Just a short blog inspired by Lynda St-Arneault’s LinkedIn status on marketing content strategies.
She writes, among other things, that being successful in content marketing, does not depend only on the budget that one invests in its production or by increasing its quantity.
As the content supply far exceeds demand (Situation described by Mark Schaefer in his essay Content Shock), success depends primarily on the relevance of your content, how well it is adapted and how it helps your targets/readers/persona.
Relevant and well-targeted content is based on four pillars developed by ExoB2B
• Personalized content that generates engagement
• A customer experience that lives up to their expectations
• A wealth of content that solidifies trust in your brand
• A sales force equipped to advance the conversation
This is used by successful companies that stand out and succeed
These pillars, on the other hand, rest on solid foundations
It’s all about knowledge: data and research are the foundation of all success. If we do not know our subject and to whom it is addressed, the content generated and pushed will not be relevant, will miss its target and sometimes, will even be impertinent …
Any content published, including on social networks, blogs, white papers, newsletters, etc., is not written “automagically” to paraphrase David Lepage. A good blog post takes hours if not days of research. Certainly, there are some that can be written in only a few minutes.
This is what I’ve done for years in the framework of literary creation or live reporting but always documented and well referenced. A muses’ inspiration is not a solid foundation for content marketing.
Knowledge is based on research & analysis
In analytics, more and more tools can help us shorten time. A recent article appeared in Marketing Charts that dissects the budgets allocated by CEOs to their teams. Budgets for social networks are falling BUT the budgets devoted to analytics are up.
« February 2019 saw the percentage of time marketing analytics was used in decision making at a record high (43.5%)»
Lynda also quotes a ClickZ article that headlines: “48% of B2B marketers admit content is only “somewhat effective” or “ineffective”, which would prove that almost 50% of content marketing efforts miss their targets, therefore ineffective.
And don’t forget the consistency…
It’s that we forget too often or that the success of any content strategy is also dependent on consistency, as ClickZ’s article concludes:
« And as this report makes clear, the importance of consistency and scalability in content strategies cannot be understated as we move forward».
Posting content from time to time on one platform, then changing to another and doing the same is a guaranteed failure. We must choose our platforms in advance to stick to our strategy and above all, to publish with a constant pace. It can be, for example, once a week on a blog and three times a week on LinkedIn, but it must remain consistent …
And still regarding the article in ClickZ, you will find very interesting statistics for different markets: manufacturing / technology / health / finance. On your marks, get set…
One last question…
In closing, we ask you this question: what is your most important specific challenge in content marketing?
• budget;
• the analysis as a whole;
• tools (CRM, marketing automation, AI, survey, etc.);
• the creative force (the human who creates the content);
• knowledge of different personas;
• the collaboration of marketing and sales functions;
• content planning; content distribution;
• frequency
Difficult to choose just one, isn’t it?
So, before you launch your content marketing strategy, validate your answer to this question and more importantly, if you want more information, call on our experts.
As a member of the NextBlue Alliance, a group of companies offering IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence-based solutions, ExoB2B is well positioned to help your business in your digital shift. Contact us!
