Chances are unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know what a TED Talk is. TED has 15.8 million people subscribe to their content. TED is a global conference in media organizations with strong engagement. Nearly every video that TED releases gets hundreds of thousands of views and they all go viral on social media.

As a small business owner, there’s quite a bit you can learn from the success of this massive media group. TED offers a stellar example of content marketing. Even a small business with limited resources can benefit from following TED’s example.

Quality and Quantity Matter

TED covers a wide range of topics from business to politics, biology, culture and more. Every piece of content is based on a single Idea – “ ideas worth spreading.” yes the brand has large stages and a globally-recognized name but that’s just the icing. The cake is in the quality of the curated content from TED.

Beyond market research and SEO, TED focuses on releasing informative, interesting, and shareable pieces of content that engage the audience.

Content marketing is a tool that every small business needs. A steady stream of quality videos, blog posts, and other pieces of content will definitely help a brand get noticed on social media while also proving expertise in the industry and prompting the Google search algorithm to rank a company more highly.

As long as the provided content is valuable to readers, original, and optimized for sharing, it’s on the right track to building an engaged audience just has Ted has done successfully for 35 years.

Tips for Following TED’s Lead

Diversify

It takes time to build a large portfolio of content across multiple platforms especially if you are a small business. But if you’re writing a blog already, there’s no reason you can’t repurpose that content into a webinar, a short video, an infographic, and more. TED branched out like this with its daily podcast where YouTube TED Talks exist in audio form. This allows fans to listen on their daily commute and the company can catch newer users whom they may have missed otherwise.

Research shows that 41% of monthly podcast listeners say they have more podcasts in their feed now than they did a year ago. That means there’s still time for you to get in the game. If you get it right, people will follow your podcast and provide you with a new platform to grow your business.

Reward Returning Audience Members

You must build an audience that regularly engages with your content and to do this, consistency is key. TED subscribers want all new content posted on a regular basis, and that’s exactly what the organization does. Release new content for frequently and consistently. As you seem more reliable to your target audience and Google algorithms, you’ll find your business grows.

As much as consistency can benefit you, the opposite can cause unintended harm. Inconsistency is the number one biggest content marketing faux pas many brands make across-the-board. Midsize businesses, startups, and even enterprises can succumb to this form of self-sabotage. If you go dark after a couple of enticing posts, your audience likely feels ghosted and won’t transform into a strong relationship.

Reach Out to Guest Contributors

All of us only have so many hours in the day and for the small business owner on a tight budget, it can be difficult to produce the amount of content you need to. That’s why it’s a good idea to call on guest contributors to help you. Reaching out to other industry experts and asking them to share their wisdom on your platform will keep a steady flow of content coming in. It also offers third-party validation for your guest contributors including speakers, authors, podcast hosts and more.

TED outsources much of its content work. The flagship brand has indeed produced thousands of talks on its own but countless additional conferences happen every year under the TEDx sub-brand. Independent conference organizers get the boost of the TED name while the umbrella organization gets additional content without the in-house labor that’s involved in producing it. This creates a win-win situation for every party involved and your small business can benefit from a similar approach.

Whether you’re a startup or a multimillion-dollar organization, the same rules apply across the board. You have to offer quality, sharable, digestible content. The audience will follow. By taking the time to find your own “ideas worth sharing” and sending them out to the world, you can reap the same success as TED has, with nearly infinite growth potential.

As an added bonus, If you want to generate some buzz about your company, you should seek information about your local TEDx program. TEDx is a grassroots initiative, designed to bring the spirit of TED to local communities. If there’s no one already working to bring the global TED experience to your community, you can apply to host your own TEDx event or partner with TEDx. If you find that there is a TEDx event near you, you can apply to become a speaker there to share your expertise. Having the credential for your business or brand can also help you grow.