At the very least, content marketing is important to the majority of organizations. So why is it that only 32 percent of them feel they are effective at producing content?
Just because you’re moving forward with content marketing doesn’t mean you should expect to be successful right from the start. With that in mind, let’s take a look at four reasons content marketers fail:
- They are not leading the conversation. There’s a difference between doing the Ice Bucket Challenge in the middle of August and doing it in the middle of September. Those who took part in August are obviously abreast of the latest trends, while those who waited look like they are hopping on the proverbial bandwagon. To fully engage your customers, you’ve got to lead the conversation and be a trendsetter, not a follower.
- They are trying too hard. Many writers are guilty of it: trying to weave “10-dollar-words” into otherwise standard content just to prove they went to college. But the whole point of writing, really, is to communicate ideas. By using words that aren’t conversational, you risk alienating your customers. After all, who wants to thumb through a dictionary just to figure out what a content marketing message is supposed to mean?
- They are just grabbing attention, not holding it. What’s your reaction when you click on clickbait? You know, those sexy headlines that are intriguing no matter what kind of cloth you’re cut from? Chances are you are pretty disappointed after you see the caliber of the content you’re reading. Oftentimes, those headlines are crafted just to drive ad revenue—not to add value for the reader. You don’t want to create content that similarly disappoints your own readers. As such, you should strive to create content that is truly transformative.
- They aren’t creating strong content. There’s a difference between creating content just for the sake of it and creating content that people actually want to read. Your business doesn’t need to drown your customers in a sea of duplicative topics that they’ve seen time and time again. Think about it: Would you rather wade through a daily onslaught of published items to find the one you’re looking to read? Or would you prefer to visit a company’s blog with the foreknowledge that all content there is worth a look?
Hopefully you’re able to learn from these common errors so that your own efforts will be more successful in the future. Click here to learn more about how you can build a more successful content marketing strategy.
