4 Reasons Why Content Might NOT Work for You
We talk a lot about content and why people should do it and what the benefits are and yada yada yada. But obviously, nothing is without risk.
And the same for content. There is a risk to putting time and money and resources into building out a content marketing strategy and it then never working out or bringing ROI.
Here are 4 reasons why content might NOT work for you:
๐. ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ-๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ญ:
If your product/service doesn't solve a big enough problem in the market, no amount of content will solve that for you.
So if you're just starting, you need to:
- figure out how to systemize your processes and your product to get a product-market fit and
- then start creating content around it.
๐. ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐-๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ญ:
Even if you solve a big enough problem, your content wonโt work if you donโt know how to communicate your value prop in a way that resonates with prospects (for example, you speak in features and not in benefits)
It might be because you don't understand:
- their buying processes well enough,
- what frustrations they're going through, and
- what their day-to-day looks like.
You need to keep iterating your content based on your audienceโs response until the message resonates with them.
๐. ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ซ๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฌ:
You need to find where your target audience is spending time.
If you are selling to B2B decision-makers, you wonโt get much out of posting on Reddit or Tiktok.
LinkedIn is the obvious choice for any B2B business, but still make sure your prospects are active here. For example, if you sell to construction site managers, very few of them are active here.
๐. ๐๐จ๐ฎ'๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ:
You will not get results even if you do all the above things right if you stop after posting 3 videos.
Content marketing is not performance marketing but brand building.
Depending on your average sales cycle length, it might take you anywhere between 3 to 12 months to start seeing the results like:
- consistent inbound leads,
- shortened sales cycles, and
- reduced customer acquisition cost.
And you need to keep iterating in that time period. Look at your analytics. What resonates, what doesnโt? Which channels are working, which arenโt?
So as summary, if you want content marketing to work for you, you must:
- Have product-market fit,
- Have message-market fit,
- Post on the right channels, and
- Be consistent for 3-12 months WHILE iterating.