Your company generates great ideas, creates beautiful infographics, and writes engaging blogs but your content marketing isn’t working. The reason? Your content strategy (probably).

A strong content strategy is essential to be noticed but we’ve found it’s often overlooked.

Here is a short list of mistakes to avoid.

1. Lack of a clear strategy

A well-defined strategy takes time and effort. It’s easy to be carried away with enthusiasm at the start as everyone chips in with ideas and produces content. But three months later the river dries to a trickle as people get on with the day job. A realistic strategy sets out defined goals that people can sign up to and be held accountable for.

2. No Budget

It’s tempting to look at inbound marketing – content creation – as a freebie. It isn’t. If nothing else people are being asked to work on articles and papers instead of/or on top of their normal jobs. If you want your content to cut through either your staff will need to be given time to develop it or you’ll need some outside help to ensure it is actually noticed. So, first things first, decide how much you can afford.

3. Low quality content

If the content you are putting out is the equivalent of ‘Hi – I’m here!’, your posts will soon be ignored.

Content needs to be regular – but also interesting. A great starting point is working out what potential clients and customers are interested in. What are the questions they have about your services or products? Make sure you answer them in an educational way – top of the funnel content marketing isn’t about hard sell.

4. Distribution

Going back to ‘Hi – I’m here!’, if you are shouting in a locked room few people will hear you. You need to find out where your customers/clients are going for information or entertainment. For a lot of B2B businesses that is LinkedIn. However, it might be Facebook or Instagram. Do you research and then target the best social media platform for your targets. At the end of the day content marketing is about generating leads. Use your posts to drive them to your website – where they can find more info about your services and products.

5. Expecting quick results

Content marketing takes time. Don’t expect to see a return in a couple of weeks. Give the content time to find a following – it will pay off.  This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Content is a crucial part of lead generation and can increase profits. At Word and Pixel, we help businesses develop winning content strategies. How can we help? info@mariag53.sg-host.com