3 Common Content Marketing Conundrums and How to Fix Them

For the last few years, content marketing has continued to be one of the most effective marketing techniques for businesses. In fact, a report from Content Marketing Institute (CMI) found that 47% of marketers planned to increase their content marketing budgets within the following 12 months.

At Liberty, we’re big fans of content marketing and we’re advocates for its effectiveness. Yet, when it’s done wrong, content marketing can be disastrous. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses are still struggling to get to grips with content marketing and are falling victim to easily avoidable problems. As such, we’re taking a look at the most common content marketing problems and how you can overcome them.

All content, no marketing

With over 250 million pieces of online content created every single minute, it’s no longer enough to simply be producing great content. If you want your content to be seen, it’s your job to make sure it’s gaining traction and getting the response it deserves. Thankfully, there are many different ways to get your content in front of a relevant audience. From social media and email marketing to building relationships with influencers and media partners, your content is only ever as good as its outreach program.

As content marketing gets more and more competitive, outreach will continue to become more and more important. In fact, paid promotion has already increased by 400% since 2014. With all the content that exists in the world, marketers should always be looking for ways to give their content an extra boost.

Getting bogged down with blogging

Content creation has become synonymous with blogging, but content marketing is so much more than that. Whilst a great blog can lay the foundations of an effective content marketing strategy, you need to build on this by using other content mediums.

From infographics and viral social media posts to podcasts and YouTube videos, content comes in many different forms. Of course, what works best for you, however, will depend on your target audience and your industry.

For example, if you work in a more visual industry such as fashion, Instagram content and influencer marketing will get you on the road to success. Yet, if you work in the world of business software, your audience is more than likely going to benefit from detailed whitepapers rather than a carefully created Instagram photo.

For the last few years, video has proved to be one of the most successful forms of digital content. The designer fashion house, Burberry, harnessed the power of content marketing with their 2016 Christmas advert, yet they didn’t write a single blog. Burberry used their Christmas slot as an opportunity to tell the story of the brand’s history, and it was very well-received. The brand saw an increase in sales, and the advert was viewed more than 20 million times.

Read more: Campaign We Love: Burberry’s Festive Film

Of course, there are plenty of examples of brands that have created successful content marketing campaigns without the use of traditional blogging, and we’re sure we’ll see many more.

Missing the mark

As we’ve already said, creating content is only half the battle. You could write reams and reams of great content, but if it doesn’t appeal to your target demographic, then it’s wasted. According to research from IBM, 63% of customers don’t feel understood by their favourite brands. So, it seems, whilst most businesses recognise the importance of content marketing and are investing money in content creation, not all of them are investing the same amount of time into truly understanding their audience.

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