5 Reasons Why You Are Bound to Fail In Content Marketing.

We constantly use contents on a daily basis as a strategy to express what we think about a certain concept, a brand, a process, among many other aspects of online marketing; for us to spread an idea and in turn influence our audience's action in general. An idea which can also be a product or service in itseld, and if put into clear perspective of the customer's search intent, then it can be the single most efficient and highly effective deciding factor for your target audience to take an action. On what you want them to get in terms of satisfying their needs. And that's content marketing. So if you do it the wrong way then you will definitely fail.

Content marketing is a very strong online presence strategy for most businesses (both small and large) and professional marketers too out there. And at the same time it's a specifically strong method used when it comes to brand awareness. So in simple terms, I would say that it is - a descriptive style of painting the true picture of people, places and/or things, rather than a persuasive strategy of marketing, - used by most content marketers, publishers, bloggers, affiliate marketers etc. When it comes to marketing a product/service or a brand. Through various contents like blog posts, product reviews, Ad images etc, while incorporating the aspect of solving a problem or satisfaction of a need.

Now, what makes most content marketers fail in their missions anyway?

Well, without wasting much time let's go straight away and look at the reasons why you are bound to fail in your content marketing.

You are bound to fail if...

1. You Are Selling Rather Than 'Content-Marketing'.

I believe you agree with me that sales is one of the ultimate goals of content marketing, and it is a good goal to aim at. Because that's where we are heading with this whole content marketing strategy or idea of selling. But selling directly is the wrong way to go about it in content marketing, because it can turn off most potential customers. Since you will appear to them as if you are only desperately interested in their money, but not to solve their problems.

Ask yourself this; is this content that I am going to publish well packaged in a manner that is honest and intended to address my audience's needs?

Simply brainstorm to understand what they most likely would require to be sorted first by your content(s). Go to platforms like Quora, Reddit, Google Trends etc where you can find out which questions people are asking. And use them to create contents that are well targeted to help address your audience's problems.

So, you should not just sell directly, but rather market - a product/brand. Don't disregard what your audience needs. That's why you will find it a seriously bumpy content marketing ride. Of course yes, I acknowledge the fact that the end result and the objective of content marketing is to drive sales. Because you also need to understand here that there is a difference between Sales and Marketing v Content Marketing, even though there is a very thin line between the two aspects of marketing.

Now let's face the reality here. You are a content-marketer, and your mission is to directly make me - as your audience/site visiter - be aware of something special about a product/service/brand (which in this case is the content). Without necessarily trying very hard in asking me to actually purchase it. Draw my attention first, for me to see the reason or the benefit why I should actually consider buying or consume your product, service or brand.

• Read. 5 Reasons Why You Will Hate Affiliate Marketing.

So you are a Content Marketer, and not a Sale Marketer. Because for a sales marketer to achieve his/her intended goal - which is to convince a customer or a prospect to buy a certain product/service - then they will eventually have to persuade that customer to finally buy the product or service. That's their sole mission.

In most cases you will find that they work together in organisations, where there is either one or both sales and marketing departments existing and collaborating together. So they coexist sometimes in an organization.

But you as a Content Marketer your direct intention is to clear the path and create awareness for a sales-deal to materialize through content. That is meant for a particular target market segment(s). In other words you create an enabling environment for a brand to thrive. So your content is your charm offensive in this process.

Although sometimes a content marketer will work as an independent consultant or as a freelance professional, as opposed to working in an organization.
So, you need to first market and then sales will follow as a reward in your content marketing endeavors.

2. You Lack Prior Knowledge of Your Product or Service.

If you don't have prior knowledge of the product that you are promoting then be assured that your content marketing ride will be too rough and bumpy. Especially if it is an affiliate product or service.

Everybody makes mistakes, I do agree and that's including myself too. I have been through that a couple times before, trying to market a product that I have no much idea or proper information about. And that's why I think its important for you to learn from your mistakes while you grow in marketing an idea, a product or service that you have no experience about. Try to gather more information about it first.

Chances are if you promote a product(s) that at least you are knowledgeable about, then you will be able to come up with better results. Through the strategies that you use; on how to approach your marketing, your target audience and in the end you will definitely achieve something out of it.

3. There Is No Particular Target Audience In Mind.

If you dont have a target market segment that your objective of writing is pegged on, then you are definitely bound to fail seriously in your content marketing attempts. And that's for sure.

You don't necessarily just wake up one day, create a blog/website and publish contents just entirely for any group of audiences that you will find around online, No. You need to have a specific target market audience in mind before you hit open that post editor on your blog's dashboard to start writing.

Look at it this way; if you publish an article to market a recipe and cooking package or even a cooking training course; then you share it more to a particular group of football lovers who are almost 100% men. Do you think that's the right target audience? Definitely not.

Even though it doesn't necessarily mean they (men) can't cook, but I don't think it will market your idea in that particular men-only group.

Pro Tip: Don't post to every platform or group that you find around, while doing your content-marketing. Maybe try share it to a group that the post is more relevant and related to. Like women's social and/or welfare groups - for instance those taking a course in cooking (like chefs) from colleges, cooking schools etc - than men's social groups. But am not saying that men can't cook and therefore can't be targeted, No. Although women are more or less the right target market audience. Depending on the buyer-persona analysis that you had done previously, before you create and publish your contents online.

4. You Create and Market Different Contents With the Same Promotional Strategy.

You tend to create different types of contents frequently - and that's a plus in your blogging journey. But if you still use the same promotional strategy, then you will find that your content marketing journey is very sluggish and rough. Which means you publish a post on your blog and promote it strictly on one social media platform, for instance like on facebook social groups only, and nothing else. Since you feel its the most visited platform.

Thats a big mistake.

What worked for you yesterday doesn't necessarily mean will work and produce perfectly the same results, using the same strategy tomorrow.

Content marketing to a greater extent is a time bound and dynamic process. What customers and/or audiences prefer today won't remain the same for so long. It will more or less change within a very shorter period of time, and sometimes the results might constantly stay that way for a very long time or forever.

They (audience/customers) tend to change their tastes/consumption preferences without any slight notice, depending on the current life trends. So the approach, tactics and content presentation styles that you use today in most cases won't have greater impact tomorrow due to rapid lifestyle changes. And that's why contents too needs to catch up with the current trends/events. If you target the same audience for a longer period of time, then you also have to find an appealing presentation style packaged for the right people.

There are a number of content marketing approachs or techniques like price comparisons, product reviews, etc that you can use as your promotion strategies. But to succeed, you also need to target different segments and/or groups of market audiences at different periods of time.

Pro Tip: Don't use the same strategy, with the same content marketing approach, for different periods of time. And targeting the same segment of the market audience for a longer period of time. Your content creation or writing stlye might be that which is more inclined towards a call-to-action, but you can also even find a way that is only meant to educate your audience and create a particular brand awareness for them. You never know, perhaps you will meet someone's needs.

5. Your Content Marketing Approach Is Too Conventional.

Don't be fooled, because no content will ever stand alone. What I mean here is that there is no single traffic source which will ever make your post achieve its intended purpose successfully on its own. So, don't be to too comfortable and satisfied by the initial high number of traffic or page views that your posts attracts or gains online. Because that could only be short-lived. Avoid the conventional approach to content marketing.

So to get maximum traffic that your post deserves, then don't just publish and hope that it will achieve its intended goal. Without your concerted efforts in creating a serious promotional campaign. Come up with a schedule/plan that will help drive the objective of that particular content from various marketing channels, and act on it over a period of scheduled time.

That's it.

Conclusion.

Content marketing as the name suggests is a process of marketing a product or brand through content to influence a customer's action. And content comes in various forms, like blog posts, images, infographics, photos etc that drives an idea behind the same content to achieve a certain intended goal. Its a process that is so dynamic and changes rapidly with time, and unless you are also proactive to keep up with the current trends and times, then be assured that your efforts will fail.

I know if you follow the above 5 strategies using those different types of contents that I have mentioned above, then your success in content marketing will flow just the right way.

Am done, but hey..., before I forget. Just tap any of the share buttons below this post to spread the content marketing love with your friends and colleagues, if it helped solve your problem.

Thank you very much for taking your time to read this post.