7 Ways to Improve Your Content Marketing for Better Results
Does this sound like you?
You’ve gone all in on the content marketing game, excited by promises of reaching more customers and building stronger relationships. You’ve thrown everything you've got at it for several months, maybe even a year. But you aren’t seeing the results you were promised, and now you’re discouraged.
Before you throw in the towel on this whole “content marketing” thing, pause for a moment and take a deep breath. It might just be that your content strategy needs a little tweaking to succeed.
In this post, I’m breaking down seven adjustments to implement for the content marketing results you want. These are common pitfalls I see small business owners do all the time without meaning to, and if you start eliminating them now, you'll finally see your marketing thrive.
How to see better content marketing results
Have an overall strategy
Posting on your blog or social media does not mean you have a content marketing strategy, even if you're following a schedule. I hate to be the one to say it, but somebody has to.
A content strategy includes:
Knowledge of how content marketing works
Your specific goal (more on that later in the post)
An understanding of your current content and its strengths and weaknesses
A system to create new content
A CRM or other program to organize everything
Plans for future content and how to distribute it
How you plan to track your metrics
Plus, your content strategy needs to tie into your overall marketing ecosystem. So, if you haven't figured all this out yet, you need to get on that ASAP. Once you do, you'll be shocked by how easy it is to make content that actually gets results.
Track the right metrics
You need to track your metrics, but tracking the wrong ones is almost as bad as not looking at them at all. In most cases, this means paying more attention to vanity metrics instead of actionable ones.
Think of vanity metrics like looking at your RPM instead of MPH while you’re driving. It might be interesting, but it won’t help you reach your destination very well. For example, the number of Instagram followers you have is a vanity metric. It doesn't contribute to making sales.
But the number of DMs you get each month? How many people click the link in your bio? What sales came straight from your Instagram account? Those are actionable metrics that show your marketing is working.
When you start tracking these things, you might be shocked and dismayed by the picture they paint. But the sooner you know what you need to work on, the sooner you can make changes that create results.
Know your audience
If you’re running a business, you probably already know who your target audience is. But sometimes, we get so caught up in the rush of creating content that we forget to make it appeal to those people.
Your audience should be the driving factor behind every piece of content you make, even what forms your marketing takes. If your audience of moms isn’t on TikTok, don’t bother spending time there. Instead, focus on blogging and Facebook. If your audience prefers long-form educational videos to short-form humor, make the former.
Your audience can even help inspire your content. What do they enjoy consuming? What questions are they always asking you? What trends appeal to them? Use all of that to come up with content ideas that will delight them instead of driving them away by mistake.
Be more consistent
I’m not talking about posting consistently here, although that’s important. You do need to market your business on a regular schedule.
No, I’m talking about being consistent in how you present yourself online. Do you sound the same across all the platforms you’re on, or even between posts on the same social media account? Do you post content that people associate with you, or are you always switching it up? Are your graphics, colors, and style the same?
Think of any big brand, like Anthropology. You know exactly what to expect whether you're on their website, social media, or email list. But if you suddenly saw them posting athletic content, like Nike, then you'd be confused and trust them less.
If your content is inconsistent, you can’t build an audience or sell effectively. People will never know what to expect from you. Instead, you need to nail down your brand voice, colors, style, and content and use that in everything you publish to build your brand recognition.
Have the right mix of content
I know I just said you need to have stylistically consistent content. But you don’t want to get pigeonholed into one type of content, either. You need to create a mix of content to engage different demographics of customers and provide different results, such as education vs entertainment.
Think about those social media accounts you stopped following or email lists you unsubscribed from because all they did was post/email the same thing over and over. That’s what you don’t want to happen with your business.
I’d pick 3-5 content pillars for each platform you’re on and stick to them. Don't pick them willy-nilly, either, but use your goal and audience to drive your choices, like we talked about earlier.
Set specific goals
“Get more sales” is not a specific goal. What does more sales mean? How are you getting them? How do you know when you've been successful?
You might not be seeing results simply because you aren’t making goals that give you results. Every business wants to get more sales, but you need to be way more in-depth. I hate to say it, because everyone does, but the SMART framework is a great help here.
Maybe you want to use Instagram to get more sales for your business. So you set the goal of “Increase sales from Instagram to 50 a month by the end of next quarter by posting two reels and two static posts a week”. That goal has a number you can work toward and a built-in strategy to achieve it.
Be patient
Okay, I’ll finish with one more hard truth. Content marketing requires patience.
You can't start content marketing and expect to see overnight success. You also can't keep changing your strategy and goals every month to try to see results without giving your previous ones enough time to work. Content marketing can take six months or more of consistent work to start building momentum.
You might not have given it enough time to work yet. Take a deep breath and keep going for another few months before you panic and try changing everything again. I suggest sticking to your plan for at least 3-6 months before you try anything new, unless there's an obvious problem you want to fix.
You should also try one or two changes at a time. Don’t revamp your entire strategy at once. Try tweaking one thing and see how it performs before trying another. Yes, it's a long process, but it's worth it to actually make your content marketing work.
FAQs
What is content strategy?
Content strategy is the process of carrying out your content marketing. It’s the specific ways you decide to take action, whether posting on your blog or on TikTok.
How do I track content metrics?
It depends on what you’re tracking. Most social media platforms have built-in analytics; you just have to know which ones to look at. You can also track metrics using Google Analytics or any included with your CRM.
What's the #1 reason content marketing doesn't work?
The biggest reason your content marketing isn't working is that you lack clarity. You don't know what you're working toward, who your audience is, or what content to create. Clarifying all those things is the first step to improving your content marketing.
Content marketing is well worth the time and effort it takes. You just might need to adjust a few things to see the results you want for your business.
Do you need a content writer to help you improve your marketing? I’d love to work with you! Click the link below to learn more about how I can help you.
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