Content Marketing Tips for Small Businesses and Teams

As a content marketer, I’ve worked for all kinds of companies. I’ve been a team of one, responsible for everything, and I’ve worked for well-known (and well-resourced) brands with thousands of employees. 

But my specialty (and favorite part of content marketing) has been building content marketing functions from the ground up, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. There’s something special about being able to lay the foundation and take the company in a new direction.

Managing Content Marketing as a Small Business

I’ll dive into building out your content marketing operations in another blog post. First, I want to share some general tips and insights for small businesses on how they can succeed in their content efforts, day in and day out.

1. Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose. 

I intentionally placed this one at the top of the list because it's so important. As a small team with BIG responsibilities, you’ll probably wear a lot of hats and tackle a multitude of projects. Content repurposing can make your life a lot easier.

What is content repurposing? In a nutshell, it’s the process of taking one content asset and reformatting and republishing it across multiple channels.

The whole point is that you don’t need to start from scratch. Once you publish a long-form content asset, you can adapt the copy for use in other places, but the core messaging stays mostly the same. You should go beyond simply copying and pasting. Content repurposing typically requires some structural changes or rewording.

In practice, this may entail writing a blog post and then turning it into three social media posts and an email newsletter. Or republishing the transcript of a company podcast episode on your blog and in an eBook.

It's all about using what already exists and adapting it to meet your other needs.

Bonus tip: AI can help with this process. And, in my opinion, it's one of the best ways to use AI right now because you're providing your AI tool with all of the information it needs to ensure accuracy and consistency with your brand voice and tone. (I'll dive into this topic further in a future blog post.)

2. Get a project management tool. Pronto.

This one is a close second in terms of importance. When you're managing content marketing at a small company and handling a range of projects, you'll need a way to stay organized.

I’ve used CoSchedule in two full-time jobs and for Directional Content Services, so naturally, that’s the tool I’d recommend. Why? Because it’s designed for marketers, with robust calendar features and other built-in resources that make managing everything so much simpler. It’s easy to assign tasks to colleagues, and it helps keep yourself on track with your day-to-day responsibilities.

But there are a ton of options out there! I’ve also used Asana, monday.com, and many others. Assess what's out there and decide what’s best for you and your team.

3. Consider automation and AI to improve efficiency.

When working for a small, fast-paced business, how you divide your time becomes all the more essential to success. 

To get from content ideation to publication with the best result within a reasonable timeframe, you’ll want to closely consider which tech tools can help you boost efficiency. AI and automation tools are two key examples.

Right now, I believe we aren't yet at the point where marketers can publish content 100% created by AI. But when using generative AI to write content, you can serve in an editor role. Tell your AI tool what you don't like about its first draft and ask it to make specific revisions, like restructuring or rephrasing some of the copy. AI can make these changes at rapid speed.

You can also use AI for marketing research, content personalization, proofreading (think Grammarly), and content measurement, among other examples.

Automation is also important. The goal is to minimize the human input involved in the process, thus increasing the speed to production. Examples of automation include email marketing automation, lead nurturing, and content scheduling tools.

4. Be mindful of what the data says—and your priorities.

To get your content marketing operations up and running, you'll need to identify the channels on which your target audience is most active. Do they subscribe to specific newsletters or read blogs? Do they participate on specific forums? Do they use LinkedIn over Instagram and Facebook?

After some experimentation with different types of content, I recommend measuring the results, gauging which 2-3 of your efforts are driving the best outcomes, and prioritizing those.

For instance, if organic search and webinars are what primarily generates sales and social media is becoming a lower priority, you may consider spending more time on the former and less on the latter.

It doesn’t mean you'd have to completely give up social media. There could very well be benefits to not taking that route, like employer branding on LinkedIn or general brand awareness. Still, you can reduce the number of posts you publish each week, to make more room for what’s driving sales.

5. Be okay with changing priorities.

As I noted in No. 4, successful content marketing teams often focus their time on what drives results. At the same time, they're open to shifting gear as needed.

Business needs evolve over time, especially in our unpredictable world, and so does marketing. Google search algorithms change, new social media platforms emerge, and new email marketing features are launched, for better or for worse.

6. Build efficient workflows.

Smaller businesses can benefit from creating simple yet effective content approval processes and workflows.

Once content is drafted, an editing workflow should ideally include a subject matter expert, plus marketing editors who focus on proofreading and content production. A graphic designer, the legal team, or others may also be involved in the process. This will depend on the type of content asset you're publishing and, of course, the size of your staff.

Building workflows sounds simple, but in reality, it often isn't. It's easy to fall into the trap of having every single stakeholder across your organization review and provide input. And when you're a small business with a lot going on, this can delay publication days or even weeks.

It doesn't have to be that way, though, if you take the time to map it all out beforehand. Document your workflows for different types of projects and stick with your plan.

I put together this nifty guide on efficient workflows for Contently back in 2023. Check it out for more insights.

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If you want to learn more about content marketing as a small or medium-sized business, reach out to Directional Content Services today to set up an initial meeting. I can help you not just with content creation and writing but also strategy, operations, and auditing. Directional is here to help you get your content marketing function up and running and/or take it to the next level.