content marketing

As most of us know, producing content for our audience consistently is a challenge. We all know that the more quality content we publish, the more opportunities will arise to engage with our customers. Further, the more we can engage with our customers and prospects, the more we learn about our products and the more leads we will attain. But doesn’t it seem like there is always that monkey hanging over our backs week in and week out? “I have to write another piece about one of our products that engages with our audience and hopefully provokes some meaningful interactions.” After all, that’s the real point of all of this content and these so called content engines, meaningful interactions. These quality interactions of course produce the results we value (i.e. leads, sales, product insight, loyal customers, etc.)

So why is it still a challenge to produce new content every week?

Of course there are the obvious answers right? Limited time and resources. But we have our personas, our editorial calendars, we are smart and educated, we have research, endless pretty slides and powerpoints, and wonderful meetings where the team is on board and dialed in. So how can we better navigate around this illusive writers block that confronts us all?

content marketing challenges

 

The answer is that we have to find our voice. This might seem a little counterintuitive at first because shouldn’t we really be focusing more on our target market aka our buyer personas and their needs?  Well of course we should tailor our content for our audience, but finding our voice is what will really resonate and attract attention.  What i am talking about here is our personal experience.  Let’s face it, if I was the head of marketing for a new mens running shoe line, would you find it more appealing if I simply list our shoe’s features and benefits or if I delve into my personal experience with some of our shoes and provide a colorful story about why I love these shoes as well as some of races that i have used them in.  Now this example might seem odd at first to some since there are many other possible tactics that a head of marketing might choose and gosh shouldn’t the head of marketing be at their desk consumed with marketing plans, etc.?  Well i sincerely hope that the head of marketing for any running shoe company is not stuck at their desk.  They should be out using their product!!  My point is that our own personal experience with our products and brands provide our audience with the most authentic and valuable content we can provide.  It’s like practicing what we preach.  After all, still to this day the most effective marketing comes from a friend and their personal experience with a brand.  Building loyalty and trust takes time, but this tactic will help you start down this path.

So the next time you are sitting at your laptop and your are struggling with how to produce some new and original piece of content that you hope will engage your audience, produce some solid results and a high five from your boss, try shooting straight from the hip.  Remember that most days humans are reading your marketing content and they will find real experiences much more powerful than the latest data you discovered from a regression analysis.

Happy Marketing!

~Christian