Content marketing failure or failure of execution?

One of the key ways to gain much-needed content standout is to go against the grain. With this in mind, it should be no surprise that many content marketing blogs take the same approach.

Posts appear regularly stating that content marketing is up the creek without a paddle, here’s why and, of course, here’s how we can fix it.

Given reasons generally include too much noise, activity that’s badly targeted and planned, not enough differentiation and hitting the wrong people.

There is much to be said for all of the above but, at the end of the day, if something is badly executed there is more chance it will fail.

One point in this post is interesting, claiming there is a dislocation between content providers and their sales teams.

Perhaps there is something in this. Research has shown that companies who engage in content marketing are struggling to bring other departments into the mix when it comes to creating new and relevant content.

Content = leads

There are numerous ways to mitigate this. Firstly, look at using content as a form of sales guide – as a complement to the work of the sales team rather than a separate entity.

The sales team should be encouraged to share content with their customers. In this way, they can be seen to be ahead of the curve. In itself, this is not difficult. The challenge is to educate the team to look at life from a digital point of view. This will be easier in some companies than in others.

One case study we’ve highlighted more than once is Dell’s Nurture campaign, which looked to engage with prospects who were not ready for a sales call.

It’s an example of the way in which content marketing can become a precursor for the sales team and pave the way for greater contact. Again, Xerox did this with its Chief Optimist magazine targeting top executives and chief executives.

Concluding thoughts

Bringing other departments into the process of content marketing creation is key to its success… but that is simply about doing things properly. Any marketing department that operates within its own silo is doomed to fail.

As for all the other failings? Well, that is just doing work badly. Like so many other aspects of business life, content marketing will only work if it’s planned well and executed with quality top of mind.

Content marketing failure or failure of execution? is part of Content24, the blog for London content marketing agency FirstWord.