way. Bring in new people, let them grow, find new uses for old materials and continue this process.

Once you make these the center of your digital marketing, it will be Hakuna Matata (no worries) with your budget!