Not setting enough time aside to plan is one of the biggest downfalls of the average content marketer. Being eager and raring to go is great – there’s always a place for buckets of energy and truckloads of motivation and it will shine through your content – but it’s so important to initially divert this energy towards a content strategy before diving into the good stuff.
From determining an appropriate target audience to attracting new readers; from creating content people WANT to see to identifying your niche of expertise, there is plenty to keep you busy before creating your first piece of content – and before you get started with that it may be worth drawing up a content calendar.
So you’ve knocked together a content strategy and it’s worked like a charm for a good couple of months. However, content marketing is a rapidly evolving business and new trends break onto the scene left right and centre, which means you need to adapt your content strategy to keep up.
Remember, your content strategy document is not set in stone.
Akin to the pirate’s code, a strategy is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules, designed to push you in the right direction. Therefore, it should be subjected to regular reviews and updates to ensure you are consistently delivering the content readers want to see and achieving the results you had in mind.
With this in mind, what are a few of the reasons why your content strategy might require a rethink?
You’re not being creative enough
Your creative juices have dried up and your content marketing campaign is in the throes of a terrible drought. How can you rectify this situation? With a good old fashioned brainstorming sesh of course! Or factor useful content marketing tools into your strategy such as InboxQ to find ideas suited to your niche. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the absurd – people like crazy, weird and funny so being bold may well work in your favour.
You’re just too efficient
Being too organised and sticking rigidly to a strict schedule can actually hinder your content marketing efforts rather than give it a helpful leg up. Churning out content for the sake of it is not how content marketing works, and taking this approach can hamper creativity and dehumanise your content, repelling readers and potential customers. Put some thought into what you’re writing, try to enjoy it and engage readers with a familiar tone. Video is a particularly effective way to do this.
You haven’t thought about images
Too many content marketers overlook the importance of images, but they’re part of your content too! Take the time to source relevant images for your content that will turn your blog into even more of a reader magnet – and remember to upload your chosen pic into the ‘Featured image’ section so that it shows up as a thumbnail in the feed. That’s not to say you should spend less time on any text-based content. Badly researched articles will not earn much credibility, either in the eyes of readers of Google.
Check out our content marketing download for more great tips!
Jenny Maclean
