Since the 1890s, content marketing has existed. It was a popular strategy during the golden age of radio, and it continues to thrive today. The opportunities to create a content marketing campaign that is successful have never been greater. It is difficult to understand why many drives fail, but they do often succeed. These two potential causes are more likely to be linked than all other reasons for failure. These two possible causes will be discussed in this article.
Were we there with…?
The CEO will ask you, “Where is our Facebook campaign?” You won’t have to be present in your company’s marketing department for too long. The CEO continues to tell you that he or she has read an article in a business journal that Facebook has more registered users than Indians. The CEO reminds you that India is just one-sixth of the world’s population and concludes with a request to get the company onto Facebook quickly.
It doesn’t have to be Facebook. You could use Twitter, Pinterest, or another social media site. However, I will keep using Facebook as an example.
Your content marketing should be focused on the distribution channel.
You have been directed by the CEO to concentrate on Facebook. From there, you will be busy creating posts, polls, embedding videos and trying to get as many likes as possible. Soon you begin to receive discreet requests to increase the popularity of your posts by paying a fee. Your boss has given you the money, so you pay to promote your posts.
Marketing forecasts are currently being prepared using an assumed conversion rate for a small portion of the enormous number of subscribers. It is incredible how impressive the forecasted results will look, at least according to the CEO’s spreadsheet.
Your department is then asked to explain why Facebook’s content marketing campaign did not produce the results the CEO had expected.
Analyzing why your content marketing campaign failed
Your company sells products targeted at a specific market. Let’s assume it’s a premium range of speciality alcoholic fruit juices that are targeted at young women in the USA and Canada. It is sold through select outlets in major cities and towns.
Your products are not going to be consumed by men, so your marketing efforts to them have failed to reach half the market.
You must also exclude users under 18 from your product sales.
All users must be banned from the country where your product is sold.
All users, even if they are from the USA or Canada, must be excluded.
What do you have left?
Once you have eliminated all potential customers who could not be your customer, this is what you will get: a description for your ideal customer. She is a wealthy urban woman. These are the things you can learn from the products that you sell. These are:
This is a targeted campaign for females who are old enough to buy alcoholic beverages.
She can afford premium products.
She lives in a major city.
Her persona could be developed further. She is likely to be well-paid because she is wealthy. She will likely be a professional lady or in a senior management role. It is possible to accurately place her age, and it, along with her career status, would indicate that she is single or does not have dependent children.
Content distribution channels
If you had a persona for your ideal customer, which one of the 40 channels or channels would you choose to use? Based on our example, it would be one of the channels that are frequented most by your target market. You have now created her persona. Here are the places where you are most likely to meet her:
Pinterest is an interest-based platform that has many users who are wealthy and have a large base of females from your target age and target country.
Linked In is a social media platform that professionals and managers use. This site will have many members and visitors from your target market.
Slideshare is used for two reasons. It is owned by Linked In and is mainly used by professionals and managers.
She is less likely to be there than the CEO.
Hence, why do so many content marketing campaigns fail to succeed?
Content marketing is hot. Every day, someone launches the latest “must-have” system that automates your work. As the CEO in the previous example, you must decide which distribution channel to use for your campaign. These systems fail like so many content marketing campaigns.
Who their ideal customer is
Where he/she currently goes to obtain their content
They start the campaign at the wrong place.
Your choice of distribution channel will be influenced by who and where your customer is located. Your content marketing campaign will be successful.
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