Content Strategy: Time For A Switch

If “the first casualty, when war comes, is truth” then in a live battle situation the next casualty is the plan. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Always have a Plan B”. 

Well from Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” to “Business Project Management” to “Risk Mitigation” preparing contingency plans are a common and necessary means of ensuring you can react quickly and decisively. 

Yes, smart marketeers know how to contingency manage, but how do you recognise that your content strategy isn’t working? 

First, know your objective and track your progress.  

Content marketing can provide more than simply an increase in customer engagement – beneficial as that is.  

Yes, more customers than ever before are contacting firms they first come across on Social Platforms, be that Facebook, Twitter, TikTok/Musicaly, LinkedIn for example. 

Yes, content marketing can also lead onto sales, but to only consider that audience, is very one dimensional. Current and potential customers are just one segment of that audience. One of the reasons we share our insights on our website (and our resources with our clients) is to attempt to educate and improve understanding amongst all our audience, yes that includes competitors too. We’ll cover this topic in more detail in a future Insight article. 

If your goal is to be best in your niche, then focus on your content strategy.  

Stick with it to assess if it is working well – it won’t succeed over night.  

So when do I give up? Here are some signs to watch for that might indicate that it’s time to switch to plan B: 

Who is signing up? 

If conversion rates are your focus, you’re likely focus will be on calls-to-action using free trials, discount codes, bogof, demonstrations, or freebies.  

You create social media posts, infographics, videos and blogs. You get a 70% conversion rate! Job Done. Or is it? Are those signing up going to buy or are they just curious, researching, or wanting to learn? That’s commendable, but it won’t pay your bills.  

The ultimate goal has to be to generate enough income to make a profit. Make sure your content strategy caters to a wide range of people but never loses sight of its key goal. 

• Get to know your customers – the ones who actually buy from you. Profile your customer and their demographic. Make them as detailed as you can and use them to guide the direction of your content. Understand what motivates and engages your customers. Do they need guidance, information or education on how to apply your product or service? 

Are you able to assess who reads your blog?  

High conversion rates don’t automatically guarantee success. Success comes from being able to identify what makes your strategy work and adapting tactics accordingly. 

• Use tools such as Twitter and Google Analytics (Funnels/Goals) to identify insights into your audience. Twitter has an insights dashboard that provides an overview of your audience as well as their top interest – this includes their language, lifestyle, consumer behaviour, and even their mobile footprint. 

Are people sharing your content?  

If your content doesn’t get shared you might have a problem. If no-one is sharing your content, then it’s unlikely they feel it’s quality content.  

• If influencers share your content that’s good, so share other people’s quality content right away. Many platforms such as Hootsuite allow you to share posts, and other networks allow you to do this with built-in tools. Create content with a sharing mentality to make it easy for your followers. 

• Keep track of posts you create across different platforms by using tools such as Hootsuite, Google Alerts, Likealyzer, Snaplytics, BuzzSumo, SharesCount, and Sprout Social. These tools have unique offerings – such as tracking keywords, tracking likes and shares, or even assessing who likes your post.  

Knowing how to diagnose a problem with your content strategy quickly can help you identify proper solutions that protect your brand reputation and get you back on track.