When a content marketing campaign fails, many people are tempted to say, “Content marketing campaigns do not work,” rather than saying, “My content marketing campaign did not work.” Content marketing is a bit of a finicky beast. It requires more time and attention than most people are willing to give to it and it often takes longer to show returns than other marketing strategies.
These two factors mean that these types of campaigns are rarely given the time and funds they need, and hence, the campaign fails. Here are some of the reasons that these campaigns fail and how they can be mitigated:
You Didn’t Blog Enough.
A blog is going to be the foundation of any content marketing campaign. Research has shown that companies that blog at least six times get twice as many leads per month as those who blog less than six times. If you are only blogging once a week (or worse, once every two weeks or just once a month), you simply are not going to be able to pick up the momentum of viewers and readers that your campaign needs. While you might have a few avid readers holding on until the next post, most of the new people you attract when you do post will drop off before the next one arrives. The best way to solve this problem? Blog more. Of course, this requires you to actually have a content schedule and the time to write.
You Didn’t Market on Social Media.
Social media is the ideal stage for marketing your content, especially if you have already built up your accounts and you have a large number of followers. Promoting your blog, ebook, whitepaper, etc. via social media is a great way to reach out to your target audience. Whether you simply post about your content to your established follower base or you use social media marketing tools to extend your reach, you’ll have much better luck if you utilize what social media has to offer than if you do not.
You Didn’t Ask for an Influencer’s Help.
Many people today, in the egalitarian world of the internet, underestimate the power of online influencers. These are people that already have a captive audience and that are always looking for something new to show those people. They are looking for content to keep their audience engaged, just like you are. When you provide them with content that they can use for expressly that purpose, they are likely to share it, as long as it is relevant and helpful. This can be a huge source for new leads, diverting traffic away from that influencer and to your content, instead.
You Are Trying to Market Content That No One Wants.
If you are trying to get people to give you their email address in return for a whitepaper about the best Disneyland rides, you are probably not going to get very many takers. That information is readily available all over the internet and it probably doesn’t really have anything to do with what you are actually trying to sell or give to your target audience. The “wrong content” doesn’t have to be something that ridiculous—it just has to be content that your audience has no interest in or can find without paying or handing over their personal information for elsewhere online.
You Weren’t Persistent Enough.
We see it all too often: someone starts a campaign, gets really excited, works on it for a few weeks, and when they do not see immediate results, they just let the campaign lapse. A few weeks is not enough time to really measure whether or not something is going to be effective. There is no way that you have reached out to everyone, structured the campaign correctly, are offering the right thing, etc., unless you actually stick with the campaign. Yes, you should never stick with a truly failing campaign just for the sake of sticking with it. But you should also give campaigns a chance to find their feet before you give up on them.
If your content campaign fails, it may be simply because it was not the right campaign for you. The more likely answer, however, is that the campaign did not get what it needed from you as the marketer in order to be successful. That means, perhaps, that it was not put in front of the right people, that it didn’t reach the right markets, that it simply was not what people wanted to read. Any of these might be reasons why a campaign could fail—but they do not have to be reasons that you campaign absolutely fails. Mitigate the failings to create a more successful campaign.
When a content marketing campaign fails, many people are tempted to say, “Content marketing campaigns do not work,” rather than saying, “My content marketing campaign did not work.” Content marketing is a bit of a finicky beast. It requires more time and attention than most people are willing to give to it and it often takes longer to show returns than other marketing strategies.
These two factors mean that these types of campaigns are rarely given the time and funds they need, and hence, the campaign fails. Here are some of the reasons that these campaigns fail and how they can be mitigated:
You Didn’t Blog Enough.
A blog is going to be the foundation of any content marketing campaign. Research has shown that companies that blog at least six times get twice as many leads per month as those who blog less than six times. If you are only blogging once a week (or worse, once every two weeks or just once a month), you simply are not going to be able to pick up the momentum of viewers and readers that your campaign needs. While you might have a few avid readers holding on until the next post, most of the new people you attract when you do post will drop off before the next one arrives. The best way to solve this problem? Blog more. Of course, this requires you to actually have a content schedule and the time to write.
You Didn’t Market on Social Media.
Social media is the ideal stage for marketing your content, especially if you have already built up your accounts and you have a large number of followers. Promoting your blog, ebook, whitepaper, etc. via social media is a great way to reach out to your target audience. Whether you simply post about your content to your established follower base or you use social media marketing tools to extend your reach, you’ll have much better luck if you utilize what social media has to offer than if you do not.
You Didn’t Ask for an Influencer’s Help.
Many people today, in the egalitarian world of the internet, underestimate the power of online influencers. These are people that already have a captive audience and that are always looking for something new to show those people. They are looking for content to keep their audience engaged, just like you are. When you provide them with content that they can use for expressly that purpose, they are likely to share it, as long as it is relevant and helpful. This can be a huge source for new leads, diverting traffic away from that influencer and to your content, instead.
You Are Trying to Market Content That No One Wants.
If you are trying to get people to give you their email address in return for a whitepaper about the best Disneyland rides, you are probably not going to get very many takers. That information is readily available all over the internet and it probably doesn’t really have anything to do with what you are actually trying to sell or give to your target audience. The “wrong content” doesn’t have to be something that ridiculous—it just has to be content that your audience has no interest in or can find without paying or handing over their personal information for elsewhere online.
You Weren’t Persistent Enough.
We see it all too often: someone starts a campaign, gets really excited, works on it for a few weeks, and when they do not see immediate results, they just let the campaign lapse. A few weeks is not enough time to really measure whether or not something is going to be effective. There is no way that you have reached out to everyone, structured the campaign correctly, are offering the right thing, etc., unless you actually stick with the campaign. Yes, you should never stick with a truly failing campaign just for the sake of sticking with it. But you should also give campaigns a chance to find their feet before you give up on them.
If your content campaign fails, it may be simply because it was not the right campaign for you. The more likely answer, however, is that the campaign did not get what it needed from you as the marketer in order to be successful. That means, perhaps, that it was not put in front of the right people, that it didn’t reach the right markets, that it simply was not what people wanted to read. Any of these might be reasons why a campaign could fail—but they do not have to be reasons that you campaign absolutely fails. Mitigate the failings to create a more successful campaign.