8 causes of content marketing failure

I regularly encounter companies disappointed by Content marketing and the digital communication (no fusion on my part between these two very different disciplines). Most of the time they leave alone, sometimes helped by an intern who passes by, full of good will. There are so many blogs covering this market trends so fashionable (I’m one of them!) that when you read them you end up imagining you can do them yourself.

Some succeed, without knowing exactly how, most fail, despite having applied interesting recipes. When I analyze with them what went wrong, the pitfalls are often the same and I would like to share some points with you.

Without strategy there is no salvation!

To measure results, It is essential to set goals. It’s obvious, of course, unfortunately too often I see the beginning of communication projects without taking the helm. Content is created, but it goes in all directions, without guidelines.

It is inconceivable to want to do this Content marketing without strategy. Who is the content aimed at, for what purpose, which media will you use (video, magazine or newspaper, web, social networks, music, podcast, etc.)? Lots of questions that will give direction to your work.

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How to measure the benefits of a campaign if it does not have a clear objective, potential targets and an established duration?

Promote your content

Creating content is a good thing. Imagining that people will flock to it because you produced it is a mistake. It is important to make it known. If it’s a blog or website, you’ll have to go through SEO. I invite you to follow the four video courses available on this site which are a good starting point.

Then there are obviously the social networks : Twitter, Google +, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. You can invite influencers in your field via a tweet and ask them to share. In fact, this is where the Community manager comes in. Remember, this role can be outsourced and remember that I offer this service 😉

For content that is not online (newspaper, magazine, etc.), you can also promote it via the Internet and press relations. Writing or creating is not the most important part of Content Marketing, the real problem is making your content known.

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Your content is not interesting enough

You have to know how to do it pretty quickly. Don’t try to produce 4 articles a week if they are not of interest. You need to provide something interesting to your readers. Your headlines must be attractive and the content must be engaging enough to retain them. But what is bad content?

This might just be a bad article. More subtly, this may be an excellent article but it falls short of its goal. This could be content where you talk too much about yourself or your products. People exaggerate in all media, don’t exaggerate by disguising it in an article.

Reach out to your customers or potential customers by providing them with value, answering their questions, creating emotionswhich will ultimately create a bond between you and them.

Patience and time…

When we read articles about Content marketingit often appears as a magical, miraculous solution. This is totally false. The techniques linked to this form of communication, although now consolidated and functional, require time to develop. calculate ROI.

Don’t lose heart too quickly. To measure results, there are efforts that need to be made that may require more time and money than expected. However, this is calculated when you set a true communication strategy.

Hire them!

Another frequent mistake in the lack of strategy is the absence ofask for commitment. You have to create content, it must be beautiful, it must not talk too much about you so as not to tire your readers, but there is a moment when you will try to involve them in one way or another.

This could be a newsletter subscription, downloading an ebook in exchange for an email address and some contact details, an invitation to purchase, a great promotion for one of your products, etc. There are many ways to offer an exceptional offer, but this must be reflected in your commitment request. I will return to commitment requests in a future article.

Would you have too high expectations?

Since it is a practice placed under the spotlight of marketing aces, we sometimes tend to believe that focusing entirely on Content Marketing will produce results. It’s a big mistake content marketing must be included within an even broader strategy. All your marketing mix, your communication must go in the same direction.

Content Marketing is often integrated with Inbound Marketing. There is no revolution in all this, Content Marketing has existed for much longer than we imagine and if it were enough to work miracles, we would have known it long ago. It’s a well-executed strategy that will lead you to success, nothing else.

A marathon runner or a sprinter doesn’t win the race just because he runs fast. He wins it above all because he has undergone extensive training, often for several years.

Have fun

Sometimes we end up overwhelmed by the obligation to produce content. It weighs on our shoulders and slows us down to the point of anxiety about the blank page that stops you completely. To do this, produce content that you enjoy writing.

Of course, there are rules on the length of articles, on the images to insert, on the way to write for the Web, but if you like doing what you do, it will inevitably show. I have been following the Videocopilot site for a long time. Hosted by Andrew Kramer, a young prodigy of special effects and motion design on After Effects, constantly pushing the limits of Adobe software, he produces explainer videos with incredible brilliance.

Full of humor and dynamism, through these videos we feel that he is passionate about what he does and how he does it. Find a way to have fun creating your own content. The release schedule is importantit’s true, but don’t hesitate to forget it produce more memorable content.

Vary the pleasures

This applies to you but also to your readers. If you consistently produce long articles, you risk losing or discouraging them. You can write small articles, what we call in our jargon snack contentlighter contents, faster to read, perfectly compatible with the smartphone era.

Why not try the video? Youtube will allow you to make a good reference and the clips tend to attract a new audience. Start! You can also resort to tutorials, podcasts, etc.

Finally, in conclusion, the path to success through Content Marketing is never clear, you need to design it yourself. If you take only one piece of advice from this article, let it be this: we can’t achieve anything without a strategy. The best content is not enough, it must be supported, supported by a whole structure that allows it to be visible and have an impact.

Content marketing doesn’t just mean producing content! This is the main reason why a large number of brands end up abandoning it. Courage, sail towards success and don’t hesitate to contact me to implement your strategy!