Are you spending a LOT of time planning the content that you intend to publish, but you’re not getting the results you want?
Content marketing is an increasingly important tool for businesses of all sizes, but it can also be a challenge to master. When it comes to planning their content, what business owners don’t know can hurt them, keep reading for five mistakes that might be causing you to miss the mark.
Mistake #1 – your content isn’t focused on a specific product that you sell. Ask yourself if its the highest and best use of your time to create and publish something that isn’t positioning you as an expert and showing the usefulness of your product…no, it isn’t. Our offers have evolved multiple times over the years, and the ONE constant is focusing on on offer at a time.
Once you recognize that everybody in your audience isn’t ready to buy right now, you’ll raise your level of intention. You won’t want to risk confusing people….and confused people don’t buy.
Mistake #2 – you’re not planning with the intent to repurpose. How many platforms do you use to share your content? Is it the highest and best use of your time to create something new every day for every one? No, it isn’t.
That’s why we provide a remix plan for every topic included in every Content Clarity Blueprint that we create for Content Consulting clients. When you know in advance that you’ll be repurposing, you’ll be intentional about how you create. (to prove that I practice what I preach, you can find this topic on my Instagram as a video.)
Mistake #3 – you’re not inviting and/or leveraging user-generated content. Particularly if you struggle with knowing the “right” words to use in your content to connect with your intended audience, ask them. Ask your past customers & clients about their experiences with you & share those in your content. I have testimonials all over my website and my Youtube channel.
Mistake #4 – you’re not creating enough content to escort potential customers through the funnel. Do you realize that your funnel isn’t just for your emails? The content you create and publish on all of your online platforms should be working in the same way as your email funnel – educating your audience, preparing them for a solution and offering your solution. My Content Compass Coaching clients get topics to cover them for about 3 months, all aligned with a specific product that they want to sell.
Disclaimer: I’m not implying that it will take 3 months to convert with your content, but you’ll know that what you’re creating is doing the work to move your intended customers through the buying journey…
Mistake #5 – you’re not tracking your content’s performance. We’ve al hat gets measured gets managed, and if you’re going to invest time, money and resources into your content, I would hope you’d want to know how it’s performing. My Done-for-You clients get a report every month showing them how their audience is responding to their content. This gives us benchmarks for planning for the upcoming month.
The fact that you’ve watched this video up to this point shows that you know the power of strategic content for your business. If you’ve recognized that you’ve been making any of these mistakes, today is a great day to change course.
The world needs what you have to offer, but your intended customers don’t know it yet.
Your job is to create the content that helps them to recognize that they need it.
