Reasons Why Your Content Marketing is a Flop

by Lexxa Molijon, Guest Contributor

Sometimes, a good strategy beats the effort.

Content marketing done right is a powerful armament for today’s marketers. We’ve heard of the success stories of big brands banking on content marketing to make innovative and effective campaigns. Buzzfeed’s Tasty has a whooping 800 million shares (and still counting) and they’re not even promoting any product or service.​

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Content marketing done right.

We know what goes into all these things. We’ve mastered it even. But, why do our content marketing efforts turn a big flop? Here are a few surprising reasons.

1. Who reads these things?
One pitfall for content marketers is to lose vision of their audience. Throwing in a couple of keywords to optimize content is ideal. However, writing solely for search engines is entirely different. You should focus on creating content that adds value to your customer leading them to identify with your products or services.

Another version of this foul-up is when you knowingly or unknowingly shifted the content strategies and styles to cater to a limited, to more or to an altogether different audience. It not only confuses you in the long run, but you might also lose consumer interest and relationship. You should strike a balance between innovation and consistency.

2. It’s all about going viral
-No, it’s not.

You’ve seen almost all them and shared a few.

You’ve been part of why it has gone viral.

With everybody clogging the virtual space, each one is outdoing each other with outrageous antics to be the next sensational star. Sorry to rain on your parade, but a viral content does not happen overnight.

As a content marker, you need to work smart. You have to be realistic in your goals to appropriate your resources in a way that you gain the best results in the long run.

3. Running a one-man show
Don’t be the Jack of all trades thinking that you could be a one-man company doing everything from content marketing on one hand and managing the business on another.

Remember that content requires well-thought of, properly-researched and strategically optimized materials. This requires a great deal of time and planning. Don’t risk producing half-baked content by doing big tasks at the same time. Trust me, it doesn’t taste good!
   
What you could do is get somebody who is skilled and adept in content marketing to develop and manage your campaigns with you.

4. Also, promotion
What makes content marketing gainful is that it departs from the traditional in-your-face selling mechanisms. Rather than a handing a commanding offer, it gives useful content that not only engages the market but creates relationships as well.

Thus, content marketing materials laced with a too promotional voice defeats the purpose of the marketing strategy. Give your market the solution to their problem. That is, give them what they want instead of insisting on promoting yourself, your brand or products and services.

Nobody wants to hear you talk about yourself over flashy graphics. It’s just a waste of artistic talent!

5. Ghosting
In the battlefield that is the dating arena, there’s a phenomenon, where your love interest vanishes into thin air. Ghoting (as they call it) also happens to content marketing when your consumers, followers or the audience think you’ve fallen off the face of the Earth.

It means you’re too inconsistent with your online presence that you lose vital consumer engagement. The erratic publication also causes a big hit on your SEO strategies. Lack of content on any of your platform affects the search engine’s recognition of your site. Also, it reduces your traffic.

6. Being an SEO-snob
Behind a successful content marketing campaign is a hardworking SEO. Thinking that catchy content, pop-culture-filled is enough is a big reason why your content marketing is a flop.

Google’s algorithm has evolved over the years. Effective SEO will help you make your content relevant to the user while ranking higher among the searches and generating great traffic. You cannot just forego SEO because it is a big part of your overall strategy as much as images and words area.
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Author bio:

Equipped with training in mass communication and backed with experience in the fields of journalism, academic research and writing and content and social media management, Lexxa is skilled digital media marketing centered on content development and management. At Blueprint Business Solutions Corp., she holds the position of Content and Social Media Specialist. She Enjoys the comfort of home accompanied by a selection of flicks and books, believing that these have always been the gateway to the world and even beyond.

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