10 Reasons Why Content Marketing Campaign Fails And How To Avoid Them
The content marketing campaign is the talk of the marketing town. Every business; either small or big, has resorted to relying on the content marketing campaign to target their audience and improve their conversions. Instead of promoting how fabulous their brand and products are, companies have turned towards the creation and distribution of content that is likely to connect them with their customers on the foundation of trust. The #1 reason why brands, especially the smaller and newer ones set out for content marketing is because of its cost. According to DemandMetric, traditional marketing costs 62% more than content marketing. Also, it states that content marketing has a better ROI and generates 3 times more leads on each dollar spent. But… This isn’t the only benefit of content marketing campaigns. Keep reading to discover more benefits. Increases Brand Awareness
The more you stay active on social media and publish your blogs, the more people will know about your brand, what you do, and what you have in store for your customers and potential buyers. Helps Developing A Bond With Your Customers Content marketing isn’t only about you and your products, but about your customers. To step up your content marketing game, you have to make sure that your content attracts and is useful to your customers. For instance, as a cosmetic company instead of bragging how extraordinary their lipstick is they try to create content that focuses on how to prevent lips from getting dry and chapped, or how to make lips plumper and pink, etc. it helps the user to benefit from their content. When you make your content to help a customer he turns to you if he needs the answers to his problems. Generates Traffic Huge traffic on a website is the dream of every entrepreneur. Having good quality blogs or social media posts that include the strings of keywords used by the consumers are sure to rank your pages higher in the search engine result pages. It will ultimately increase the chances of the users to land on your website to learn more about you or to make some purchases. Strengthens Communication With Customers Customers are more inclined to connect with a business that is not only in the market to fetch profits but also to help its customers. Replying to customer’s queries, replying to their concerns, or simply welcoming their criticism and feedback, etc. are sure to help you both connect. The best way to do so is on social media. Don’t ghost out after posting something. Engage with your customers in the comments, reply to them, and answer their concerns. Builds Credibility This is very important for service-oriented businesses. How would your audience place their trust in you when they know nothing about you? Content marketing is the answer to this. Let’s suppose you are a nutritionist and want to help people who want to shed extra pounds off their bodies. But, how would people know that you are the one who is capable of helping them? By starting a blog where you can cover the topics like, healthy lifestyle, foods that burn fats, cardio exercises to burn more calories, etc. When people will turn to Google for their weight issues, your blog will also appear and people will land on your website to read the information that you have posted. This will make them trust you that you are the right person for their problem with ample knowledge to help them. The benefits of content marketing are much more than the ones listed above. If done correctly, the content market will get you more leads, increase brand awareness, and boost your sales.
However, if your content marketing campaign fails, then you can kiss goodbye to all the benefits that you could have driven out of it. Many businesses spend time and post their content to gain the benefits of it. But, they don’t get a promising result? Why? Well, think of content marketing as an exam, and your customers and targeted audience are your examiners. If you fail to produce quality content for them, then get ready to fail. Because content marketing is all about keeping your audience engaged, happy, and to help them find answers for their problems. If you are also facing the problem of not getting the desired outcomes from your content marketing and want to know the reasons behind it then… Welcome aboard… Below we have curated a list of the 10 reasons why content marketing campaigns fail and how to avoid those failures. Without any further ado, let’s begin! 10 Reasons Why Content Marketing Campaign Fails And How To Avoid Them! No Content Marketing Strategy We know what you are thinking. You weren’t expecting this reason to be on the list, were you? The number 1 reason why content marketing fails is because of the failure of planning a concrete strategy for the marketing campaign. Businesses jump into the planning of where to start their content marketing, what to post, when to post, etc. No wonder all these questions are necessary but, the most important thing is to decide what outcomes do you want to achieve from your marketing? Try listing down all the outcomes that you want. For instance, a brand that has just been established will not do a marketing campaign to multiply its sales, rather its objective will be to increase its brand awareness and to let people know that they exist in the market. Similarly, a renowned brand would want to increase its sale because people know that they exist. Before you jump on to creating and designing your content, be very specific about your goals, and then tailor your content to achieve it. Not Investing Enough Time Another reason why content marketing fails is that the marketing team does not spend enough time planning. Before you move ahead and launch your campaign, understand that you are not only investing your energy and money on it but also your reputation. If the marketing fails then your customers may leave or become disinterested.
Therefore, instead of getting impatient to post, take enough time for planning. When you are coming with a marketing plan, make sure that every member of the team from the senior management to the lower management knows the following:
Why are you doing it?
When are you doing it?
When will you execute?
What outcomes are you looking for?
Who is going to create the content?
Who is responsible for publishing the content?
How are you going to promote the content? Make sure that you have planned every minor detail of your content marketing and discussed it with your team to make the campaign successful. Generic Content To stand out and to capture the attention of your audience, you must create something unique and worthy of their interest and time. Your content should be unique, creative, and to be able to capture and hold the attention of your audience. Make sure your content is rich with information that interests the customers but, not boring. It should be easy to understand and relatable for your customers. Because ‘Content Is the King’ if your king is weak then how will you conquer the interest and attention of your customers? Make sure that your content aligns with your marketing goals and the interest of your customers. Irrelevant Content When it comes to content creation, you must understand your customers. The content that might look exciting and interesting to you doesn’t necessarily mean that it will interest your customers as well. Understand your customers, their age, profession, which social media platform do they use, and how much do they spend their time online, etc., and then make relevant content that will interest them. Let’s suppose a renowned makeup store launches a campaign promoting fair skin color and makes a video for the same purpose. The video will get viral on different platforms to be bashed by people for promoting fair color and not embracing all the colors. This type of content will be labeled as racist and will make that brand lose its loyal customers. Always try to create content that is free from such controversies and targets all your audience not just a specific group. Not Publishing Frequently And Consistently Out of sight, out of mind… is the rule when it comes to digital marketing. If you are not actively posting on your blog or your social media handles, then be ready to lose a few customers.
The customers will not leave you deliberately, but rather your absence will make them forget about you. The Internet provides 1000s of other options to your customers in case of your absence. Post consistently and frequently. Schedule the days and times when your customers can expect to hear from you. Failing To Incorporate SEO SEO is the heartbeat of every website. Failing to optimize your website according to search engines means you are lost in the heavy traffic of websites and your potential customers will never be able to come to you. Both on-page SEO and off-page SEO also known as backlinks are very important for driving organic traffic to your website. Whenever you design your content be mindful to use the keywords or strings of queries that will be used by your potential customers on the search engine. For instance, if you have an online store that sells coffee, then try to use the words that your audience might use, such as: ‘Online Delivery of coffee’, ‘Best Cappuccino in New York’, ‘Decaffeinated Espresso’, etc. Not Monitoring The Campaign Another reason why content marketing fails is that many businesses think only creating and distribution of content is necessary to achieve the results and measuring and monitoring results is not important. Let us give you an example here. You receive your test paper which has been marked by your teacher. Will you check your paper? Or will you throw it in the bin? Of course, you will check it for 2 reasons. Firstly, you will check what score you get and secondly, you will also review the errors and mistakes in it. Measuring your result helps you to understand whether your campaign is harvesting your desired result or not. If it is headed in the correct direction then you can promote it further. On the other hand, if your campaign is not bringing the desired results then you can take corrective measures to move it in the correct direction. Not Promoting Your Content
You have written an excellent article that answers the queries of your customers. But wait… How will your customers know that you have created something to address their problems? Publishing content is futile if your customer is not directed towards it. Once you write a blog or post something on social media. Make sure to promote it and let your audience know that you have something in store for them. Opt for paid ads, influencer marketing, or email marketing to let your customers know that you are back with something good and unique for them. Failing To Implement The 80/20 Rule The trick to create content that resonates with your customers and at the same time promote your brand lies in the 80/20 rule. Your content should be 80% of your audience. You should address their problems and then provide them with an appropriate solution to solve their problems. The remaining 20% should be about your brand and how it can be of service to the customers. Creating content that is too self-promotional will not connect you and your customers emotionally. Your customers will never be able to see you as more than a brand. Impatience Often the content marketing strategy miserably fails because businesses want overnight success and results. Like any other marketing campaign, content marketing too takes time. Many businesses abandon content marketing if it fails to produce the desired results for the business. Content marketing is a long term game. By creating unique and creative content you are sure to achieve your objectives, if not overnight then definitely, very soon. Conclusion The reason for a failed content marketing campaign is not always the content itself, but sometimes the campaigning fails due to many other reasons. If your content marketing campaign is not bringing fruitful results then review your content market strategy and look for the errors and mistakes in it. They might be the culprit in making your content marketing successful.