A Content Marketing Strategy for Herbalists
You started an herbal business knowing you’d need a marketing strategy. But, on closer inspection, you’ve learned that you have the choice between two different marketing strategies: paid vs. organic (or “content” marketing).
Paid marketing is just what it sounds like - it involves taking out paid ads to promote your product or service. If you’re paying to boost your social media posts or are taking out ads for your business online or in print, then you’re practicing paid marketing. Paid marketing can get your business in front of more people; however, consumers are becoming more and more savvy about advertisements and often skip right past them.
At Herbal Content Cottage, we help our clients implement content marketing strategies, which we (and our clients!) find to be far more effective.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing starts with the content. Your content can include blog posts, newsletters, social media posts, podcasts, and videos, among other things. The most important thing is that your content has value.
For herbalists, two types of content that provide value and regularly perform well are plant-based recipes and monographs.
By consistently sharing these valuable resources, you can build your community, establish yourself as an industry expert, and attract your dream clients.
But how do you know what sort of content to make and when to share it?
How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy - Herbal Edition
1) Establish your purpose, goal, and timeline.
It’s essential to be specific when hashing out a content marketing strategy, so hone in on what you want to accomplish over a certain period.
For example: You know you want to sell 300 bottles of nettle tincture within 45 days.
2) Identify Your Target Audience
To create content that appeals to your target audience, you must first identify them. What do they like? What are their values? What type of content will spark their interest? What stage of life are they in?
For example: You want to sell the nettle tincture to women between the ages of 25 and 65 with seasonal allergies. Your audience is interested in natural alternatives to over-the-counter medication, and most of them are mothers.
3) Brainstorm The Topics that Will Connect Your Goal To Your Audience
Now, you want to connect your goal (selling nettle tincture) to your target audience (women between the ages of 25 and 65 with seasonal allergies).
When brainstorming topics, it’s important to think beyond the sales approach of “buy this product” and instead think of inspiring conversations that relate to your product or service.
Some relevant conversations (aka - content) you could share with these women are:
Did you know nettle is a natural anti-histamine?
Myth/lore of nettle - nature’s allergy soother
How to avoid these 6 common triggers for seasonal allergies
Tips for keeping your home allergy free, naturally
Does your period (or peri/menopause) affect your allergies?
Why do over-the-counter allergy medications make you tired?
Spring allergy tips for busy moms
These are all examples of allergy content that may resonate with women of various ages who are interested in natural allergy support.
After you brainstorm a list of content ideas, narrow down your options by choosing topics with the best SEO value. (Need help with SEO? Book a free Discovery Call to learn about our SEO audits.)
4) Decide WHERE to Share Your Content
If you’ve been in a business for a year more, then you should have a pretty good idea of where your sales are coming from (social media? website? newsletters?).
For the sake of this example, let’s say that you have an engaged Instagram community, but you see a nice bump in online sales every time you send a newsletter.
With this in mind, you want to take your favorite content ideas(s) from above and share them via Instagram and newsletters. For Instagram, you could style your content as:
Static, photo-based posts
Reels
Carousels
Graphics
And more
Since you’ll also be targeting your newsletter list, you’ll want to set aside time to write and send a series of newsletters.
5) Create Your Content
Your content should cater to the channels you’ve chosen.
To get the most value from your content, we recommend starting with a blog post for each of the topics you’ve selected You can then repurpose that blog post into 1 - 3 newsletters and a handful of social media posts!
The amazing thing about blog posts is that they will continue to attract traffic to your website long after you’ve shared your social posts and fired off your newsletters. (But only if they’re SEO-optimized - this is NOT something to skip over!).
IMPORTANT: For each piece of content that you create, make sure to mention your nettle tincture. At the end of each blog post, social caption, or newsletter, you can say something like, “If you struggle with seasonal allergies, then check out our Nettle Tincture (link to product), which is packed with natural antihistamines to help soothe occasional sniffles.” Just make sure to use compliant language throughout - and don’t make any disease claims - to avoid getting fined by the FTC.
6) Share Your Content
It’s time to dazzle your audience!
A steady drip of content every few days will keep the conversation moving and remind your audience that nettle tincture is the solution to their seasonal allergy issues. During your campaign, it’s important to sprinkle in some other content so you don’t overwhelm your audience by fixating on the same thing for weeks.
Remember - the Marketing Rule of 7 states that a consumer needs to interact with your brand at least seven times before making a purchase commitment, so keep that in mind when creating your content.
7) Analyze the Results
You completed your campaign, but if you want to continue to be successful, it’s essential to analyze your results.
Did some content or platforms perform better than others? Are there areas for improvement? What type of content worked well?
Pay attention to these areas, make notes, and revise your content marketing strategy so you can keep improving!
Bonus Tip: Ethical Urgency
Adding a sense of urgency to your content can help you achieve the best results. A great way to do this is to include a limited-time sale or a bonus offer, like free shipping.
As you share fun and inspiring resources during your campaign, add a clear call to action with each piece of content, encouraging folks to buy your product - or sign up for your course - ASAP while they can still take advantage of your bonus offer.
The goal here is NOT to force a sale on someone who isn't ready. Instead, the goal is to ethically and compassionately communicate that if they plan on buying/signing up anyway, then they may want to take action now while they have the opportunity to save money or unlock extra incentives - like free shipping.
Need Help Creating Your Content Marketing Strategy?
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yes, that’s exactly what I need!” but you don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself, then that’s where we come in.
We’ve helped dozens of national herbal brands, clinicians, educators, and authors create successful content marketing strategies (and the content to go with it!).
With expertise in herbal marketing, copywriting, photography, and videography, we can help you brainstorm - and execute - your herbal marketing plan from start to finish.
Ready to get started?
