4 Reasons Your Content Marketing Sucks (and What to Do About It)

Do you ever wonder if your content is any good?

I know it’s a hard question to ask yourself.

Because what if your content does suck? 

That is hard to admit, especially if you are usually a successful, smart, overachiever.  But without admitting that you need to improve, you can’t make a content marketing strategy to get better.

And you can’t implement that improvement plan unless you know where the problem is.

Most articles talk about analytics such as social shares, traffic, click-through rate, comments, backlinks, etc., to audit the performance of your content marketing.

Here’s the interesting part…

Posting more frequently, posting across all platforms, or posting at all the “right” times of the day won’t move the needle on those analytics if your content sucks.

But what if you could pinpoint where your content needed help and fix those areas? Imagine what will change with your analytics.

You’re just 4 checkboxes away from better content marketing, which means better lead generation and conversion.

But this isn’t a checklist of the obvious things like SEO, consistent branding, and color palettes.  This is a checklist of the deep reasons—the stuff that matters even before the obvious things and what you can’t fool yourself about.

The only catch is that you have to use it.

#1: You Don’t Have the Basic Content Pieces in Place

It’s overwhelming to think about all of the pieces of content you’re “supposed” to have:

• Websites
• Blogs
• Videos
• Email marketing
• Social media posts…

…not even to mention the technology and resources involved in all of it can seem more daunting than a trek up Mount Everest!

You’ve seen the flashy websites out there with every social media platform listed, podcasts and animations, pop-ups vying for your eyeballs and clicks, and you think, “I want that! That’s what I need!”.

That’s like buying a super expensive tent to conquer the peak without doing any climbing first. Bad move.

All those flashing things are fun and cool to have. But if you don’t have a website that clearly frames out what customer problem you are solving, why the customer should buy it, and what they lose out on if they don’t, a glitzy podcast isn’t going to save your butt.

Let me ask you a simple question—

Do you have these basic content marketing pieces?

Because these WILL save your butt along with generating those analytics and revenue you want.

• A solid customer-centric website that answers what problem you solve, how it makes the customer’s life better, and what the customer needs to do to buy it. Your website should also outline what the customer loses by not buying and what their life will look like once they purchase your product or service. The content should be empathic and also provide social proof.
• A freebie download to capture email addresses, which has an automated email marketing sequence that follows. Give something of value first before you expect a sale.  Then, maintain the relationship through crafted touchpoints that provide further information or support.
• Content (15-20 pieces) that helps the customer understand in more detail how they can reach their goal with your help. This isn’t content that gets fancy but rather content that explains in more detail and in different mediums (e.g., blog posts, videos, ebooks) what you’ve already said. SHFT Marketing and Gary Vaynerchuk have excellent resources about taking one type of content and repurposing it, so this isn’t as bad as it sounds.

Each piece will help you scale the mountain in manageable stages and won’t leave you gasping for breath.

#2: It’s All About You

This is your business. This is your website. This is your content.

But, it’s not about you.

It’s about your customer.

I get that you want the credit for the hard work you put in to build your business–it’s not easy! But you have to put your customer-goggles on to look at it all through their eyes.

Do you remember the magic decoder lenses that came in cereal boxes when you were a kid? A piece of red film allowed you to view secret messages on the box, but it looked like a bunch of nonsense without the lens. Your content will look like a bunch of nonsense to your readers (and potential customers) if you don’t use the right lens.

Get out your magic decoder lens and review your content thinking about the following:

• Count the number of times you use “we” and “I” instead of “you.” Are you talking about yourself or trying to connect with the reader? Use “we” too much, and now you’re the focus of the content. The customer shrinks away because you haven’t deemed them important enough to take center stage of the content.
• Evaluate your voice. Is it authoritative, empathetic, or the right blend of both?  If you overdo the authority, your customer disappears.  If you gush too much empathy, you’re not building trust or forward momentum. A careful blend of both is reassuring and moves the customer towards you.
• Find out what content your audience wants and make content around those topics. For example, you want to post about your intricate process of basket weaving, but your customers really want to see pictures of how they can use your baskets to style their homes and stay organized.
• Ask yourself what you are making the priority—SEO or valuable content? Identifying customer-centric content should come first and then factor in the SEO.  Keyword stuffing doesn’t make for valuable content, frustrates your reader, and Google penalizes you for it.

We love the StoryBrand method for crafting content that makes your customer the hero and ensures you are off-center stage as the guide.

#3: You Don’t Enjoy Creating Content

Are we having fun yet? No? Maybe content marketing isn’t your strength, and it feels like a slog and a half. Each sentence or graphic is painful, and you’re grumpy and frustrated.

If you are a one-person show, it’s not easy to love all the tasks you must do on your own. But unfortunately, if you don’t like an aspect of your business, such as content creation, it’s going to show.  And the content is going to suck.

How so?

• You won’t do it or will do it only sporadically. Even Google’s guidelines for bloggers state, “Write well and often” and encourages consistent posting.
• You won’t bother to use things like alt text, which helps people who can’t see images on web pages AND is used by Google to understand what the image is about because it’s extra work on top of the stuff you are already doing.
• The voice in your content will be dull, negative, or predictable. Think about it—if you’re not excited about the topic and interested in focusing on a unique angle, why should your reader be excited and captivated?
• You won’t learn best practices. You’ll do things like writing a blog post without using the subheads, white space, and bullet points. Or you’ll skip using interactive features on Instagram because you don’t understand how much more engaging they are compared to static posts.
• You won’t invest time in getting to really know your audience, which leads to generic content and tempting shortcuts. You will think about scraping and reusing content from others or getting fancy with automatically generated content, both of which Google may take action against.
• You won’t ever offer up your best stuff for free. You will post your half-assed, lackluster stuff and keep your good stuff locked behind paywalls, which no one will want to pay for because you haven’t engaged them with solid content you are excited about.

These are just a few things that make your content suck because it’s not your thing.  Do any of these sound like things you do?

#4: There’s Rarely or Never a Call to Action

Ok, you’ve put the work into your content. The website is up and running, the links work, your email address isn’t spamming anyone, but the phone calls and emails aren’t coming in as you hoped. Did you ask your customers to contact you?  Do they know how to take the next step with you? Or did you only post a pretty picture and hope for the best?

It’s easy to get caught up in the technical stuff that you forget about a small but essential detail—the call to action (CTA).

A call to action is what converts the casual reader into a lead and then a customer.

According to Copyblogger, “Every time a reader leaves your site without subscribing, you’ve lost a sales lead.”

Here’s the bottom line…

If the reader doesn’t click on the button, download your freebie, or sign up for your webinar, they won’t return. You won’t be top of mind because you are not even on their mind, and you won’t be able to offer your solution to their problem.

Without a call to action, you confuse people. 

Imagine getting a catalog every week of beautiful clothing and accessories, but there was no website address, email, or phone number to use to order any of these desirable things.  At first, you enjoy looking at the fantastic items.  But after a while, it gets old because there’s no way to buy them or even request additional information.  They soon pile up in your recycling bin, and you forget about them.

People want something to happen. They’re expecting it if they gave up their email. If you don’t tell them what the next step is, e.g., how they can work with you, learn more, they won’t do it.

 But there’s a catch…

Not all CTAs should be focused on sales. If you are always asking for money, your customer will be irritated. Here are 50 CTAs that are not just about asking for the sale. Also, there is an ongoing debate about whether to include a CTA in every piece of content.  You must figure out what you feel comfortable with and what works with your audience. However, if you put CTAs in less than 50% of your content, you want to ask yourself why.

What should you do if you checked any of these off?  First, give yourself a high-five for taking the time to evaluate your content marketing honestly. Second, pick one of these options for saving your content.

1. DIY education: Here are blogs we follow to stay current on content marketing: Copyblogger, Smartblogger, Content Marketing Institute, and HubSpot. Google’s Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course is a good add-on. DIY education is an ongoing process, and you need the time for continuous learning. If you don’t like content creation, this probably isn’t the best option for you.
2. Hire someone: The Content Marketing Institute published a how-to guide for outsourcing content creation that includes how to outline your requirements and processes, where to find candidates, how to evaluate candidates, and how to set them up for success. Nowadays, you can find content creators for every budget.  Fiverr is a good source for small budgets.  Inexpensive doesn’t always mean crap work but vet your choice by looking at reviews and setting clear expectations.  Independent contractors are probably your middle-of-the-road prices.  Of course, some contractors charge high-end prices, but they usually don’t support overhead and a huge team like agencies.  Agencies are likely to be the most expensive option but may also have the most depth in content marketing.

It’s easy to fall into a routine of poor content marketing and simply push to crank out more content more often.  And then you are left wondering why you have dismal analytics and lead generation.

Here’s the awesome thing…

You’ve already taken the first step in honestly evaluating your content marketing against these four reasons.  Changing any of these will move the needle forward on your content marketing, and your content will suck less.

Keep chipping away at getting better, and holler at us for a free consultation if you need any help.