Content marketing is the key to building a tech startup from the ground up. Many young companies turn to advertising to help grow their business, but they may find themselves running into problems very early on. The main challenge these companies face is that they can spend thousands of dollars on digital advertising and end up with no return on their investment. The source of the problem lies in the fact that they haven’t spent any time on building their brand and reputation.
Content marketing focuses on building your brand’s story. This is imperative as a tech company. Because if you don’t have a story to tell, why would anyone pick your product over any other company’s? Tech companies are a dime a dozen. Content marketing helps you to gain an edge by building your credibility and reputability, which will in turn grow awareness of your brand and your presence in the tech industry.
By no means is this easy, which is why I’ve created a list of tips for tech startups who are looking to use content marketing as a way to build their brand.
Utilize Your Own Tech Powers
Since you’re a tech company, you likely have technology of your own. Whether this is the actual product you are selling or just a part of the service you provide, it’s important to practice what you preach. If you are a tech company and are not using your own technology to help run your business or showcase your content, consumers might be alarmed. Using your own technology will make your content unique but will also show consumers that your technology is a beneficial product/service.
Since you’re a tech person, you are also likely to have a set of ~mad~ tech skills. Use these to your advantage! As a tech company, you have the skills to make more visual yet technical content, like animations and videos. Video, audio and animation content can help reach people quickly and effectively. Another benefit is that this kind of content is much more engaging to consumers and because of that, they are likely to spend more time with it. This content also allows people to humanize your brand and connect with you on a deeper level.
Tell Your Story
Start a Blog
One of the easier ways to start gaining traffic as a tech startup is by creating a blog. Remember you have those mad tech skills, so if writing isn’t your forte, don’t be afraid to hire a writer or content creator. Blogging is one of the best ways to tell your brand’s story as well as get information out about your products, services, the industry, your expertise and so much more. In the process, it will help with SEO and boost your search rankings. Take advantage of all of the ways you can benefit your content efforts. A couple ideas are to embed relevant and reliable sources and links to your blog posts, link gated content on your website to posts, and write guest blogs to improve brand awareness and get your name out there.
Blogging also gives you a lot of flexibility as well. You get to decide the direction of your blog and the type of content you want to share. For example, you could write about anything from niche tech topics to industry hot topics and news. You create your audience by choosing and writing about topics that a certain demographic of people would find interesting. For example, if you are trying to target millennials, you have to think in the mind of a millennial and what they would want to read. You have to keep in mind your objective and your audience when writing content for your blog.
Get Social
Another way to tell your story and gain organic traffic is by posting regularly on social media. Creating a social presence is a good way for people to become aware of your brand and interact with your brand on a daily basis. For tech companies, I would say that LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are safe bets for your audience. I would also add Instagram to the list considering that tech companies have the ability to make cool visual content, like video and animations, and because younger generations prefer Instagram to other social platforms.
When posting on social, you have to experiment with different types of content to see what is most successful. Product launches, company culture and blogs are all examples of content that would help tell your brand story. By no means is this the end-all be-all. Simply trying out different content to see what your audience will find engaging will be the most beneficial for you in the long run. From there, you can see which types of posts are most successful, in terms of engagement, reach and other measurements, and then base your social strategy around that. A couple ways to engage your audience include asking questions in your posts, adding videos and posting polls on your Instagram story.
Don’t Forget About Case Studies
Case studies are a great way to tell the stories of clients and customers of the brand. It gives readers, and potential customers, insights about how your brand’s product or services benefited another company. Why should a customer choose your product or service over another company’s? It’s not about bragging, but about showing the potential value that your company could bring.
Utilize Experts in the Tech Industry
Utilizing experts in the tech industry can help you do two things. The first is building credibility. The second thing experts help with is generating brand buzz.
Here are two different ways you can use industry experts to build credibility and generate brand buzz.
Influencer Marketing
Prominent tech leaders who have huge followings on social media — take Bill Gates, for example — have authority and influence within the tech industry and market. Influencer marketing can be very powerful in this industry when companies utilize these tech leaders. If they have the secret sauce, aka a large following in your industry, they likely have influence over your target market. Partnering with these content creators can help you drive brand awareness to your target audience.
Placement on Prestigious News Sites
Brandpoint’s Expert Series is a great way to help startup tech companies demonstrate knowledge of their industry and business through thought leadership videos and bylined articles. Brandpoint creates high-quality editorial videos and bylined articles that are distributed to prestigious news sites for placement. The purpose of the Expert Series is to encourage social sharing of the sponsored content by the thought leader themselves, as well as by employees of the organization, which helps companies to build credibility and a reputation.
Keep in Mind
Content marketing is going to be most effective when you produce content regularly. At the same time, you also need to remember quality > quantity. Never compromise the quality of a post just because you feel like you need to publish something that day. In the long run, that won’t do anything for you. Be consistent with your posting AND your quality. If you’re in a time crunch, repurposing old content that performed well is always a good idea!
To recap, make sure you take advantage of your technical abilities as a tech startup. Use your own technology to showcase your products and services to create out-of-the-box content. There are so many different types of content out there to produce, so focus on content that will engage your audience, like video or animation. Make sure you start a blog and social media accounts to grow your reputation, as well as benefit your search engine placement. Lastly, utilize tech experts and leaders in your industry to build your credibility and to generate brand buzz. Influencers and placement on prestigious news sites can help with this.
For more information on how to boost your credibility through social advocacy, check out this post about Brandpoint’s Expert Series.
