It probably started slowly. Perhaps you thought it was just a slow week for your business. But then, a slow week became a sluggish month—and then a bad quarter. All of a sudden, what seemed like an anomaly looks more like a trend that points to lower revenue, decreased traffic and high customer churn.
If your business is struggling, waiting idly and hoping for things to turn around is not a plan of action. Rather, jumpstarting your business may require adjustments to your current marketing strategy. Below are a few signs that a content marketing strategy is the remedy for what ails your company.
Lead Generation is Failing
When generating quality leads starts to feel like pulling teeth, it’s time to step back and take a look at your existing lead generation strategy. Gathering leads is all about creating consumer engagement and without quality content, that’s a difficult task. Content marketing helps you communicate your brand message and offerings to buyers through blogs, white papers, case studies and more. The proof is in the numbers; companies that blog generate 67 percent more leads than businesses that don’t.
Sales is On Your Tail
Have you noticed an increase in emails and visits to your desk from sales staff? When revenue falls, salespeople look for new ways to give it a boost and your department is often the first place they stop. Maybe when your business was at the height of its profitability sales was fine using the same old material through the same tired channels—but not anymore. To do its job effectively, the sales department needs fresh content that helps nurture prospects.
Web Traffic is Down
If you’ve started to notice your monthly visits trending negatively, it’s probably because your site doesn’t provide enough added value or engaging material. If prospects or existing customers see the same content on your site today as they did two months ago, chances are they aren’t going to bother coming back again. Would you read the same newspaper every day or watch one episode of a TV show repeatedly? The same logic applies to the content on your website.
In addition to offering company information on your site, you should also provide content that helps push buyers through the sales funnel by pulling in current events and industry news. Assets like white papers or case studies, for example, can help drive repeat traffic by speaking to buyers’ challenges and pain points.
Credibility With Customers Is Hurting
Marketing and customer service experts regularly tout trust as the most valuable currency in business. Why? It’s the most difficult commodity to acquire and the easiest to lose. Research shows that consumers will almost always do more business with a brand they trust. Delivering a steady stream of custom content—explaining how your offerings can help solve your target audiences’ problems—helps consumers feel like your company understands the challenges they face.
Social Media Numbers Are Falling
At the beginning of 2014, 74 percent of adults in the U.S. used social media sites. Younger generations use these sites at an even greater pace, meaning the overall rate will continue to climb in the years to come. If your pages aren’t attracting the attention they used to, it’s likely because the content is stale. You can only link to your homepage or the same case study so many times before people lose interest.
If any—or all—of these signs hit a little too close to home, perhaps it’s time to shake your strategy up a bit. Don’t panic, however, because there are content strategy vendors out there to help you pull your marketing efforts up out of the doldrums.
For more information on our content marketing services, click here.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
