Why Your Content Marketing Isn’t Working, and How to Make it Better

When it comes to content marketing, you have to be strategic and intentional with your technique.

Content Marketing Guide | Folsom Business Consulting

The Short Version:

• You have to be consistent with content volume, but also strategic with your creation
• Implementing a “content creation” strategy will improve engagement and results
• There are simple techniques that will help your content reach your audience

Step One of Content: CREATE IT!

Let’s not get stuck in a cycle of “paralysis by analysis”. In other words, while we are telling you to be strategic and purposeful in your content marketing, more important is to just start creating. This is particularly true if you are a new brand or business, or if content marketing is a new strategy for you. A modest goal is to produce one new piece of content every week. Don’t put limitations on what that content is. In fact, try to experiment with different mediums. For example, create a blog post for the website one week. The following week, if applicable to your brand and audience, create an original meme or graphical post for social media. Maybe the next week you post a Facebook Story or IG Live.

Do you get the point? Regardless of how well thought out your strategy may be, or how technical your content creation is, it does not matter if it is holding you back from creating. It is better to start off with a steady output of lower quality content than to have none at all.

This approach also allows you to see what your audience responds to when it comes to content. Some audiences prefer reading something. Others want to engage with a post on social media. Some audiences prefer to watch a video. You really won’t know what works for YOUR potential audience until you experiment.

So How Do I Make My Content Strategic?

OK so let’s say you have been playing around with some content marketing. Now you are wondering what you can do to make it better. Great! When it comes to strategy, stick with what is working. To see what is working requires a little bit of set up, primarily in analytics. For example, when you built your website, hopefully you set up Google Analytics. If you use social media, most platforms can provide you with a ton of data and insights.

If you have several months of content, then you should examine how effectively they reached your audience. On Facebook, you can simply go to the “Insights” tab on your business page to see each post, along with some standard metrics. For example, impressions, reach, and engagement. It will be fairly easy to scroll through your posts and see which types of post had the most impact. Find the ones that worked, and then review them to identify what made them different and more effective. In some cases, an audience may be really receptive to video posts. You see higher engagement, more “likes” and “shares”. In this case, the data would suggest that you continue to emphasize video content in your content marketing.

That does not mean you should abandon other types of content, but rather use this as the first step in developing a priority list for your strategy.

How is Technique Different Than Strategy?

So in very brief terms we have already started to lay out a content marketing strategy for you. To begin, you need a consistent schedule of content creation. Our recommendation was to start with one original piece of new content every week. That is part of a strategy. We then pointed out how you can use analytics to identify what type of content pieces are clicking with your audience. By identifying your most effective type of content, you can develop a strategy around content creation. Using the example above, if videos were the most engaging content for your audience, then your strategy should be to continue to emphasize video as your primary content medium. Maybe post 3 video pieces to every one blog post. That would be a strategy. It is purposeful. It is data driven. It maximizes your effort.

according to Facebook, 47% of value in a video is delivered in the FIRST 3 SECONDS!

Now, when it comes to technique, what we are talking about is the “fine tuning” of your strategic content. If your strategy is to post content weekly, with 3 of the posts being video, then where technique comes into play is understanding how to implement specific things into your strategy to strengthen it. For example, if you are making videos, a way to use technique is to look at what video lengths are most impactful. Did you know that according to research, the optimal video length is between 1-2 minutes? However, according to Facebook, 47% of value in a video is delivered in the FIRST 3 SECONDS! What that should tell you is that when it comes to your video technique, you better make the first three seconds really impactful.

So, continuing with this example, your STRATEGY is to focus on video content, and your TECHNIQUE is to keep it between 1-2 minutes with a really strong opening 3 seconds.

Another technique? Well, over 80% of Facebook users access Facebook from a mobile device, so it would make sense that your videos are optimized for mobile. (Want more awesome data like this? Then CLICK HERE)

Putting It All Together

Are you starting to see how this all comes together? When it comes to things like content marketing, it is helpful to start with a macro view and then work your way down to the microscopic level. Macro is the overall strategy, and the more granular decisions are more of the techniques.

Are you interested in learning more about developing your content marketing strategy? CONTACT THE INSTITUTION today to get started.

Institution Enterprises is a Sacramento marketing firm that provides a new standard in business consulting and education, helping your start-up or seasoned business design the practices and customs for success in today's marketplace.