Organic Marketing: How to Create Engaging Content for Your Business Online

Entrepreneurs these days wear many hats. Making great products isn’t your only job. You need to market your business, learn social media tools, be opportunistic, and be in the know of trends.

That sounds like a lot, especially when you don’t see immediate results. In this article, we’re going to demystify the art of content creation and how you can use organic marketing to boost your business online.

Why create content online for your business?

You might be thinking, “I’m not a content creator, why should I spend time posting online?”

Here’s the thing. Social media has become an integral part of our lives. It’s how people discover new brands, look for inspiration, and connect with others. If you want to reach new customers, social media is the perfect tool that allows you to reach thousands of people for free.

Creating content also helps you build your brand image. Customers these days aren’t just looking to buy products—they want to buy from brands that are aligned with their values. Social media gives your business a platform to showcase your brand personality and strike an impression with your customers.

Now that we know the value of content creation, how do we go about posting content that engages the right customers?

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1. Meet your customers on the right social media platforms

This is crucial. The key to creating content that engages your target audience is to meet them where they’re at. That’s why it’s so important for you to know your customers well.

Here are some considerations that can help you decide which platform you should start with:

Your customers’ age range
Where your competitors are posting
Your customer’s preferred media

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Young consumers who have a short attention span tend to prefer videos and images. It’s why TikTok and Instagram have a pool of younger users than Facebook. More recently, Twitter is also fast becoming a popular social media platform among the young and trendy.

If your customers are slightly older and prefer taking in information through long-form posts, Facebook might be a better platform. Facebook lets you post longer captions and has an interface that older consumers are more familiar with.

Before you go all out and start creating content for your business, think about where you want to start first. A post that’s doing well on Instagram might get very little traction on Facebook simply because that’s not where your main consumers are at.

2. Use the right hashtags

No one knows for sure which hashtags will bring your content eyeballs. Sometimes, the hashtag game can feel a little like trying to win the lottery.

That said, you can still make smart guesses about which hashtags you should use for your business. Here’s a framework you can use to pick the best hashtags for your social media posts:

1. Hashtags related to your audience (#coffeelover, #caffeineaddict, #coffeeholic, etc.)

2. Hashtags related to your product (#coffeebeans, #freshlyroastedcoffee, #dripcoffee, etc.)

3. Hashtags related to the genre of your post (#inspiringquotes, #quotesoninstagram, etc. more on the genre of your posts later)

You can use up to 30 hashtags on Instagram posts, and a limited character count for captions on TikTok. You’ll want to make use of any available opportunity to use hashtags so that your posts are easily discoverable by the right people!

3. Show up and be consistent

Content creation is a long game. You’re not going to see instant results and that’s why you’ll need to be consistent. Social media platforms reward accounts that post regularly because it shows that you’re active.

If you want the algorithm to be on your side, you’ll need to be consistent in your postings. We recommend posting at least 3 times each week, at prime times when your customers are most active online.

Late mornings, lunchtime, and after-work hours are perfect time slots to get your content in front of your audience.

Need content ideas? We've done the work for you with our free social media calendar to get in front of your customers and turn them into loyal fans:

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4. Experiment with different media

Now that you know the basic rules of getting content in front of the right customers, let's talk about what kinds of content you should produce.

At the start, it’s hard to know what kinds of content your customers tend to enjoy. That’s why you’ll need a period of experimentation. Here’s an example on how to test out your content:

Suppose you want to create content about the benefits of drinking coffee. You can present your content in a carousel post, static single image, a series of Insta Stories, or video forms on Reels and TikTok.

What’s the difference between these mediums?

Static single images list all the benefits in one single post. On the other hand, carousel posts help to break up complex information. It helps to declutter and create digestible bites of information for your audience.

One isn’t better than the other—it really depends on your audience’s preference. Some might prefer to see all the benefits in a single image while some prefer information to be spaced out.

Now that you’ve created carousel and static posts, you can film a short video of yourself talking about the different benefits of coffee in a short video. Videos on Reels have a limit of 30s while TikTok videos have a maximum length of 10 minutes. That said, we’d advise you to keep it short and sweet!

Creating a series of Insta-stories is quite similar to creating carousel posts. The only catch is that Insta Stories disappear after 24 hours. They’re a quick, interactive way to keep in touch with your audience and especially useful when you don’t have enough time to design a visually appealing post.

Schedule your posts to space out similar content

Now that you’ve turned one content idea into 4 different content formats, it’s time to schedule it in a content calender. You want to space out posts with similar content to be at least a week apart and not too close together. You want to make your content feel fresh, not repetitive!

Taking time to observe the different levels of engagement on your content will help you understand your audience’s preferred media. This is going to take some trial and error at first but the more you post, the more you’ll get the hang of it!

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5. Have a consistent color palette

First impressions matter. That’s why having consistent brand colors throughout your social media pages and website is so important. Having a website that looks completely different from your social media pages will cause confusion and possibly affect your brand’s credibility.

Branding doesn’t need to be an expensive endeavor. In fact, there are lots of available tools you can use to brand your business on a budget! Want to learn more about branding your business? Read this step-by-step guide to nail down your brand personality.

6. Always reply to comments and DMs

The best way to encourage engagement is to reply to comments and DMs. This signals to algorithms that your account is active and also rewards customers for being proactive in engaging with you online.

Customers love brands that care about them. Replying to DMs and comments helps to give a personal touch and creates lasting impressions with your customers.

You might like: 4 Quick Ways to Retain Customers for Your Ecommerce Business

Give them a reason to check out your online store

Ultimately, the goal of posting content online is to create interest for your business. With Cococart, you can easily create a beautiful website that matches the look and feel of your social media pages.

The best part? It only takes a minute to set it up. Create an account and start integrating your online marketing channels with your website today!

Your Success is Our Success

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