By Neil Barraclough
 
Content marketing isn’t just for big brands.

Small or medium-sized businesses might feel they are fighting against the tide if they try to compete with larger, corporate organisations.

But smaller companies have some inherent advantages when it comes to content marketing.

And exploiting them means they can regularly use content marketing to help achieve their own business objectives.

Here are four ways small businesses can get ahead of their bigger, more established rivals.
 

Quicker sign-off times

Smaller companies tend to have fewer layers of management and fewer people involved in the sign-off process.

That means smart smaller companies are in a strong position to react quickly to current events and produce content that feeds off the current mood – which, in turn, is often more likely to gain valuable social traction.
 

More freedom

With fewer stakeholders in the sign-off process, smaller companies can benefit from being less risk averse than bigger organisations.

That can lead to content that other companies would shy away from through fear of it not being ‘on brand’.

When scrap merchants Dronsfields commissioned a survey on attitudes to Jeremy Clarkson, the results were far from boring – to the extent that some bigger brands may have opted to hold them back.

But, after being released on Dronsfields’ blog, they went on to make national headlines and drive a number of backlinks.

Trust

Small companies can be perceived as more ‘genuine’ than big, corporate brands – often because their customers already know them in person.

That helps with brand loyalty and building a customer base that values your company and your products.

And it means your audience is likely to be more engaged with well-executed content from your business.

Clearer view of results

With limited marketing budgets and less overall activity, smaller companies can often get more clarity on the results of their content marketing.

They may be chasing visibility on fewer keyword search terms, or have fewer factors contributing to their web traffic.

But their ability to see the full picture quicker and more clearly than their bigger rivals means small companies are also perfectly placed to refine and adjust any content campaigns that aren’t performing as they would wish.

 
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