So you’ve started using content marketing to advertise your business. Things are going well: you’re producing good, high-quality content and seeing sizeable increases in both traffic and conversions. Then all of a sudden the numbers start to level off — social media interactions stop increasing, traffic stagnates, and returns come to a plateau. What can you do?
Slow growth levels in your content marketing strategy can be more frustrating than trying to get a martini in Utah. If your content marketing plan is no longer bringing in the double-digit results you’d hoped for, it may be time to switch things up.
Increasing the amount of content you produce is probably the easiest way to break out of a content marketing slump; just be sure not to sacrifice quality in the face of quantity. Increase your social media presence by sharing content more than once a day, or bump up blog posts from a weekly affair to a multi-weekly one.
Already producing a fair amount of content? Try introducing more variation in the formats and mediums you use. Invite prominent guest bloggers in your field to contribute a guest post or two. Include news roundups, video roundups and valuable tips from industry insiders. Offer long-form pieces in addition to short-form listicles, and don’t forget to take advantage of visual media.
Give videos a try. While an elaborate video can bring in serious traffic, you don’t have to report live from the top of a mountain in Utah to get views. Even a short video of you speaking in front of a blank backdrop can significantly boost numbers.
If all else fails, you may simply be focusing your content marketing efforts on the wrong audience. If you’re a local business in Utah, reaching out to consumers in the Midwest is probably a waste of time and money. Reevaluate your priorities and make sure your content is successfully reaching the kind of people who will follow through—they’re the customers who matter most.
