Going digital with your marketing has been proven to be beneficial to many brands and businesses as it becomes easier to study, target, and understand customers and their behavior through provided, available data.

“While working on marketing strategies requires focus and prioritization, the back-end work equally needs attention, and producing quality content can be tricky as people can easily fall into ‘content management limbo’ without proper planning and goals in mind,” shares Truelogic Managing Partner Bernard San Juan III.

Why is content so important?

With the rise of digital, content has become essential in making brands, products, and personalities visible to a wider audience. Visibility is the result of good content management, but why it is important is because of several things.

One is to inform or communicate to other people a message the company wants to get across. A proper blog post or video with the support of different marketing tools can attract people to view it and share it with others.

Another is to start a conversation with your audience. While conveying a message seems one-sided, offering a space where people can talk about your products or services can help them stay engaged with your brand. From here, you get to know more about your customers, how they think, and how they spend their time on your website or social media page. It becomes easier to inform them about your brand as you can match message, channel, and tone through your produced content.

“As businesses are about selling ideas, products, or services, it’s also essential to persuade customers to convert. Informing and engaging them through content can build trust among your community of customers,” adds San Juan.

Common issues with digital content

It’s easy to get out of the content limbo if you know why you’re there in the first place. Like other activities in marketing, it’s better to arm yourself with information on how, what to, and what not to do to be successful in maximizing content.

Not planning ahead

Planning is a necessary part of any project, not just content marketing. It helps in identifying goals, targets, and how to achieve them. Well-curated content that’s consistent and well thought of sounds better to the audience than a series of last-minute blog posts that have no direction or relevance to your brand or product. It also might not sound convincing or may not help in building trust when content is not planned out.

Planned content includes goals to know what and how to achieve them. This includes the means to send the message, whether through posts, videos, or graphics. It also anticipates how the customers are going to respond to the message and adjust accordingly. Once an initiative is completed, all the learnings from the activity should be used for the next project to get better results.

Lack of customer understanding

Having a message is one thing but knowing what your audience wants is equally important. You may have been posting content, but people are not viewing or visiting your website or social media page. It can be an indicator of how well you understand your customers.

Tools used in SEO like keyword research can help in understanding what the customers are looking for. Frequent keywords and tags show what their preference is and how they respond to ads and searches. Using this information to create a marketing strategy enables businesses to gain more traction in terms of content marketing and visibility.

Also, don’t forget about the technical quality of your creatives. Make sure that they are optimized to be viewed correctly on all devices, are of high resolution, and match the platform you intend to use.

Forgetting the use of technology

While there is merit in using traditional marketing, the use of updated technology also gives an edge to marketing strategies. The use of social media platforms and websites supports initiatives faster, more efficiently, and with less cost. It also gives rise to more effective data gathering and analysis, which makes it easier to understand customers better with the right website and social media management initiatives.

Aside from not maximizing the available tools and channels, it’s also a concern when they’re not used properly. The choice of channel or avenue to relay information is also important. A mismatched message and form of communication can send mixed signals to customers, which makes it confusing and may cause them to disengage.

Not knowing what successful content is

Success can come in different forms and definitions. While planning helps turn your goals into action, some might forget to define what success is for a project. “An additional lead, a viral video, or a top search can be indicators of successful content marketing. But, often, these indicators are short-sighted in the great scheme of things. We encourage brands to think of the bigger picture. Do all your efforts align with establishing a strong, sustainable pipeline for conversion?” explains San Juan.

Content takes time and effort

Creating content needs to have a balance between a clear message sent through the right media and a responsive audience. These two factors can be influenced through different marketing strategies and tools. Achieve results, it takes both time and effort. Great content doesn’t become great overnight, and it takes meticulous planning and keen observation of your audience to achieve a certain level of success. Also, don’t forget to mix it up. Employ a digital marketing mix that blends paid, owned, and earned media.

As presence shows how much reach is achieved through marketing, consistency and being active can help maintain it. Keeping content updated and fresh keeps the audience coming back to the business’ website and social media pages. It also sustains interaction with the customers to present more ideas and content.

“Experiment and get creative with your content and how it is delivered – but always make sure that it is aligned with your goals and brand to ensure that it is effective. And as always, while you can learn the tips and tricks to creating quality content on your own, it will take time. For the most effective means and best practices, it’s best to work with a digital expert to achieve your goals – which they can do based on KPIs, and while offering unique insights into your audience,” ends Truelogic Managing Partner Bernard San Juan.