Content marketing is of major importance when it comes to product promotion, customer loyalty and branding. Of course, it's not enough to create a large volume of content: you have to make sure it's also valuable. You need to consider the topics that your target audience is interested in and focus on those topics. Boring content will make a product or company less interesting to customers and / or potential business partners.
In this context, it is important to point out which are the five steps that are often missing from what companies do and that prevent them from having successful content marketing.
1. Lack of a content marketing strategy
A content marketing strategy involves several steps. First of all, it is absolutely necessary to clearly establish your target group, in order to be able to understand its interests and problems. After identifying the target group, adopt effective tactics to shape and increase brand awareness in the online environment. Never copy a "branding template". The brand must build a reputation in the online environment by providing relevant and valuable content, while facilitating interaction with the target audience. How can you do this? Here are some examples: interactive newsletters, online testimonials, video explanations and audio podcasts. Content marketing can take many forms and they are all important in creating a successful brand. But what is most important is the consistency with which it communicates in content marketing. Only through consistency can a strong and attractive brand be built.
2. Poor understanding of the needs of various categories of customers
Trust is the foundation of any collaboration or business relationship. If you do not inspire security to potential customers, you will never be able to win them, because they are looking for companies that understand their needs, solve their problems and, at the same time, offer them security and / or comfort.
There are several ways you can get people's attention and create a direct connection with them, so that you can convince them that they find exactly what they are looking for in the company's offer. Try to find the place that is at the intersection between the needs of the business, related to the positioning and essence of the brand, and the intention of customers. Adapt processes to goals and people, not the other way around. For some, you may need content marketing software.
3. Lack of smart investment in content marketing
Prioritize and find the right mix for content marketing. Invest where it makes sense and where you know you can succeed. Innovate in how you create and promote content.
• Smart investing obviously also means measuring results. Here are some recommendations in this regard:
• You must have a goal to assess the performance of marketing initiatives in the organization.
• Measure what you can measure and what makes sense, taking into account that there are some costs associated with access to platforms and measuring instruments.
It is good to have a center of excellence. It can be expensive, but it works very well. A center of excellence is used in the transformation processes that require 360 collaboration in the organization.
4. Lack of resources needed to make the content
When choosing an agency to offer you content marketing services, make sure you don't overpay, because large agencies have higher project management costs. On the other hand, larger agencies work with many freelancers and offer them the opportunity to create a good mix for content marketing.
Choose an agency that understands very well the industry and the business you run, which is flexible, can move quickly, has a well-known track record, is fully customer-oriented and value-creating. Also make sure that it can help you train your staff in the secrets of content marketing. On the other hand, it also matters how you manage to align the value of the brand and that of the customer's perception.
5. Poor understanding of effective content formats
Involve sales teams, listen to what customers say about the company's brand on the Internet, analyze what you do using the right performance metrics for the content formats you've decided to use. Remember not to choose any content format before analysing your target audience. Use the feedback you receive to improve your results and come up with new ideas.
Content marketing is a vast discipline that requires a lot of resources. That's why content marketing can be quite overwhelming, especially for beginning teams. That's why it's good not to try to do everything at once. Choose one or two platforms and start from there. Test a few ideas, see what starts to bring you good results, and then work from there. It is much better to do one thing consistently and well than to try to do everything at once and not get results. Observe carefully what forms of content your target audience appreciates, start with the one you are best at, persevere and you will have great chances of success.
About the author
Gabriela Streza has over 15 years of experience in marketing and business development teams of major multinational companies and family businesses in Romania, leaders in their fields of activity. Gabriela graduated from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and has solid expertise in marketing, communication, and business development during hundreds of successfully managed projects Gabriela also has a broad knowledge of public relations and high-quality professional communication in interpersonal communications, organizations and event management to generate awareness of the company's brand and business development. In recent years he has coordinated complex marketing and business development projects involving Romanian entrepreneurs, non-profit associations and multinational companies.
About Valoria
Valoria Business Solutions is a company providing training, consulting and executive coaching services. The company's mission is to transform the potential of teams and organizations into value. Competence, confidence, innovation, and passion are the values that sustain us in everything we do. We believe in people, in their aspiration for personal and professional fulfilment, and their willingness to accelerate their potential. Learn more about us at: www.valoria.ro
