Content Performance Issues? These are the Remedies

Let’s first start with what we know. We know that one in three marketers believe their content marketing efforts are effective. While 33% is “all-star” quality for baseball players…for marketers, well, not so much. And even this number is most likely generous (marketing professionals “think” their content is working, while at the same time the results point to under-performance).

There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that this whole content marketing thing, even though hundreds of years old, is still relatively new to marketers. After all, who told us that we’d actually have to be content publishers at some point in our marketing careers?

We can’t afford to just limp along with our content creation and distribution. We need a new drug. But first, we need to understand why we are failing. Here’s a few reasons (and a few solutions to go with them):

You Have No Plan

Of the thousands of marketers we’ve worked with in North America, less than 10% have documented strategies for their content (the business purpose behind their blogs, social media content, research reports, enewsletters, etc.). How can we be successful without a clear road-map?

That is why we are seeing so much horrible content out there. Marketers are filling buckets (channels) without clearly thinking about why they should be doing so.

Solution: Stop developing any more original content until you document two things:

1. Why are you developing this content (is it driving sales, saving costs, or creating happier customers?), and
2. What is the outcome for your prospect/customer? How are you solving their pain points?

For every piece of content you develop in the organization, you should know what the customer outcome should be and how you are helping their lives, their jobs, etc. (see Content Marketing Mission Statement for more on this).

Simply put, if you develop even a simple strategy for your content marketing, and give some thought to how that strategy should integrate with the rest of your marketing plan, you can, and probably will, dominate. While everyone else is lost in the woods, you’ll already be on the path to greatness.

Your Content Is All about You

Remember, customers don’t care about you; they care about themselves and their problems. We often forget that point when we describe how wonderful our widget is (which no one cares about).

Solution: Do an audit of your content? For your buyer’s journey, how much of your content is truly helping the customer make a decision versus us just talking about our features and benefits. The majority of corporate content is promotional. This needs to end.

You’re Setting the Bar Too Low

Your content should be the best in your industry — better than all your competition, and better than the media and the other publishers in your space. How can you be the most trusted expert in your industry if your content marketing doesn't reflect these high standards?

Solution: Understand that mediocre content is just clutter…it doesn’t help you or your customer. In his book, “Linchpin,” Seth Godin states that if we don’t consistently step out of our comfort area, then we are doomed to the status quo. Do something completely unexpected with your content from time to time.

Your Content Isn’t Owned

Someone in your organization (possibly you) must take ownership of the content marketing plan. If we don’t make someone accountable for content marketing in the organization, it’s simply not important enough to the brand.

Solution: If you do see content as a brand asset, assign someone to the task. Whatever the corporate title (e.g., Chief Content Officer or Director of Content Marketing), someone needs to own the company’s content strategy. It needs to be part of the person’s job description.

You Operate in Silos

Are you telling different stories across your efforts in PR, corporate communications, social media, email marketing, human resources, etc.? Do all your departments follow a consistent corporate story line? We cannot be the leading informational expert for our industry by telling contradictory stories.

Solution: Each department needs to have a content ambassador. These “content leaders” will then meet every week with each other, led by the company’s Chief Content Officer (the content owner). To be successful, each one needs to buy into the corporate content strategy (the content mission).

You Do Not Have Calls to Action

Every piece of content should have a call to action. If it doesn’t, at least recognize this, and consider the real purpose behind why you developed the content.

Solution: Put an increased focus on your subscription program. The key to understanding if content marketing is working is to understand what the difference is between subscribers of your content and non-subscribers. Are they better customers? Do they buy more? Do they stay customers longer?

Start first by focusing on your owned subscriber base (usually your email database) and then put a secondary focus on your rented subscriber base (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter subscribers). While there is nothing wrong with social media subscribers, we don’t want to build our content house on rented land.

You Are Not Niche Enough

You need to be the leading expert in the world in your niche. Most brands try to boil the ocean with their content. Stories that are not targeted to a specific persona and are highly specific to that industry go highly unread.

Solution: The smaller the niche you choose, the better. Think about it this way: In what content area can you become the leading expert in the world? If you can name five organizations or people already focusing on that area, you may want to start telling a different story, rather than just telling the same one in an incrementally better way.

You Execute Inconsistently

Almost all content marketing programs are campaign driven. By simply calling it a “campaign” concedes that there is a stop date to the program.

Solution: Your content marketing is a promise to your customers. Think about the morning paper (if you receive it): When it doesn’t come on time, how upset are you? You need to have the same mindset with your content marketing. Distribute content consistently and ON TIME. Your editorial calendar is your bible.

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I’m sure you’ve just thought of a few more reasons that are holding you back. Whatever the reason, nothing is insurmountable. What’s great about where we are as an industry is that there are so many amazing case studies and industry leaders helping us get to the next level. Identify your key challenges, tackle them, and move on to tell your story.

What Performance Problems Do You See?

What additional content marketing issues do you see in organizations today? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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@JoePulizzi is founder of the Content Marketing Institute, which runs the industry's largest content marketing event and leading content marketing magazine. He is also passionate about the color orange. His third book, Epic Content Marketing, is now available for pre-order.

Image Credit: Joseph Kalinowski