As the new year begins, many business owners are creating strategies to scale their business. And as a small business owner still trying to find your footing in the digital world, it is important that you learn how to start content marketing.

For Nigerian business owners navigating a highly competitive market, adopting an effective content marketing strategy is no longer optional—it’s a necessity.

You must have heard about it, and if it isn’t a strategy in your business plans, this beginner friendly guide will show you how to get started with content marketing.

Whether you’re a small business owner or a growing entrepreneur, this guide will equip you with the knowledge to create a working strategy to foster business growth.

Understanding Content Marketing

Content marketing is the whole process that involves identifying your target audience to distributing your content using different formats.

Unlike traditional advertising, content marketing focuses on using valuable content to educate, inform and entertain a specific set of people in order to build trust and drive sales.

It is the process that helps you as a business owner to meet your audience in their phase of the customer journey and move them down the sales funnel.

Content marketing is majorly used as a process to attract, convert and retain customers.

Step-By-Step Guide To Content Marketing For Your Business

Step1. Set SMART Content Marketing Goals

As a business owner trying to delve into content marketing, you have to first of all understand exactly why you’re doing it before moving to the how.

In addition, you need to understand what you want to achieve with your content marketing effort before delving into it.

Therefore, you need to create a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). A SMART goal is any goal that has a specific time frame and can be achievable within that time frame.

For instance, if you’re a hair vendor in Lagos who has decided to create a content marketing strategy, your goal for the first month could be to create brand awareness for your products and sell 15 high quality wigs before the end of January.

Step2. Know and Understand Your Audience

Your content can only give you the results you need when you understand who you’re writing for. Take your time to develop a detailed profile of your Ideal customer. This includes their:

• Demographics: Age, gender, region, language.
• Preferences: What type of content do they consume.
• Pain points: What challenges are they facing.
• Dream outcome: What solutions are they looking for.

You can also gather information about your target audience from social media platforms using polls and surveys.

Once you’ve gotten enough information, analyze the data you’ve gotten and use it to create content that will bridge the gap between your audience’s problems and the solutions you can offer.

This step is very important as identifying your audience helps you to choose what platform and content format to use for your content marketing strategy.

Step3. Choose the Right Platforms

The platform you choose to start your content marketing depends on where your audience is mostly found.

As a Nigerian business owner, you have to decide if you’re trying to target the younger generation or the older generation.

Therefore, it is pertinent to remember that not all platforms serve the same purpose. In Nigeria, we have 6 popular social media platforms used by business owners to showcase their products and services. These include:

• WhatsApp: This is a powerful messaging platform that aids in direct communication and sharing promotional content. Mostly used to communicate and retain customers.
• Facebook: A platform effective for targeting a direct audience, especially the older demographics. Serves business owners as an ideal platform for building communities and promoting their products using “Facebook Marketplace”.
• Instagram: Mostly used by business owners that lean towards video content. Content such as short reels are used to attract customers on this platform.
• YouTube: Excellent for service based business owners that provide tips and tutorials. Helps business owners provide in-depth knowledge on different topics in their specific industry.
• Twitter (X): Great for building relationships.
• LinkedIn: Primarily used by service based business owners to build connection. This platform is mostly used to attract customers and move them through the sales funnel.

Step 4. Choose your Content Format

While creating a strategy for marketing your content, you have to choose a content format that suits the platform you’re going to use.

• TikTok: Short and engaging vídeo content.
• Instagram: Photos, reels, Carousel posts.
• YouTube: Long-form video tutorials, Vlogs.

Step5. Develop a Content Plan

A content plan helps you stay organized and consistent. Having a content plan makes it possible for you to create a content calendar primarily built around your content pillars.

These are the two main components that make up your content plan. As a Nigerian entrepreneur, this helps you create an outline that determines the kind of content you create, the content formats to use and where to distribute them.

Use your content calendar to map out:

• Content pillars: Core themes you’ll consistently cover.
• Formats: Videos, blogs, infographics.
• Publishing schedule: When and where you’ll share your content.

Step6. Create Valuable Content

Value is anything that provides a form of solution to a reader. Therefore, this is a key aspect of your content marketing.

As a small business owner, founder or entrepreneur, you need to put out content that screams value. Nigerian audience respond well to content that is educational, entertaining, inspirational and promotional.

• Educational: Teach them something new.
• Entertaining: Use humor or engaging visuals.
• Inspirational: Share relatable success stories with your audience.
• Promotional: Showcase your products/services.

However, putting the first five strategies in place makes creating these contents very easy.

In addition, remember that your content always has to have a message it is trying to pass across. Use high quality visuals and introduce storytelling into your content creation to make it engaging and relatable.

Step7. Repurpose your content

Repurposing content has to do with the ability to transform a content from one format to another.

For instance, if you sell natural hair care products, after creating a video on “how to grow your natural hair” you can also convert it into a blog post.

Step8. Engage With Your Audience

Content marketing isn’t a one-way street. While providing value for your audience is crucial, engaging with them is just as important.

Respond to their comments and messages, ask questions and understand exactly what pain points they’re trying to solve. It is only through engaging with your audience that you can effectively put out content that speaks directly to them.

Step9. Post Consistently

Posting consistently and frequently makes it possible for a business owner to understand what strategies to uphold and which ones to change.

Have a consistent and frequent posting time as this would help you build authority and trust.

Step10. Monitor and Adjust Your Strategy

Regularly review your content’s performance to determine what works and what doesn’t. Track metrics like:

• Engagement rates (likes, comments, shares).
• Website traffic (if applicable).
• Sales generated from content campaigns.

Use Google analytics to track, measure and analyze your content marketing strategies.

Why You Should Invest In Content Marketing

Nigeria’s digital space is rapidly growing and evolving. With over 100 million internet users, businesses have leaned more towards using social media platforms to promote their business.

However, this cannot work so well without incorporating content marketing strategies. Let’s look at some of the ways content marketing helps business owners scale up.

Audience reach

Social media and other digital platforms have made it very easy to reach millions of Nigerians online.

Create Competitive Edge

With so many business owners using digital platforms to promote their brands, a solid content marketing strategy can help you stand out in a crowded market.

Cost-effective marketing

Content marketing is usually less expensive than traditional advertising methods like billboards or radio ads.

Builds trust

Authenticity is one factor that can help a business owner become an authority in his specific niche or industry. By creating valuable and engaging content, you can foster a great relationship and build trust with your audience.

Conclusion

Content marketing is a game-changer for Nigerian businesses looking to stand out in a crowded market. By understanding your audience, creating valuable content, and leveraging the right tools and platforms, you can build a strong brand presence and drive business growth.

Remember, consistency is key. Start small, stay persistent, and keep refining your strategy. Soon enough, your content marketing efforts will start yielding results.