We know content is king. But the royal treatment that most of us unthinkingly give to content is the biggest reason why the vast majority of marketers remain trapped on the wrong side of the publish-or-perish equation.
\n\n\n\nThis Fourth of July, as the nation celebrates Independence Day, we once again find ourselves in the midst of flags, fireworks, and festivities\u2014all reminders of the hard-won freedom we now relish. But the July 4 holiday is also an excellent time to think about kicking off the many marketing shackles that keep us from realizing our true potential.
\n\n\n\nThe \u201ccontent trap\u201d is one such obstacle marketers need to carefully think about. Most marketing strategies today now involve publishing staggering amounts of content\u2014often at a dizzying pace and almost always at the expense of quality. The result is that we\u2019re always trying to stay afloat in an ever-expanding ocean of content by publishing even more.
\n\n\n\nManage your content distribution with our free Content Calendar Template
\n\n\n\nA survey carried out by Kapost found that some 3,400 B2B organizations produce more than 42,000 pieces of content per year. As if that\u2019s not enough, according to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), at least 70% of B2B marketers plan to create more content this year than in the previous one.
\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s no wonder that when asked about the top content marketing challenges they face, marketers cite lack of time to create content (51%), producing enough content (50%), and producing truly engaging content (42%).
\n\n\n\nAll this frenzied content creation has led to a condition known as content shock, where an overabundance of content draws an underwhelming amount of engagement. According to data compiled by Mark Schaefer, the clear signs of content shock include:
\n\n\n\nSo we\u2019re now at a point where we\u2019re putting out more and more content to an audience that\u2019s becoming more and more uninterested. Unless most marketers change how they apply the timeless \u201ccontent is king\u201d truism, many of us will remain enslaved to a mistaken belief.
\n\n\n\nRelated: Amplify Your Leads with These Content Distribution Tips
\n\n\n\nWhen a product becomes a commodity, writes Aaron Dun in an article for Marketingprofs, it essentially becomes the same as the other goods produced by competitors. The same holds true for content. When a piece of content turns into a commodity, it becomes practically identical to the rest of the content out there, reducing its ability to stand out and capture your target audience\u2019s attention.
\n\n\n\nBut how does your 50-page enterprise-level cloud orchestration whitepaper go from being your latest masterpiece to just another unclicked Google search result?
\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s simple. It was made that way.
\n\n\n\nIn a world where everyone publishes almost every minute, success comes from being different, not from being similar. That\u2019s how you free yourself from the content trap, and here\u2019s how you apply this to your content marketing strategy:
\n\n\n\nIn 2015, a HubSpot study found that companies that published more blog posts per month tended to see higher site traffic than those that publish less often. While this is certainly interesting, the findings simply indicate correlation and not causation.
\n\n\n\nAs we\u2019ve earlier seen, there are signs that online content has already hit a saturation point. There\u2019s little to gain from simply throwing another piece of content into the pile and hoping someone picks it up.
\n\n\n\nWhy not try producing less content? Doing this frees up time that you can use to ensure that each piece of content delivers value and is what your target audience needs. In short, do a small number of things, and do them really well.
\n\n\n\nRelated: How to Write Content That Gets Read and Shared
\n\n\n\nBeing different means stepping out of the filter bubbles and the echo chambers that imprison your peers. Everything in your content portfolio, from topics to formats, constantly needs a fresh rethink in order to avoid getting drowned out in a \u201csea of sameness\u201d.
\n\n\n\nHow much of your content assets are gated content? Have you considered repackaging your static resources into interactive and rich media formats? What percentage of your content calls-to-action sell the next funnel stages instead of the final step?
\n\n\n\nBut you don\u2019t need to aim for huge leaps and bounds every time you come up with a content plan. The right approach is to produce fresh ideas once in a while and then make small, incremental improvements as you go along.
\n\n\n\nRelated: Content Intelligence: Leveraging Data and AI to Create Smarter Content
\n\n\n\nIn a buyer-led purchase process, your only real chance at making your content stand out is to make sure it speaks directly to your target audience. Your content needs to closely match what your target audience wants to know at that exact point in their buying journey.
\n\n\n\nIf that sounds a lot like personalization, that\u2019s because it is. According to a LinkedIn survey, a full 65% of B2B decision makers will switch brands if a company failed to personalize its communications. Marketingprofs also find that B2B buyers consider pieces that are 100% customized as one of the biggest reasons why they respond to marketing outreach.
\n\n\n\nRelated: Approaching Psychographic Segmentation In B2B Marketing
\n\n\n\nThe Takeaway: It\u2019s now time to rise up and set ourselves free from the oppression that content traps inflict on us. Let\u2019s stop counting how many pieces of content we\u2019ve published; let\u2019s make each piece of the published content count.
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Free yourself from the content marketing trap using the insights in this quick blog article just in time for the Fourth of July. Happy Independence Day!
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