How to do content marketing on a budget?
Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to attract and retain customers, build trust and authority, and generate leads and sales. However, content marketing can also be expensive and time-consuming, especially for small businesses and startups. That is why we help small businesses and startups with affordable content writing services.
Recently, we did a study through which we found out that to produce 1 lead using Google Ads or paid digital marketing takes around $20. However, with the right content marketing on a budget strategy, you will only need to invest around $5 to produce a lead.
Enticing, right?
But how can you create and distribute high-quality content without breaking the bank? How can you leverage the latest technologies and trends to optimize your content strategy? How can you measure and improve your content performance and ROI?
In this blog, we will answer these questions and more. We will also help you understand how Content Whale, a leading provider of affordable content marketing solutions, can help you achieve your content goals while being on a budget.
Whether you need blog posts, social media posts, video scripts, ebooks, or any other type of content, Content Whale can deliver it to you at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional content agencies. Let’s understand how AI plays a major role in current content marketing on a budget scenario.
The Importance of AI in Content Marketing
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way content marketing on a budget is done in 2024. AI can help you with various aspects of content creation and distribution, such as:
Content Ideation
AI can generate content ideas based on your keywords, audience, and goals. You can use tools like AnswerThePublic, HubSpot’s Blog Ideas Generator, etc. to find relevant and engaging topics for your content. If you need target-based content ideation and strategy, you can connect with us.
Keyword Research
AI can generate content ideas based on your keywords, audience, and goals. You can use tools like AnswerThePublic, HubSpot’s Blog Ideas Generator, or Content Whale for more personalized and in-depth keyword research to find relevant and engaging topics for your content.
Content Drafting
While creating content marketing on a budget strategy, you can use AI to write content faster and better by generating headlines, introductions, outlines, and sometimes even entire articles. You can use tools like ChatGPT 4, Jarvis, etc.
However, AI is not a magic bullet that can replace human creativity and judgment. You still need to oversee and edit the content generated by AI, to ensure that it is accurate, relevant, and original. You also need to add your own voice and personality to your content, to make it stand out and connect with your audience.
Effective Content Strategies within a Budget
One of the biggest challenges of content marketing on a budget is creating enough content to meet the demands and expectations of your audience. However, creating more content does not necessarily mean spending more money. Here are some tips for creating effective content strategies within a budget:
Content Repurposing
Content repurposing is the process of transforming your existing content into different formats and channels, to reach a wider and more diverse audience.
For example, you can turn a blog post into a video, a podcast, an infographic, a social media post, or an email newsletter. You can also update and refresh your old content, to make it more relevant and timely. Content repurposing can help you save time and money, while increasing your content value and visibility.
Consistent Content Output
Consistency is key to content marketing success. You need to publish and distribute content regularly, to maintain and grow your audience’s interest and loyalty.
However, consistency does not mean quantity. You don’t have to publish content every day, or every week, or every month. You just have to find a frequency that works for you and your audience, and stick to it. You can use tools like CoSchedule, Buffer, or Content Whale’s Content Calendar to plan and schedule your content output.
SEO Best Practices for 2024
Search engine optimization (SEO) plays the biggest role in doing content marketing on a budget. It could be a hefty investment if the right resources aren’t utilized.
SEO is constantly evolving as search engines update their algorithms and user behavior changes. Here are some of the SEO best practices for 2024 that you should follow:
Voice Search Optimization
Voice search is the use of voice commands to search for information on the internet, using devices like smartphones, smart speakers, or laptops. Voice search is becoming more popular, especially among younger and mobile users.
According to a report by Juniper Research, voice-based ad revenue could reach $19 billion by 2022. To optimize your content for voice search, you should use natural and conversational language, answer specific questions, and use long-tail keywords and phrases.
Quality Over Quantity
Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to content and SEO. Search engines are becoming smarter and more sophisticated, and they can detect and penalize low-quality, duplicate, or spammy content.
Quality content is content that is original, relevant, useful, engaging, and authoritative. Quality content can help you rank higher on search engines, attract more organic traffic, and generate more conversions and sales.
Leveraging Social Media and Video Content
Social media and video content are two of the most powerful and popular forms of content marketing on a budget. They can help you reach and engage your audience, increase your brand awareness, and drive more traffic and leads to your website.
Here are some tips for leveraging social media and video content for your content marketing:
Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms are not only channels for content distribution, but also sources for content creation and search. More and more users are using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest to discover and consume content, as well as to interact with brands and other users.
You should use social media platforms to create and share content that is relevant, engaging, and tailored to each platform’s audience and format. You should also use social media platforms to listen and respond to your audience’s feedback, questions, and complaints, and to build relationships and trust with them.
Video Content Marketing on a Budget
Video content is one of the most effective and preferred forms of content marketing, especially among younger audiences. Although content marketing on a budget may not support video content, but see this to know why you should invest in video content:
According to a report by Wyzowl, 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 93% of marketers say that video is an important part of their marketing strategy.
Video content can help you showcase your products or services, explain complex concepts, tell stories, educate or entertain your audience, and increase your conversions and sales. You should use video content to create and share content that is informative, entertaining, and emotional and that captures your audience’s attention and interest.
Building Engagement with Relatable Content
Engagement is the measure of how much your audience interacts with your content, such as by liking, commenting, sharing, or clicking. Engagement is crucial for content marketing success, as it indicates how much your audience likes, trusts, and values your content.
Engagement can also help you increase your reach, visibility, and influence, as well as your conversions and sales. One of the best ways to build engagement with your content is to use relatable content, such as:
Memes
Memes are humorous images, videos, or texts that are copied and spread online, often with slight variations. Memes are very popular and viral, as they appeal to the common emotions, experiences, and opinions of people.
Memes can help you create and share content that is funny, relevant, and relatable, and that can spark conversations and reactions from your audience. You can use tools like Imgflip, Meme Generator, or Content Whale’s Meme Maker to create and share memes for your content marketing.
User-generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is content that is created and shared by your audience, such as reviews, testimonials, photos, videos, or social media posts. UGC is very effective and valuable, as it showcases your audience’s satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy for your brand, product, or service.
UGC can help you create and share content that is authentic, trustworthy, and relatable, and that can inspire and influence your potential customers. You can use tools like Bazaarvoice, Yotpo, or Content Whale’s UGC Platform to collect and display UGC for your content marketing.
Understanding Your Audience
Understanding your audience is the foundation of content marketing. You need to know who your audience is, what they want, and how they behave, to create and deliver content that meets their needs and interests. Understanding your audience can help you:
Segment Your Audience
Segmenting your audience is the process of dividing your audience into smaller groups based on their characteristics, such as demographics, psychographics, behavior, or preferences. Segmenting your audience can help you create and deliver more personalized and relevant content, and increase your conversion and retention rates. Here’s a small example of how audience segmentation helps increase ROI.
Create Buyer Personas
Buyer personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers, based on your audience research and data. Buyer personas can help you create and deliver more targeted and effective content, and improve your customer experience and satisfaction. Here’s an example of a buyer persona that you can check out.
Conduct Content Audits
Content audits are the process of reviewing and analyzing your existing content, to evaluate its performance, quality, and relevance. Content audits can help you identify and improve your content strengths and weaknesses, and optimize your content strategy and goals.
Content Marketing on a Budget – Content Metrics and ROI
Metrics are very important while doing content marketing on a budget. Content marketing metrics are the indicators that measure the performance and effectiveness of your content marketing efforts, such as:
Conversions
Conversions are the actions that you want your audience to take after consuming your content, such as signing up, downloading, buying, or subscribing. Conversions are the ultimate goal of content marketing, as they indicate how much your content contributes to your business objectives and revenue.
Email Engagement
Email engagement is the measure of how much your audience interacts with your email content, such as by opening, clicking, or replying. Email engagement is important for content marketing, as it indicates how much your audience values and trusts your email content and how likely they are to convert or buy from you.
We have also launched our own newsletter, “Weekly Waves”, where we provide AI + Humanized content and how it can be cost-effective for your branding goals. Check out our newsletter by subscribing to them here.
Website Traffic
Website traffic is the measure of how many people visit your website, and how long they stay and browse your website. Website traffic is important for content marketing, as it indicates how much your content attracts and retains your audience’s attention and interest, and how well your content ranks on search engines.
However, metrics alone are not enough to evaluate your content marketing success. You also need to measure your return on investment (ROI), which is the ratio of your content marketing revenue to your content marketing cost. ROI can help you determine how profitable and efficient your content marketing is, and how to optimize your content marketing budget and strategy. To measure your content marketing ROI, you need to:
- Define your content marketing on a budget goals and objectives, and align them with your business goals and objectives.
- Identify and track the metrics that are relevant and meaningful to your content marketing goals and objectives, such as conversions, email engagement, and website traffic.
- Calculate your content marketing revenue, which is the amount of money you earn from your content marketing efforts, such as sales, leads, or subscriptions.
- Calculate your content marketing cost, which is the amount of money you spend on your content marketing efforts, such as content creation, distribution, and promotion.
- Calculate your content marketing ROI, which is the formula: (content marketing revenue – content marketing cost) / content marketing cost x 100%.
For example, if you spend $1000 on content marketing on a budget, and generate $3000 in revenue, your content marketing ROI is: ($3000 – $1000) / $1000 x 100% = 200%.
The Role of Content Whale in Affordable Content Marketing on a Budget
Content marketing is a powerful and profitable way to grow your business, but it can also be challenging and costly, especially for small businesses and startups. However, with the right content strategies, tools, and partners, you can do high-quality content marketing on a budget that is feasible and achieve your content goals.
One of the best partners you can have for your content marketing on a budget is Content Whale, a leading provider of affordable content writing services in India. Content Whale offers a range of content writing services, such as:
- Blog and Articles
- Press Releases
- White Papers
- Case Studies
- Product Descriptions
- Website Content
- Copywriting
- And more…
Content Whale’s content writing services are affordable, reliable, and scalable. You can choose from different plans and packages depending on your content needs and budget. You can also request custom content writing services, such as social media posts, video scripts, newsletters, or any other type of content, and get them delivered to you at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional content agencies.
Content Whale’s content writing services are also backed by a team of experienced and qualified content writers and editors, who can deliver high-quality, original, and plagiarism-free content for your business. Content Whale also provides you with a dedicated account manager who can help you with your content requirements, feedback, and revisions.
Content Whale is more than just a content writing company. It is a content marketing partner who can help you with your content strategy, optimization, and distribution to achieve your content goals. Content Whale can help you with:
- Content Idea Generation
- Keyword Research
- Content Optimization
- Content Distribution
- Content Performance Analysis
Content Whale is the ultimate solution for affordable content marketing. Content Whale can help you create and distribute high-quality, SEO-optimized, and impactful content for your business within a budget and achieve your content goals. Whether you need blogs, articles, e-books, case studies, product descriptions, website content, or any other type of content, Content Whale can help you with fast delivery, plagiarism-free, and budget-friendly services.
Conclusion
In this blog, we have discussed the importance of AI in content marketing, the effective content strategies within a budget, the SEO best practices for 2024, the leverage of social media and video content, the building of engagement with relatable content, the understanding of your audience, and the content marketing metrics and ROI.
We have also talked about how Content Whale, a leading provider of affordable content marketing solutions, can help you with all your content needs.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us. We would love to hear from you and help you with your content marketing journey.
FAQs About Content Marketing on a Budget
How much budget do you need for content marketing?
Content marketing on a budget is possible with the right strategy and tools. The average business invests 25-30% of its marketing budget into content marketing. However, using the write tools and hiring the right content marketing company can help you save a significant amount of your financial resources while giving you a boost in ROI.
What is the content of marketing budget?
The content of marketing budget is the amount of money allocated for creating and distributing content for marketing purposes. The content may include blog posts, ebooks, videos, podcasts, infographics, and more. The budget may cover the costs of hiring writers and designers, paying for platforms and tools, and buying advertising space.
How do you create content for a budget?
Creating content for a budget is not hard if you follow these tips. You can focus on one channel, repurpose your content, use free tools, and leverage your existing assets. Content marketing on a budget can help you reach your audience and grow your brand without spending too much.
Content marketing on a budget is cheaper than traditional marketing. Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and up to 41% less than paid search. Content marketing on a budget can help you achieve your marketing goals with less investment and more value. So, according to our research, we found out that while cost per lead while running Google Ads can be as high as $20, effective content marketing will cost you as high as $5 per lead.
