Sometimes, no matter how much content you churn out, it doesn’t give you the results you’ve been looking for and you find that your content simply isn’t working. You expected that last blog post to do well, but it’s fallen flat, and you thought that social media caption would draw some attention, but engagement levels are down.
You’re doing everything right, so where are you going wrong?
Creating content is complex, and it can take time to really perfect it – and even then, you may not get the results you were expecting! Occasionally, however, there may be a few mistakes that you’re inadvertently making that are impacting the overall effectiveness of the content you’re putting out.
If you feel like your content is constantly missing the mark, here are six reasons why your content isn’t working.
1. You don’t spend enough time on content creation
Content creation is incredibly time-consuming, especially if you’re prioritising both quality and quantity. With busy work schedules and even busier home lives, however, you probably find yourself spending five minutes on content creation here, ten minutes there and hoping for the best.
While this is great for keeping your social feeds and blog page active, it won’t always produce the quality content your consumers are looking for.
Instead, it would be far more beneficial for you to block off dedicated time to content creation each week. This doesn’t have to be a huge chunk of your time that will massively eat into your day. Even just an hour in the mornings, creating a few social media posts or putting together one blog post would do the trick. By having this dedicated time, it means your attention is solely focused on the content you’re creating, meaning you’ve got the time and brainpower to put a bit more thought into it. Content that has been carefully thought out and created is much more likely to get results than a slap-dash social media post.
2. Your content lacks personality
There’s this stereotype attached to content creation that can sometimes make you feel that sticking to a rigid, professional tone will make your company sound more credible and will thus be more likely to get you the results you’re after.
While this may be true for some industries, it can mean that the content you turn out is a little, for want of a better word, boring. If it sounds like an essay, your consumers will treat it like one – they’ll read the first two lines and then click off to find something more entertaining or engaging.
If your content feels a little lacklustre, it’s definitely time to start sprinkling some personality into it. Don’t be afraid to personalise your content with some anecdotes, have a go at including some light-hearted humour and use the unique selling points of your business to really bring your content to life.
3. You’re using too much industry jargon
Similarly to the idea that content needs to have a professional tone to be credible, a mistake people often make is thinking that including industry jargon will make them sound like experts in their industry and thus win them more leads.
While it may make you sound like experts, your consumers probably won’t have a clue what you’re experts in. Industry jargon can complicate the message you’re trying to but across and, if used in abundance, can deter consumers from reading altogether – not everyone is fluent in the language of your industry.
Sticking to plain English and avoiding industry-specific jargon is far more beneficial. Your message will be clear and concise, the language won’t be off-putting, and consumers will be far more likely to be able to relate to what it is you’re saying.
4. Your content isn’t catering to the needs of your target audience
You may think you know what your audience wants to consume, but have you checked? Often, if your content is falling flat, it’s because the needs of your audience are different to what you anticipated them to be. You might be sharing content about one industry-specific task or procedure when they’re actually looking for advice on something completely different.
To combat this, it’s an idea to spend some time putting together some customer personas. Who is your target audience? What are their interests and hobbies? How can you tap into their frustrations and provide solutions to their problems? By establishing the types of people you’re actually creating content for first, you’ll ensure that any content you do create appeals directly to them.
To go a step further, try researching which keywords your audience is searching for and use these to your advantage in your content. If you know what they’re looking for, it’s far easier to provide that for them.
5. Your content doesn’t have a clear direction
Sometimes, your content may not be working because you’re not sure what you want to post or what you should be posting. You’ve tried a bit of everything, but nothing seems to be sticking, so you find yourself in a bit of a content mess.
What we like to do at The Edwards Company is come up with a regular content creation strategy. For example, we know that via our blog, we want to share helpful tips and tricks to do with the Virtual Assistant services we offer. We consistently do this, meaning our audience know what to expect. We know that the purpose of our content is to inform, and we keep this in mind whenever we write a blog post. If the consumer won’t take anything away with them once they’ve read it, it goes in the scrap pile.
Try doing this with your own content – decide what its purpose is and what you want your consumers to take away from it. This will make it far easier to create content with a clear direction and message.
6. Content creation isn’t your area of expertise
Just like your job isn’t our area of expertise, content creation may not be yours! There’s nothing worse than slogging away at something, knowing that it won’t turn out the way you want it to because you don’t have the correct tools or skills available. It can make the whole process feel draining and disheartening.
If content creation isn’t your thing, it could be the reason as to why your content isn’t working. To combat this, it may be an idea to enlist some external support.
Here at The Edwards Company, for example, we create content for clients locally in the West Midlands and all over the UK. Whether they require some new written content for their website to give it a boost or regular articles for their blog post to ensure it’s attracting all the right people, we’re able to provide it. For us, writing content is all about the consumer. We’ll analyse your target audience, utilise the unique selling points of your business and sprinkle plenty of personality to create compelling content that converts.
If you’re struggling to write content that hits the mark, please do not hesitate to get in touch.