Every business relies on marketing to produce a steady, predictable flow of qualified leads. Content marketing in particular has become the promotional cornerstone for many businesses and when it’s done well, it can elevate the perception of your brand, help you reach new audiences and establish industry expertise. The issue is, many businesses struggle to market themselves effectively online. When you’re doing everything right on paper, but you’re still not seeing the results you want, it might be time to go back to the drawing board and find out what’s not working. Here are a few of the most common reasons why content marketing isn’t working for you.
You haven’t refined your strategy
Like most things in business, a clear, well structured strategy is a game changer.
Content marketing is no exception and if you don’t have a clear strategy, your content may not be reaching the right audience or you could be presenting the wrong message.
First you need to define your target audience and identify exactly who you are looking to reach. Do you fully understand their needs and pain points?
Then spend some time establishing your content marketing goals; are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads or drive conversion?
When you have a solid understanding of your audience and goals, decide which types of content you want to focus on that will resonate with your audience.
Create a content calendar with topics to follow each month, including the channels you want to use to distribute your content, whether it’s social media, email marketing or advertising.
Once a well-defined strategy is in place, being consistent with your approach and distribution can help increase your chances of success.
You’re talking to the wrong audience
As previously mentioned, sometimes the main problem is you’re simply pitching your business to the wrong audience.
One thing business owners are often guilty of is using marketing techniques that work for them, forgetting that their audience may benefit more from a different approach.
If you don’t have a clear understanding of who your audience is, and what their pain points are, you’ll find it difficult to achieve the results you want.
Research can be one of the most effective ways to determine your audience. Use surveys, social media analytics and website analytics to gain information about their preferences and interests.
Once you’ve found an approach that suits your audience, regularly check analytics to track your content performance and make adjustments to your strategy.
You can make a big difference to the success of your marketing activities by tweaking the content regularly so it continues to speak to your target audience.
The focus needs to be on the benefit of the customer, not on what you ‘think’ works.
Your Content Doesn’t Provide Value
The quality of your content is essential and it needs to provide real value.
If your content doesn’t provide value, the chances are your audience won’t engage and it will fail to generate you any leads.
The problem is, nearly every business will struggle to produce engaging content every single day, that no one else has already created.
So how do you stand out among the crowds?
You need to produce better content than the average content marketer, and that’s where value comes in.
Your content should solve a problem, it should resonate with your audience and offer them a solution to a problem they’re having, not just promote your business.
Offer practical tips, advice and insights that help your audience, making sure the content is well-researched and engaging enough to draw in attention.
You can establish yourself as a thought leader, build trust with your audience and achieve your business goals, all through providing in-depth, valuable and well-written content.
You’re not consistent
Effective content marketing requires repetition and consistency.
If you’re not consistently creating and publishing high-quality valuable content, following the same guidelines, you’ll find it difficult to build an engaged audience.
It takes repeated touch points and engagements to drive your audience to take action.
Post daily and interact with your audience through likes and comments to regularly show up in their feeds.
If someone only shows up when they are pitching, can they be trusted?
Building trust with an audience takes time but it’s important to be consistent in every aspect of your content marketing, including design.
Provide valuable content on as many relevant platforms, but make sure that the visuals are consistent to tie in your brand.
If a customer visits your website and then finds you on social media, they want to see straight away that you are the same, so every company should have clear brand guidelines to keep marketing consistent across all channels.
Conclusion
When content marketing works, it works well.
But unfortunately there’s no quick fix.
You have to identify the problems you’re having, create a solid strategy, create high quality content that resonates with your audience, promote it effectively and then track your results.
It takes time, but content marketing takes in the big picture of marketing — audience, revenue, profit, and brand. Once you’ve nailed content marketing, you’ll benefit from the results.