Content Marketing for Small Businesses: 10 Steps to Succeed in 2025

Content selling is changing fast. 

What worked a fewer months agone whitethorn not present the aforesaid results today. 

For tiny businesses, that means being strategical astir wherever to put clip and resources.

In this guide, I’ll amusement you however to physique a contented selling strategy that maximizes your time, budget, and efforts. 

But first…

Does Your Small Business Need Content Marketing?

I’ve worked with galore businesses that were wondering whether to put successful contented oregon conscionable instrumentality with paid ads. 

After all, contented selling tin consciousness daunting, particularly erstwhile large corporations predominate hunt results. 

But here’s the thing: contented selling tin payment companies of each sizes—even tiny companies with constricted budgets.

Paid ads halt the infinitesimal you crook them off. 

Content, connected the different hand, continues driving leads agelong aft it’s published.

Sometimes contented selling is the champion mode for tiny concern owners to vie against others with larger budgets for online advertizing and PR. Be definite to leverage your unsocial viewpoint connected your manufacture to get noticed.

Dale Bertrand, Founder and President astatine Fire&Spark

For example, Sugar Geek Show (an online cake-decorating platform) grew their integrated postulation to 300K+ by doubling down connected SEO.

Once the institution started investing successful SEO, their blog started generating 60% of their full revenue.

When done right, you tin spot akin results.

That’s wherefore I’m a immense advocator of contented marketing. I judge it should beryllium treated arsenic a semipermanent maturation engine. 

How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy For Your Small Business successful 10 Steps 

It’s ne'er excessively aboriginal oregon excessively precocious to commencement contented marketing. 

In fact, if you’re conscionable launching your company, I urge starting close away.

Start yesterday! The dilatory and dependable attack works for contented selling arsenic agelong arsenic you are adding worth and servicing your customers with your content. So commencement present and physique a room of contented that attracts integrated traffic.

Dale Bertrand, Founder and President astatine Fire&Spark

Below are a fewer halfway steps I ever urge earlier diving into full-scale contented creation.

1. Work connected Your Foundations Before Rushing into Content Creation

I’ve seen businesses leap consecutive into contented without a coagulated base—then wonderment wherefore their efforts aren’t paying off. 

Content selling is conscionable 1 portion of your selling puzzle. 

If your website, branding, oregon analytics aren’t successful shape, adjacent the champion blog posts and societal media videos won’t thrust existent results.

Focus on:

• Your website: If your tract is dilatory oregon poorly structured, visitors volition permission quickly. Make definite you person the indispensable landing pages featuring your products and services.
• Strong transcript and design: Your contented should lucifer your brand’s look and voice. If it feels disconnected, radical won’t prosecute with it, and whitethorn not spot you.
• Reliable analytics: Without tracking the close information (such arsenic conversions and idiosyncratic behavior) it’s hard to cognize what’s working.
• Clear conversion strategies: If you're publishing contented but not utilizing wide calls to enactment (CTAs), sending follow-up emails, oregon adding merchandise workflows, you're missing retired connected conversions.

It tin beryllium arsenic elemental arsenic creating pages for each merchandise you merchantability and linking to them from applicable blog articles.

For example, we person blog visitors utilizing a premix of banners and different conversion elements:

Get your foundations close first, and you’ll prevention time, money, and vexation aboriginal on.

2. Document Your Content Strategy

I’ve worked with clients who tried a scattergun approach—one week an Instagram Reel, the adjacent a 2,000-word blog post—without connecting it each backmost to their goals. 

Once they documented a content strategy, they saw stronger results, due to the fact that each portion of contented had a wide purpose.

The astir palmy businesses (even the smallest ones) dainty contented selling similar a existent concern function, not conscionable guesswork. 

In fact, 80% of highly palmy companies successful contented selling person a documented strategy, portion 52% of unsuccessful ones don’t.

So, wherever to begin?

• Know your audience: Who are they, and what problems bash they request solved?
• Set goals and metrics: Are you aiming for leads, marque awareness, oregon conversions? How volition you measurement success?
• Choose contented topics: What themes volition you screen consistently?
• Pick formats: Will you absorption connected blogs, videos, oregon podcasts?
• Plan distribution: Which channels (website, societal media, oregon newsletters) volition get your contented successful beforehand of the close audience?

By documenting your contented strategy, you tin support your contented efforts focused connected your goals. This tin assistance you prevention time, debar frustration, and execute amended results.

Not definite wherever to start? Use Semrush’s escaped content strategy template for step-by-step guidelines.

3. Create a Culture of Storytelling successful Your Content Marketing Strategy

Small businesses often conflict to basal out, particularly erstwhile competing with larger brands. 

But I’ve seen however putting storytelling astatine the halfway of your strategy tin marque each the difference.

When you archer genuine stories, you make deeper connections that spell beyond conscionable selling a product. These could beryllium stories astir your background, mission, goals, oregon passions arsenic a tiny concern owner.

Why is storytelling truthful powerful?

Small concern owners tin seizure the attraction of their people assemblage by telling bully stories done contented marketing. You tin usage your ngo and their unsocial backgrounds to substance these stories.

Brian Moran, Founder and CEO astatine SmallBusinessEdge

In different words, stories prosecute radical connected an affectional level. 

They’re much memorable than plain facts oregon diagnostic lists, and they let customers to spot the quality broadside of your business.

Here’s 1 of my favourite real-life stories. 

iFixit is an ecommerce tract that sells repair kits for smartphones and computers. Instead of conscionable saying, “Buy our tools,” they halfway their marque astir the Right to Repair movement.

They assertion radical should person the cognition and materials to hole their ain devices.

By publishing contented astir this taxable (like DIY guides and advocacy pieces), they pull an assemblage who shares their values. 

This attack has not lone accrued their integrated postulation but besides positioned iFixit arsenic an authorization successful the field. In February 2025, the institution attracted implicit 3 cardinal unsocial website visits.

It shows however almighty storytelling tin beryllium erstwhile it’s a cardinal portion of your contented strategy. 

Once you cognize the halfway thought you privation to communicate, readying and creating relatable contented gets easier.

4. Develop a Customer-Centric Approach to Your Content 

I’ve watched galore tiny businesses screen a wide scope of topics, hoping to scope everyone. 

But the ones that genuinely thrive absorption connected their astir important people personas—the customers they cognize they tin service best. 

By creating contented that straight addresses these customers’ existent questions, symptom points, and goals, you’ll basal out—even successful a crowded market.

Does it lick a problem? Is it helping them done a symptom point? We tin bash a batch of things arsenic marketers, but we volition deterioration ourselves out! Be intentional astir your selling plans and physique a strategy astir it with the absorption connected your customer.

Michelle Buck, Marketing Coordinator astatine Crystal D

How bash you support contented customer-centric? Follow these tips:

• Identify your halfway personas: Pin down the circumstantial groups you’re champion equipped to help. What are their biggest challenges? What bash they worth most? Let those answers usher your content.
• Go heavy connected topics they really attraction about: Don’t dispersed yourself thin. Instead, nutrient contented that offers genuine solutions oregon insights for your halfway audience’s needs. Show that you recognize them amended than anyone else.
• Share wide and actionable advice: You don’t request to constitute long-winded explanations to beryllium you’re an expert. Offer clear, actionable proposal tailored to your niche. Your assemblage volition admit concise tips they tin use close away.
• Stick to your niche: If you’re an adept successful boutique fittingness for caller moms, thin into that specialty. Trying to beryllium each things to each radical tin dilute your impact.

When you tailor your contented to your apical personas, you physique spot and credibility. 

People spot you arsenic the go-to root for their circumstantial issues, alternatively than conscionable different dependable successful a oversea of wide advice. 

For example, brands similar Absolute Collagen people circumstantial topics their assemblage cares about—like “Are menopause symptoms worse successful winter?” and “how tin menopausal women woody with hairsbreadth loss?”.

5. Select Your Priority Content Formats

I’ll accidental this again: conscionable due to the fact that the large brands you travel are connected TikTok doesn’t mean your concern has to beryllium determination too.

Instead of chasing each contented format determination is, absorption connected what works for you and your customers.

For example: let’s accidental you tally a section spa salon. 

Try investing successful highly ocular societal media contented created with your staff, customers, and influencers from your area. Make notes of questions and concerns your customers usually person and code them successful your videos.

Here’s however Peachy Studio successful NYC does it by regularly publishing Instagram Reels:

Or, possibly you are a tiny copywriting bureau targeting planetary clients.

Focus connected creating thought leadership contented astir manufacture trends and make how-to lawsuit studies with your clients—just arsenic Omniscient Digital agency does connected its website:

In different words, see your audience’s symptom points and what channels they typically usage to find products and services similar yours. Then, deliberation of a mode to construe this into engaging content.

The options are astir endless:

• Blog posts to pull users who usage hunt engines and different channels to find step-by-step guidelines and heavy insights
• Long-form videos connected YouTube to pull ocular learners 
• Social media shorts to prosecute your assemblage with speedy contented that fits into their regular scrolling habits
• Email newsletters to nurture relationships and support imaginable customers successful the loop 
• Podcasts to found authorization and link with audiences who similar audio content
• User-generated contented campaigns to physique spot and showcase existent lawsuit experiences

6. Organize Your Content Production Process

Before you commencement creating content, look astatine your budget, resources, and however overmuch you tin realistically produce. 

This measurement helps you fig retired however often you tin publish, whether you request in-house oregon freelance help, and what benignant of contented you tin create.

Here are 3 questions to assistance you program your process:

What Are My Needs, Budget, and Resources

Think about:

• Needs: First, deliberation astir however galore pieces of contented you’d similar to people each month, based connected your contented selling goals. This volition assistance you fig retired what roles you request to fill—such arsenic writers, strategists, designers, oregon video creators.
• Resources: Look astatine the radical you already person connected your team. Do you person capable hands connected deck, oregon bash you request other help? If needed, see bringing successful freelancers, agencies, oregon part-time enactment to capable the gaps. 
• Budget: Your fund volition signifier however overmuch contented you tin realistically produce, who you tin hire, and which tools you tin put in. Even if your fund is small, focusing connected the close premix of endowment and tools tin assistance you marque a large impact.

Once you measure your needs, budget, and resources, you’ll person a clearer representation of however to determination forward. 

Who Will Create My Content?

Producing contented takes time, truthful you’ll request to determine whether to grip it yourself oregon get extracurricular help.

In-house: If you oregon idiosyncratic connected your squad tin make content, this keeps costs down and ensures your marque dependable stays consistent. You tin besides propulsion insights from lawsuit interactions and existent experiences to marque contented much relatable.

Freelancers oregon agencies: If you don’t person the clip oregon skills, outsourcing is simply a flexible option. Freelancers tin assistance with blogs, societal media, oregon videos without the outgo of a full-time hire, portion agencies grip bigger projects but travel astatine a higher price. The cardinal is to find idiosyncratic who understands your concern truthful that the contented inactive feels authentic.

Which Content Marketing Tools Do I Need?

Finally, you tin take from respective bundle tools to marque contented accumulation easier. Key options include:

• AI penning tools, specified arsenic ContentShake AI to make contented that ranks successful hunt results
• Project absorption tools, specified arsenic Notion oregon Relato
• Social media absorption and contented instauration tools, specified arsenic Semrush’s Social Media Toolkit 
• AI video contented tools, specified arsenic Veed.io
• Simple plan tools for creating visuals, specified arsenic Canva

For example, ContentShake AI automates respective contented processes astatine a time. It finds contented ideas and keywords for your business, transforms them into SEO-friendly articles, and sends them straight to your website.

7. Be Selective with Your Content Distribution Channels

Just arsenic with contented topics and formats, don’t dispersed yourself excessively bladed by trying to station contented connected each imaginable platform. 

It tin rapidly go overwhelming. 

Instead, absorption connected wherever your astir valued customers really walk time.

Are your customers connected societal media? Do they ticker videos, and if so, where? Do they look astatine photograph galleries, specs, oregon different data? Once you’ve identified the champion outlets, creating contented that tin beryllium repurposed is an businesslike mode to make much with less.

Nicole Wolfe, Digital Content Expert

How should you attack this? Start by revisiting your lawsuit research:

• Which sites bash they browse? 
• Which influencers and creators bash they follow?
• Which channels bash they marque purchasing decisions on?

For example, you could absorption connected societal media platforms similar TikTok oregon LinkedIn, SEO, influencer marketing, assemblage building, and more.

Here is the afloat database of channels that are particularly fashionable among tiny concern marketers: 

Knowing these things helps signifier your plan. It’s amended to support a beardown beingness connected 1 oregon 2 channels than conflict to support up connected five.

8. Build Your Content Calendar

By now, you should cognize what benignant of contented you’re creating, however overmuch you need, and who volition nutrient it.

The adjacent step? Map retired your editorial strategy, truthful everything runs smoothly. 

I’ve recovered that a clear, organized content calendar not lone saves clip but besides helps you enactment accordant and deed your goals. Here’s what to include:

• Topics and keywords: Choose themes that lucifer your audience’s interests and that align with your goals
• Content formats: Blogs, videos, newsletters, podcasts—pick the close mean for each topic
• Audience segment: Note which radical you’re targeting (e.g., caller customers vs. existing ones)
• Timeline: Assign people dates, reappraisal periods, and immoderate promotion deadlines
• Team responsibilities: Clearly authorities who’s successful complaint of writing, editing, design, oregon societal media

You tin usage a elemental instrumentality similar Google Sheets oregon usage platforms similar Notion. Here’s what it mightiness look like:

9. Be Experimental and Avoid Creating Generic Content

Competing with large brands connected fashionable topics tin consciousness similar a losing battle—especially if you person a smaller budget. 

For example, companies similar HubSpot already fertile precocious for the astir communal CRM oregon integer selling keywords. 

And LLMs similar ChatGPT already supply generic accusation to basal lawsuit questions.

If you spell head-to-head with them connected generic content, your enactment mightiness get mislaid successful the crowd.

You’re small, truthful you person constricted reach. The taxable you’re covering is apt already handled by bigger companies. If you constitute generic content, it astir apt won’t marque a ripple successful the immense water of existing posts. There’s an accusation overload and contented fatigue retired there.

Sandip Acharyya, Marketing Strategist

Instead of trying to bushed them astatine their ain game, amusement disconnected your brand’s unsocial property and find angles those bigger names mightiness ignore.

How?

• Be bold and experimental: For example, usage memes, humor, oregon pop-culture tie-ins—when they acceptable your style. Instead of rehashing “top 10 trends,” instrumentality a beardown stance oregon question communal assumptions. This gives radical a crushed to announcement you.
• Create archetypal research: Can you tally a speedy survey oregon analyse information from your product? Share these insights. They are hard for competitors (and AI tools) to replicate, which makes them other valuable.
• Publish thought enactment posts: If idiosyncratic connected your squad has heavy expertise, promote them to stock it. Fresh manufacture perspectives oregon beardown opinions often basal retired much than yet different generic “how-to” article. 

Take REI.com, for example. This ecommerce seller of hiking cogwheel creates blog listicles that really bring worth to their customers.

Instead of putting unneurotic a random database of “the champion hiking shoes”, they person their unit trial the merchandise archetypal successful real-world conditions—and lone past constitute the article. Here’s an example of specified contented piece: 

10. Diversify and Repurpose Content That Delivers Results

I emotion getting much mileage retired of my top-performing content. 

If thing is driving leads, conversions, oregon marque awareness, wherefore not accommodate it for different channels? 

As a tiny business, you don’t person the resources ample companies do, truthful you request to get the astir retired of each portion of content. Repurposing tin springiness you precocious engagement oregon scope without having to make everything from scratch.

Anastasia Chechkova, Marketing Lead astatine OnePageCRM

Here are immoderate tactics you could use:

• Turn a webinar oregon video into a blog post: Have you hosted a webinar oregon recorded a podcast? Convert the main insights into a blog article. That way, radical who similar speechmaking tin inactive get the afloat story.
• Transform YouTube videos into clips (and a podcast): Take agelong YouTube videos and chop them into bite-sized segments for societal media. If the contented is engaging oregon conversational enough, you tin adjacent rip the audio and crook it into a podcast episode.
• Build a probe study from the data: If you privation to stock stats oregon survey findings, bundle them into a concise report. You tin past repurpose it into societal media posts, infographics, articles, and more. 

For instance, we precocious published this research connected whether AI contented ranks successful hunt (spoiler: it does).

We past repurposed it arsenic societal media contented and blog articles similar this one.

When you recycle your best-performing content, you prevention clip and money—two resources astir tiny businesses can’t spare. 

You besides conscionable your assemblage successful their preferred format, which tin summation engagement and marque loyalty. 

11. Keep an Eye connected Your Metrics to Improve Performance

Measuring your content’s show is the lone mode to cognize you’re gathering your goals. 

To marque this easier, docket regular check-ins—for example, each 2 weeks oregon each month—to spot what’s moving and what isn’t. 

This volition assistance you set your strategy earlier you put excessively overmuch clip successful contented that mightiness not present results.

Content show metrics you could way include:

• Traffic and on-page idiosyncratic behavior: Look astatine leafage views, engagement rate, bounce rate, and top-performing pages. Google Analytics (GA4) is my go-to for these insights. It shows maine what benignant of topics support readers engaged.
• Social media engagement: Track likes, comments, shares, and mentions. You tin besides usage specialized societal listening tools specified arsenic Media Monitoring to spot however radical sermon your brand. 
• SEO: Monitor integrated traffic, backlinks, and keyword rankings to spot if your SEO efforts are driving results with tools specified arsenic Position Tracking or Google Search Console.
• Impact connected the bottommost line: Ultimately, you request to cognize if your contented leads to conversions, sign-ups, oregon sales. By tracking outgo per pb oregon revenue, and tying it backmost to contented successful a CRM specified arsenic Salesforce, you get a wide presumption of contented ROI.

For example, if your extremity is to get much traffic, way your keyword rankings connected a play basis.

Open the Position Tracking tool and adhd the keywords you privation to monitor.

From present on, you tin spot however your keyword rankings alteration implicit time. You tin then tweak your approach. 

For example, if a leafage is losing rankings, it’s clip to update it. If different is doing truly well, cheque what’s moving and use it to different content.

Final Thoughts

Content selling has ne'er been much exciting—or much competitive. But it’s besides the champion accidental tiny businesses tin usage to scope caller customers. 

How bash you win successful 2025?

Focus connected meaningful, high-quality contented that genuinely speaks to your audience. Experiment with formats, support an oculus connected show metrics, and refine your strategy arsenic you larn what resonates.

To get started faster, usage AI contented tools similar ContentShake AI and Semrush Social Content AI.