Take an exclusive 15% off your purchase at Replica Surfaces with code C&C15. Valid now through 7/26 at midnight.

With gorgeous visuals and impeccable design dominating our social media feeds, it’s impossible not to think about content as a small business.

Content is the lifeblood of any marketing effort and successful digital strategy. It can come in many forms—articles, videos, and photos—really any digital media that attracts, engages, and retains an audience. Whether you’re a service based business sharing your value prop through educational videos or ramping up your social media presence as a new CPG brand, content is the key to drawing in an audience and building brand loyalty.

Creating new, frequent and powerful content is a healthy and necessary practice of business in any industry. But, many choose to forgo dedicating time and resources to actual content creation. This is especially common when business owners don’t believe they have the inherent “skills'' of a viral content creator. But if we’ve learned anything about going viral, all it takes is a mixture of drive, persistence, authenticity, and access to a smartphone to strike a cord. 

Holding off on content strategies means holding off on untapped potential. Here are 4 reasons why your company needs to kick its content game into high gear:

1. Establish and maintain a strong brand identity in the market.

With an expedited shift towards consuming all things digital, your customers are more aware than ever of their purchasing power. It’s your job to provide both new and existing customers with the information (and inspiration) they need to make smart buying decisions. 

When done right, content marketing is a powerful tool to communicate brand identity, build trust, and form meaningful relationships.  From there, brand awareness and loyalty are sure to follow. Just as the front desk associate is the face of your local gym, your content is the face of your brand identity. Inconsistency and inauthenticity aren’t ideal in either scenario. Consider asking yourself questions like: "What is my target audience?", "What is my unique value proposition?", "What is my brand's personality?" and "How do I want others to see my brand?"

2. There has never been an easier time to produce content than right now.

With the proliferation of social media and platforms to create and distribute new ideas, businesses are publishing content at an unprecedented rate. If you're not separating yourself from the competition (i.e. publishing the same stock photos that everyone else has access to), then standing out will be tough. The good news is, developing solid content doesn’t have to be as complicated as some folks make it out to be. You just need access to the tools that make content creation easy.  

Enter Replica Surfaces: a photo solution helping even the most novice photographers and creators make advanced, revenue driving content. 

Replica Surfaces meticulously designed hyper realistic photography surfaces that are stain resistant, lightweight, and ergonomic, allowing for seamless content batching within the same studio space.  

The Replica Studio is the real game changer here though—it’s an innovative all-in-one mobile photo studio changing in-home photoshoots forever. Meticulously designed, the Studio allows creators to make instant Surface changes, hold light modifiers like a dream, and switch from eye level to flat lay angles in seconds. The days of floor photoshoots and cluttered dining room tables are gone. 

Graphics and video should be the soul of your content. But, you don’t need to be a professional photographer to make stunning content.  Replica Surfaces is an essential tool for anyone with a story to tell. Create & Cultivate approved! (Check out their Photo Formula Course while you’re browsing, and peep an exclusive offer below!)

3. Leverage content to convert leads into customers. 

Great content doesn’t just help with awareness, it’s also a proven lead generation method. According to a B2B marketing research, 72% of business to business marketers say content marketing increases engagement and the number of leads generated. 

Content marketing works across channels. A blog post making a case for your service will generate traffic and leads through search. Beautiful social media content will inspire and attract new audiences. The inclusion of compelling content in email marketing will drive direct conversions. 

Regardless of how you choose to distribute your content, the same valuable assets can be used to fuel all of your efforts. And because all of those channels have different characteristics and capabilities—think SEO versus social media—you can customize content according to each channel to ensure it reaches its potential.

With the right content marketing strategy and the right content, you can generate leads for your business online, no matter which channels you choose to use.

4. Content marketing is a long game.

Your first few pieces of content may be strong, but it’s not likely they’ll blow performance out of the water. This by no means your content is bad. It means you should focus on letting your expertise and unique value prop shine through consistent, quality content. 

The sooner you create and publish content, the sooner you have data to analyze and inform your marketing strategies. There are a myriad of variables that could influence a successful piece of content. Reach, engagement, and conversion are all metrics to be considered, but it takes time to build benchmarks.  

Patience is a tough sell in an “always on” digital world, but all it takes is one step forward to start seeing results.  

Take an exclusive 15% off your purchase at Replica Surfaces with code C&C15. Valid now through 5/29!