By now, most companies are starting to get the message that content marketing isn’t a fad. In the information age, content marketing is marketing. Even still, businesses in Utah and beyond build long lists of reasons why they can’t make it happen. They make small problems seem like massive dragons ready to burn their careers to the ground. But by adopting some new ways of thinking about content, there are really no dragons you can’t slay.
Here are some of the biggest content challenges we hear about and why they’re not so bad.
I Don’t Have Enough Time
This is one we’re sick of hearing. Anyone can make time for priorities — and if you’re doing marketing at all, content marketing is definitely going to be one of your primary areas of focus. A quick 30 minutes of unfettered typing can lead to a bunch of different content types, whether it’s a blog article, some social media posts or even quick, low-production instructional videos. Not only that, but who’s to say you have to be the one creating the content? Many companies have had success inviting their clients to write blog articles for them, and still more have hired marketing agencies in Utah to fill their content gaps.
I Don’t Have Any Ideas
Ten minutes with a pen, a pad and a few people is all it takes to get a huge list of ideas ready for local markets like the state of Utah, or bigger markets like the whole country. Ask yourself questions like:
- What makes our company different from others in Utah or the world?
- What expert knowledge about our industry can we share?
- What about our manufacturing or development process might be compelling to talk about?
- What is happening in our industry now and how can we comment on it intelligently?
- What are our clients struggling with and how can we ease some of their burdens with content?
- At what times has the client been satisfied, and what are their stories?
Among the answers to these questions is a huge list of potential videos, articles and more.
My Brand Doesn’t Lend Itself to That Kind of Marketing
Given what we already discussed above, you should begin to see that even a boring product or company has compelling stories, whether they involve internal processes or client success. The home appliance market in particular might seem boring until you think of what Utah-based company Blendtec has done. Just by using one of their blenders to destroy various things, Blendtec has become a YouTube sensation and a household name, all while selling a ton of blenders.
I Can’t Get the Execs to Sign Off
For many, gaining executive approval is the biggest challenge they’ll face. Executives will wonder why their employees are spending time writing a bunch of articles, and making a bunch of videos that might not even discuss their product directly. Those still stuck in the always-be-closing mentality, won’t like the idea of slowly building trust and authority with prospects. Your job will be showing them how much success other companies have had with content marketing. You’ll need to reveal a detailed plan of how content marketing applies to your company, and what gains you can hope to get from it. You strategy might focus on a local market, like Utah in our case, or it could cast a wider net across the country or world. With a compelling plan in place and a clear picture of the potential ROI, most execs will give you a shot.
It’s Too Expensive
This is a pretty common misconception about content marketing. When you see long-form ebooks, highly stylized infographics and videos with stellar production, content marketing starts to look mighty expensive — but it doesn’t have to be. Audiences will forgive lower production values for information that helps them. How many times have you sat through a fuzzy YouTube video because it had the info you need? The real value you provide is in the quality of the information itself. Great packaging helps, but if you have solid information that’s useful for your target audience, your content will succeed — even on a budget.
Conclusion
Content marketers are always going to run into challenges, whether they’re a small Utah-based shop, or a huge national firm, but there are none too big for agile marketers handle. With a little know-how and a firm belief in successful content marketing, there’s no challenge too big for the knights of content to slay.
