If you have not implemented a content marketing strategy in your business, you are leaving leads and money on the table. Content marketing is one of the best and proven methods to attract followers, grow a tribe, and generate more sales and more money in your business.
If you are not familiar with content marketing, content marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in your products or services.
Content marketing beats the “chasing the dollar” mindset that most entrepreneurs go through because they haven’t quite figured out a way to attract their ideal client. Or if they do attract someone, it’s the wrong client and the person never subscribes or even worse…never buys. Content marketing solves all that.
If you are creating content and it doesn’t seem to be working in terms of building engaged followers, increasing your email list, or making sales and generating income, there may be a few mistakes that you are making with your content. These mistakes are common for most of us so don’t be too hard on yourself. These mistakes are fixable!
Here are the three mistakes:
1. Your content is not consistent.
This is a mistake that many entrepreneurs have made, and some continue to make it and wonder why their businesses aren’t growing as rapidly as they should. I, myself, have been guilty of this. In the beginning of my business, I didn’t know how important it was to show up every single day. By showing up I mean every day you are creating relevant content to attract your ideal client. This can be done in several ways; whether it is with a blog post (like the one you’re reading now), social media posts to your favorite platform, a weekly podcast or video vlog, or anything else your ideal client would be interested in consuming.
The point to this is that the content comes out regularly and consistently. The reason why consistency is important is because when you show up every single day, you begin to develop the know, like, and trust factor with your ideal client. The know, like, and trust (KLT) is important to establish for people to fork over their money.
There are many ways to stay consistent if you have trouble doing so. Try using scheduling software to help you keep your content in front of your ideal client. My fav scheduling tool for Instagram is Planoly. I sit down once a week and map out my Instagram content and schedule it all. I also repurpose the same content on Facebook and Twitter (Facebook has a scheduler you can use for free if you have a business page).
If blogging is your thing, try using Tailwind to share your blog posts on Pinterest. It’s awesome for sharing (or pinning) your blog posts to boards as well as sharing other people’s blog posts. There are a few others, but these are just the ones I’ve used before and that I like.
Along with being consistent, be sure to post around the times you know your ideal client will see your content. It’s one thing to not be consistent and your content is never seen, and it’s another to post regularly and your content is STILL never seen. One of the best ways to ensure that your content will be seen is to get your ideal client on your email list. That way when you create content, you can easily email them and let them know what it is and where to find it. ConvertKit is one of the best and my favorite email marketing platforms.
2. Your content isn’t relevant to your ideal client
Maybe mistake #1 isn’t your issue because you are showing up every single day, but you aren’t getting much response from your ideal client. They are just not responding to your calls for action. For example, they are not commenting on your posts, or sending you direct messages with questions they may have, or signing up for your freebies, and more importantly they are NOT buying.
If this is the case, your content might not be relevant to the ideal client you are trying to attract. And if the content doesn’t relate, you are going to hear crickets. You will need to go back to your ideal client avatar. I know this part is not the most fun part of your business, but you must take a few steps back to revisit the struggles and needs of your ideal client.
Is your content speaking directly to their struggles? Are you offering any solutions in terms of what they are struggling with? One way to get these answers is to ask your ideal client directly. You can do this is by creating a social media poll. If you don’t have an audience, use someone else’s audience. There are tons and tons of Facebook groups that have thousands of people in them and they don’t mind giving feedback if you disclose you need the information for research purposes.
Along with your content not speaking to them, check your content copy. What are you saying? Are you being clear? How are they interpreting your message? This is another important step to ensuring your content is accurate. Use social media insights to review what’s working and what’s not. How many likes did you get? How many comments did you get? Take yourself out of the equation and begin to give your ideal clients what THEY want, based on the metrics and your social media insights.
3. Your content isn’t valuable.
Valuable and quality content is whatever content is going to appeal to your ideal client. Therefore, to make sure your content is valuable, the more you know about your ideal client the better (we talk about this in mistake #2). But let’s assume you know your ideal client better than your spouse and children. Now what’s the issue?
Are you selling way more than you are giving value? If that is the case, you are not adhering to the 80/20 rule. You need to always push to give more value than selling your products and services. You know how it feels to be sold to constantly. It sucks! So, imagine how your audience feels when the only time they hear from you is when you are selling something. Give more, and don’t worry about giving too much. You can NEVER give too much.
Are you speaking to your ideal client like a person or like your next pay day? Remember that your ideal clients are people and when you speak to them as if they are other than that, your content won’t work. Try to genuinely connect with your ideal client. Ask them questions about their lives, their families, what they love or what they hate. Do the same on your end. Give them a sneak peak inside who you are as a person. Provide a place for an empathetic connection to take place so that you set yourself apart from others who only want he sell.
Are you creating content that focuses on the benefits your ideal client will get? It’s the age-old question, “What’s in it for me?” Your content must do something for your ideal client. Is your content going to educate, change their lives, solve their problems, or all the above? Whatever you decide, spend less time talking about how many modules come in your online course and more about what will happen once they take your online course; focus on the transformation and result they will have. Will they loose a specific amount of weight? Will they get at least 3 more clients a week? Will they make $4K in less than 30 days. It’s all about the benefits and not the features.
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