Marketing & Brand Growth
You already know what your customers keep asking. That is your content.
Content marketing sounds like a job for a creative team. For a small business it is usually simpler: answer the questions customers ask, show the work as it is done, and explain things clearly. This session helps owners find topics in their own daily conversations, make a few pieces in an hour and keep a realistic weekly rhythm.
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Customers trust businesses that help them understand, before asking them to buy.
A customer with a question looks for an answer. If your business supplies it, clearly and without hype, you become the sensible choice at the moment they are ready to buy. That is the idea behind content marketing, and it needs no jargon.
Most small businesses fail at it not from lack of ideas but from the opposite problem: too many ideas, no routine, and a fear of looking foolish on camera. The session shows how to start small and keep going.
What the session covers
37 topics across 7 areas. Seven parts, from topics to a weekly rhythm.
Finding Topics in Your Own WorkThe questions already come to you.5
- What customers ask on the phone and on WhatsApp
- Mistakes you see repeatedly
- Things people misunderstand about your trade
- Before-and-after work you can show
- Seasonal and festival-related needs
Keep a note on your phone and add every real question for two weeks. That is your content calendar.
Formats That Suit a Small BusinessChoose the ones you can repeat.6
- Photographs of real work, with a short explanation
- Short videos on a phone, one point each
- Short written answers to common questions
- Checklists and simple guides
- Customer stories, with their agreement
- Voice notes or WhatsApp status updates
Writing PlainlyClear is better than clever.6
- Starting with the customer's question
- Short sentences and everyday words
- One idea per piece
- Saying what to do next, such as call, visit or ask
- Avoiding exaggerated claims
- Writing in the language your customer reads
Making a Piece in an HourA simple production routine.5
Good lighting, a steady phone and quiet surroundings matter more than expensive equipment. The session covers a few basic habits for each.
- Pick one question
- Write three points or one paragraph
- Take two photographs or one short video
- Check facts, prices and spellings
- Publish in one place first
Reusing and RepurposingOne idea, several places.5
- A video becomes a few photographs and a caption
- An answer becomes a saved reply on WhatsApp
- A good question becomes a poster or a status update
- Linking from your profile or website
- Updating old pieces rather than always making new ones
Facts, Permissions and CreditTrust can be lost quickly.5
- Checking facts, prices, dates and offers before posting
- Getting permission before showing customers, staff or their property
- Using photographs and music you have the right to use
- Saying when something is a paid promotion or a gift
- Not copying others' work or claiming it as your own
Rules on advertising, endorsements and copyright apply to small businesses too. Check the current ones for your case.
A Rhythm You Can KeepBetter twice a week for six months than daily for two weeks.5
- How many pieces per week, honestly
- A set time in the calendar
- Who does what if you have staff
- What to look at after a month: replies, questions, enquiries
- When to stop, change or drop a format
What participants leave with
- A list of twenty topics from their own customers
- One finished piece made during the session
- A simple weekly content routine
- A short publishing checklist for facts, permissions and credit
- A way to record which pieces brought a reply or enquiry
What this session is not
- A course in video editing or design software
- A guarantee that a post will be seen or bring sales
- A lesson in chasing trends or going viral
- Legal advice on copyright or advertising
How the session runs
Two to three hours, in a small group, with each person's phone. The practitioner shows how to turn one customer question into a short piece, and participants make their own while the group watches and comments. Owners read each other's pieces as a customer would and say what is clear and what is missing. The session ends with a realistic weekly rhythm for each person.
What your students leave with
- A list of twenty content ideas taken from real customer questions
- Three to five formats they can actually produce, with a phone
- A weekly rhythm they can sustain, in hours rather than days
- A plain-language approach to writing that does not sound like advertising
- A way to reuse one piece in several places
- A simple check for facts, permissions and credit before publishing
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Answer the questions customers already ask, and keep doing it.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.