No matter how “new age” content marketing may seem to some, it is very hard to make it work for you unless you completely know what you want to achieve with your content marketing strategy.
In fact, “strategy” is the keyword here. All those people who say content marketing doesn’t work for them, don’t have a strategy.
They want to benefit from content marketing because they have read or heard about companies and businesses benefiting from content marketing.
There is nothing wrong in wanting to benefit from something the others are benefiting from, it’s just that people want to use content marketing without actually understanding it, and then when it doesn’t work, they are disenchanted.
Why content marketing doesn’t work for some businesses?
Content marketing doesn’t work for some businesses because they carry it out half-heartedly, or they think that it is a template that can be implemented as it is.
They think once they have published 5-10 blog posts it should suffice as content marketing.
Content marketing, contrary to the prevalent belief, is a full-fledged business component.
It is not something that you do just because you want to do it as a novelty.
For example, if you need to have an office or a workplace for your business, there is no other option but to have it.
If you need electricity, then it is not an option.
Some business managers think that content marketing is optional, whereas, it is not.
What is content marketing?
It is, promoting your business on the strength of your content rather than conventional advertising.
Read What is content marketing: 15 definitions from industry experts
Who are more likely to do business with you? People who have come to your website via an advertisement or people who like the content that you publish and distribute regularly?
Obviously, it is the latter.
Your content nurtures familiarity. Your brand becomes recognisable when people come across your content at other places.
Content should be published and distributed for its usefulness and not because you want to cover all your keywords or you want to create an ongoing buzz on your social networking profiles.
It should provide answers to people’s questions.
If your prospective customers and clients have problems regarding your business, your content must provide solutions to those problems.
Your content must be the information they need to be able to decide whether they should do business with you or not.
Your content should help you establish yourself as an authority in your field or profession.
When people consume your content they should be able to make out that you are the right person to seek right information from.
It doesn’t work for some people because they think that content marketing is a one-off activity.
They think that they can start or stop content marketing as and when it is convenient to them.
It doesn’t work that way.
One needs to be consistent otherwise each time you start, you have to start more or less from scratch. When you have to start from scratch repeatedly, you tend to think that it is not working.
For content marketing to work for you, stop thinking that it is an activity that is optional.
Publish useful, high-quality content and then make sure the right audience can access that content not just on your website but also on other websites and social networking platforms. Do this consistently.
Focus on purposefulness and quality.
Don’t publish content just for the heck of it.
Your audience these days accesses content on multiple platforms according to individual preferences of your customers and clients.
Some may prefer your blog, some may prefer Instagram posts, some prefer LinkedIn updates and some would like to interact with you on Facebook.
A good thing about quality content is that it can be repurposed according to the platform you want to use.
The same blog post can be turned into a presentation and hence a YouTube video. You can take out individual points and post them on Instagram. You can post useful paragraphs on Facebook and encourage your contacts to respond.
So basically, content marketing means, constantly communicating to your prospective and present customers and clients in such a manner that it is a fruitful interaction and not one way promotional exercise..
Content marketing always succeeds when you publish useful and relevant content and then use appropriate channels to publish it and distribute it. People will always respond.
If you are regularly interacting with your customers and clients through your blog, online forum, social networking platforms and/or email newsletter, you are already doing content marketing.