Content Marketers Haven’t a Clue!

The “content is King” phrase has been buzzing around the cyber sphere for some time. Sometimes when you repeat something too often it begins to have a hollow ring to it and according to recent research by heavyweight research company Forrester, content marketing is no longer effective. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal, announced the death of content marketing. But is it too early to start writing content marketing’s obituary, or do businesses and marketers just need to lift their game plan?

According to Amber van Natten at Newscred, experts on content marketing, the problem is not that content marketing has passed it’s expiry date, it is more that many of the people who claim to create content marketing for their clients, simply haven’t a clue what they’re doing.

A survey of 113 senior B2B marketers, aimed at finding how developed their approach to content marketing practices is, revealed that none of them were as advanced as they believed they were. One of the most shocking statistics from the survey is that 87% found it a major challenge to develop engaging content.

Forrester research sees this statistic as revealing a significant ‘disconnect’ that is a fundamental problem of content marketing. The company points out that brands tend to focus their content creation on the brand and product without considering the “rest of the buyer’s journey.” Of course, content marketing needs to show what a company sells and offers, but it has to go beyond that.

Content marketing needs to focus on building a relationship with customers and having a conversation with them. It’s about making customers a part of your story. Use of customer stories or case studies are examples of that. Publishing research and industry insights is another important aspect of content marketing, especially in the B2B sector. Companies need to be perceived as authorities on their industry and this type of content is a way to do it. Encouraging marketing staff to prepare industry White Papers and ‘free’ downloadable documents is another way of expanding your content marketing.

If your content marketing strategy isn’t generating leads or clients, or you don’t have a content marketing strategy yet that will establish you as an authority in your industry, please contact Jade Thompson on T: (+34) 951 316 553 or jade@peppermintcreate.com