You’ve heard it over and over before: “content is king” and a great content marketing strategy will work miracles in converting leads and driving sales. So why is it that only 42% of B2B and 34% of B2C content marketers in North America consider their marketing strategy to be effective? Now, that’s a scary statistic! Here are 3 reasons why your content marketing strategies are failing and easy tips on how to fix them:
- Your content is all about you. Content marketing is all about giving customers what they want or need. Content that solely relates to your business, products, or services does not connect with consumers or have the same “shareable” factor as videos, educational blog posts, or how-to-guides. If you want your content to travel, you need to create it with your target audience’s interests in mind, while keeping true to your industry and company vision. According to Econsultancy, 94% of marketers and 90% of agencies agree that “personalization of the web experience is critical to current and future success.” In fact, 61% of consumers say they feel better about a company that delivers custom content and are more likely to buy from that company. So how can you appeal to your audience? Think about their needs and how you can position yourself as the solution or a knowledgeable industry leader with insights they will benefit from. Be on the lookout for industry news and trends and create content that relates to them. It’s all about teaching, not selling.
- You’re not simplifying your message. On average, your readers will only read 28% of the words on a page. Can you tell your story or get your message across in 3-4 sentences? Probably not. It is important to create content that is quick, informative, and to the point. Two easy ways to do so is by (1) creating a list or (2) using data visualization. Readers LOVE lists. Why? Because they make readers’ lives easier by prioritizing and shortening content, and catching their eye in an otherwise lengthy stream of content. Lists also make it easier for readers to scan through content while easily ingesting the gist of the overall story. Try summarizing and breaking down your content into 3-5 bullet points. Another great way to simplify content is by creating a visual representation of your data or story. A great way to do so is with an infographic. Visual data provides consumers with relief from today’s era of information overload. The use of visualized information on the Internet has increased 9900% since 2007! By conveying your message in a visually appealing way, you can make people more likely to support your cause, share your message, or buy your product.
- You haven’t added video to the mix. Video is taking content marketing by storm. After all, YouTube is the number two search engine in the world! Nielson expects that in the near future, 64% of marketers will have video dominating their strategies. Today, 96% of US consumers find videos helpful when making purchase decisions online and nearly ¾ are more likely to purchase a product or service if they can watch a video explaining it beforehand. In fact, a new report from Invodo reveals that online shoppers who view video are nearly two times (1.8) more likely to make a purchase compared to shoppers who did not watch a video. Think video production costs are too high for small businesses? Think again. These days you no longer have to be a technical genius or have a huge budget in order to create promotional videos, with apps and websites such as Vine, Animoto and Instagram at your disposal. These apps not only make it easy for you to create great video content, but also socialize it across multiple channels, both online and on mobile devices. If you want your video marketing strategy to succeed, it is important to create content that you would like to share as an audience. Connect with your consumers by appealing to their interests. Follow these tips for developing successful online video strategies.
These three mistakes might spell doom for your content strategy, but if you follow the easy steps we outlined above, you are sure to succeed. Remember to appeal to your consumers’ interests and needs, simplify your message, and add videos to your content marketing mix. For more tips, check out these other content marketing mistakes to avoid.
Have more to add to the list? Share them in the comments section!
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