Why Your Content Marketing is Failing and How to Fix it

Can content fail? Content marketing is one of the best investments a business can make. From video to audio and text based content it is said you will get traffic, and increase your chances of converting a cold audience to people ready to buy your wares.

Why then do so many companies and business owners struggle to see results with their content? Are they doing it wrong or is it a myth of the marketing world? Read on for answers.

What is good content marketing?

Content marketing is a marvel of the internet age. Not that traditional marketing no longer works. This content showcases and builds interest in your products, services and capabilities. It may be company-produced or user-generated. Company content can include press releases, blogs, videos, as well as radio or tv ads. Whereas user-generated content generally includes product reviews and company ratings on social media. Or more traditionally, on review platforms like Google My Business and Yelp.

Whether your content is good or bad is subjective. My rule is that good content is content that meets the user’s needs. It is also good when created and published according to the guidelines of the publisher and platform.

By this definition a post that shows you how to price your services is good if it offers a guided solution. It is good when it matches search intent, provides a solution and encourages Google to show it in its top results. If your SEO is top notch your content will show up as a Featured Snippet. Now that is my idea of good content. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

What type of content should you publish?

The major types of content are informative, inspirational and educational. This content can be video, audio or text based.

But how much content should you produce?

Your production capacity, use cases and market preference should decide for you. Do not produce without confirming your capacity. Too often people neglect their content because they get overwhelmed or stressed.

Homeowners and tradespeople tend to do better with visual content. Tutorials are therefore a great choice for this audience. Or a step-by-step blog with pictures showing a follow-along process. Journals and magazines are better for industries in which long form content is the norm. Imagine giving a busy professor gigabytes worth of videos and expecting them to watch it? This would be wrong for the use case. Far easier to send them a print or digital journal which they can read at leisure. Or a link to a website article they can bookmark and read offline later.

When unsure, consider where your audience goes for answers. Reddit is very popular among the tech savvy nerds and enthusiasts. You won’t often find them in Facebook groups. Women who knit will likely have Facebook and WhatsApp groups but they won’t be on LinkedIn. Why? Because LinkedIn is more buttoned up. Thus content on it is more corporate and less hobby based.

Producing content in the wrong format is a failure-inducing, wasted investment.

What and where you publish your content also matters. Both the format and platform can affect your success. You must pay attention to publishing platforms when mapping out your content strategy.
Some of the most popular platforms are as follows:

Platform	Top Corporate Use for it
YouTube	publishing tutorials and entertainment
TikTok	producing entertaining content, doesn’t convert so well
Instagram	building relationships with the audience
Facebook	community building and managing larger niche audiences
Twitter	disseminating time-sensitive content
LinkedIn	sharing company updates and expert information
Blog	producing mass audience content, central hub for all other content

How to get better results from content marketing?

Choosing the right type and format of helps with the success of marketing with content. Using a publishing schedule and a customized content marketing strategy are even better. Top it all off with a good production team so that your content is the best it can be.

If you can, invest in the right content optimization and impact measurement tools. Optimization can include everything from a good keyword strategy for a blog, having a fast-loading website and a terrific IG bio. It may mean using a filming studio instead of recording video in a noisy coffee shop.

Anything that improves the user’s experience and makes it easier to find your content is a part of optimization and is worth the effort.

How to see if content is working or failing?

Content can fail for any number of reasons. Some of the reasons are out of your control but as a publisher there are many things you can do for success.

1. Revisit the platforms you are publishing on

Is it the best platform for your industry? Are your expectations realistic? You cannot post a blog one hour and expect it to be viral the next. It takes time for distribution channels to spread your new content around.

Google crawlers may also not index your content right away as you are one of millions producing content 24 hours a day. In fact, 60% marketers produce 1 piece of content a day. That is a whole lot of competition for your content marketing.

2. Use good measurement tools

It goes without saying that any strategy needs to be measurable. Once you have decided on your key performance indicators (KPIs) be sure to check them regularly. Some content is best measured weekly. Other content monthly. The frequency you use depends on the metric. Collect as much relevant information as you can and do comparisons to know how your content is performing over time.

What should you do when you don’t see results?

After asking the questions above and seeing no changes it may be time to change your strategy. Or your content team.

Publish for your audience, not what you want

Failure often occurs due to a disconnect between search intent and what you want to publish. Too often you will create content you excel at. Or you only publish what you like yet your audience wants something else.

I made this mistake when I started on Instagram. My strategy included inspirational pieces and basic information content. I grew slowly but steadily. It wasn’t until I added deeper industry content and opinion pieces that I got greater results.

By sharing experience-based insights and opinions I served content that helped my audience. Moreover, I connected with business owners who needed coaching or wanted to hire me. I achieved this through serving what they wanted, not what I thought they want. So make content that serves your audience intent without draining you.

Fix your content production

Another fix is to change your content production. Update your publishing times to industry standards or vice versa. Change up the way you produce your content. I have found that repurposing content can often lead to greater success for the original piece of content.

Improving your content funnel can also produce better results. An example funnel with repurposed content may go as follows: Web-based blog —> YouTube video transcript —> Instagram caption —> Facebook Live with discussion based on blog content. Each platform repurposes the original blog, sending traffic back to your website and increasing content exposure elsewhere.

My favourite fix is to optimise content distribution channels for better results. I’d promote the blog and video with pins and social media posts. Long form content shines when it’s discoverable. So make it extra-shareable and drive traffic from other channels to increase exposure.

If all this still fails, get outside help. A virtual assistant, content manager or content auditor can often see what you cannot. They will see the gaps in your method and provide a content refresh or strategy to boost content.

Should you use a content marketing agency or freelance content manager?

Your budget and content goal influence who you get to help you. An agency is a great expense but they can produce varied amounts of work in a good amount of time. A content manager, content marketer and virtual assistant will often be more affordable.

However, freelancers often specialise by type of marketing content or platforms. This means you can end up with one for Instagram, another for Facebook and another for blogging.

You need to be clear what work you need and compare the costs of either option. My advice is to get freelance contractors when starting out as they are easier on your pocket. They can also recommend other contractors they have worked with who can help on your project. Plus most contractors have flexible payment and commitment plans that agencies do not. If your budget cannot afford a long-term commitment with an agency, get a contractor offering a quarterly or half year package.

What should you look for in a content marketing manager?

There are several things to look for when getting a content marketer or content manager.

1. Ask what the deliverables are.

Some will create content and publish it for you. Some will create, publish and manage it for you. Others will do the latter and offer engagement service on top. Know what you are paying for and make sure you get some form of reports with your package. How will you measure its success if you don’t have the numbers?

2. Look at their current and past work

Anyone in the digital marketing space will have some track record. A newbie will have a portfolio of concept work. Or you can use their private feed as a capability measure. If you do not like how their feed looks find someone else.

Just remember that most private feeds often do not showcase commercial level quality. I tend to experiment a lot with my Instagram feed. I do this to test strategies before I deploy them to client’s platforms. As a result I wouldn’t necessarily use it as my portfolio. But it is a good place to start when vetting out potential freelancers.

3. Check reviews and work experience

Customer feedback is great, especially on freelance platforms like Upwork. You can also check LinkedIn for a professional record. Or access the freelancer’s growth. An Instagram Growth specialist with a 3K following but less than 10 comments or likes per post is shady. It shrieks of purchased followers and they’ll likely do the same to you.

Authentic professional content marketers will have similar traits. They will often practice what they preach on their platforms. Their profiles will be searchable on a second or third platform. Lastly, their content will display some of their knowledge.

Go with someone you understand or can identify with. It’s your money and your brand that is at stake. Plus you need to be able to communicate on strategy, implementation and enjoy a good relationship.

Myths surrounding content marketing and why they are not worth your time

1. You need to spend a lot of money to make it with content

Not always. Content is as expensive or as cheap as you make it. A good strategy is expensive, I won’t dispute this. Yet it saves you a lot of time and effort in the long run as it offers a trackable method of growth. You can also create content with a personal smartphone and free tools with great success. Or use expensive apps, extensions and services with poor results. Your skills and ability to make quality, satisfactory content will decide success. Cost is just a part of it but not the determinant.

2. You need to get an agency.

No you do not. The days of hiring Don Draper and Co. are over. An independent contractor can get the job done just as well as any agency. You just need to pick the right one and be clear what you need from them. A bad agency is just as bad as a bad contractor.

3. Content doesn’t make money

Many YouTubers and affiliate marketer would disagree with this. Content helps users find you and your products or services. Once they are aware of you they may then grow to trust and like you enough to buy. Or they can share your content with someone who will bring out their wallet. Content also helps your current customers use their purchases better. And we all know a happy customer is often a repeat customer or product ambassador. Good, non-slimey untruthful content will help increase both cold and warm leads. Whether you succeed in converting them with your sales process or team is another matter. Content can make money when done right.
We hope this piece helps you tackle your content strategy better. Share this or bookmark to use later. Want to improve your marketing? Please get in touch with our team for a strategy or support services.