When you run a business, it’s important to make sure that you plan the right marketing strategy. This is always going to include content.

Marketers agree that content is still king when it comes to promoting a company. The right content will engage your audience and ensure that they are more interested in buying your products or using your services.

Content can also make your brand more accessible and improve the opinion that customers have of your company at the same time. It also provides a way to market your business that is completely non intrusive and thus can be more powerful than direct marketing options. 

But how do you make sure that your content works for you? Well, first you need to understand why your content might be failing to help you make the right impression. 

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The Incorrect Ratio

Another reason your content strategy will fail is if you are not using the right ratio in terms of the content that you are releasing and publishing online. Ideally, you need to make sure that you are following the 80:20 rule. This means that only 20% of any content that you release and publish should be purely promotional. The rest should deliver real value to your target audience. What does this mean?

Well, you need to make sure that your content either helps, interests or entertains your audience. If you approach this the right way, then content will indirectly lead customers to making a purchase decision so it can be a stronger choice compared with direct promotional content for your business. Don’t forget, customers always trust the word of the audience more than the brand itself. So, direct marketing content is not as powerful as most business owners assume. 

This is particularly important when you’re creating content for your social media profiles. If your business social media has too much promotional content then it is not going to receive the follows that you need. You will also see a lower level of engagement on your posts, reducing the potential reach. 

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The Wrong Agency

It’s possible that you are using an agency to create content for your business. There’s nothing wrong with taking this step. However, you do need to make sure that you are getting the right professionals on board with your business. To do this, you need to be aware of the red lights that there’s a problem with an agency. An example would be if they don’t ask for information about your brand before quoting you a price for their services. If this is the case, then you can all but guarantee that they will be delivering a cookie cutter solution and treating every company the same way. A business should always explore your brand in full before they quote you a price. 

Another sign to watch out for would be if an agency has poor reviews. The right social media agency will have a wealth of positive reviews and referrals that will show evidence you can trust their services. They might also provide case studies so you know exactly what type of tactics and tools they will be using to build up your marketing campaign and ensure that it lands the right way. 

An Uneven Style

It’s important to make sure that your content is consistent across every part of your brand. Ideally, when a customer reads content that you have created, they should be able to immediately recognize that it is from your business, even if it has been published on a guest website. Again, if you are using freelancers or an outside agency, this can be quite tricky to achieve. The best recommendation would be to create a style guide. You can provide a style guide to every agency or freelancer that you work for to ensure that the content that they create matches specifically with your brand. 

In terms of the style of your content, you should make sure that you do think about the quality of the content that you are producing as well. Ideally, you need to guarantee that your content is easy to read, powerful and thoughtful. It needs to be fresh too. While you can spin content that you find online, you still need to make sure that anything you create can be seen as unique. This is important for your brand identity and your SEO strategy

No Target 

Finally, you need to make sure that any content that you create is targeting a specific audience that you want to connect with. This is always going to start with the right research. You must have a clear image and understanding of your target group. A key part of this will be identifying the pain points of your audience. Once you know the pain points, you will be able to address them directly and use your content to solve the issues that they are facing. 

You can also think about creating content around the questions that your target audience has. Remember, unanswered questions are often what is stopping customers from committing to a purchase. If you can answer the questions, then you will again point them towards a purchase decision. You can find out which questions they want answered by looking at the data connected to the search bar on your website. This will tell you which queries your customers are more interested in with regards to your business. You can then build entire pieces of content around those queries while subtly pointing out how a product or service that you are selling can help them with any issue they are facing. 

We hope this helps you understand some of the main reasons why you could be struggling to get the results that you need with your content strategy. If you take the right steps here, then you will be able to correct the issues and get everything back on the right track. Remember, content can be one of the most valuable tools for your business. You just need to make sure that you are taking full advantage of this option. 

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