Between social media, blogging, building websites, and customer outreach, managing content marketing campaigns is far from easy. Even when it becomes routine and results are steady, there are always ways to do better, do more, and make the invested time and money even more worthwhile.
To help, I assembled a number of hard questions you (or your marketing department) should ask yourself. Hopefully, you'll be able to come up with a few answers.
1. What's my goal?
Every content campaign has to have a goal. Typically, the answer to this question is "to drive traffic to a website" or "grow a Twitter following." If you're rolling these generic responses into a single answer, however, you're missing the entire point.
What you need are measurable, definable goals with realistic expectations. Consider the following goals:
- I want to rank my website higher.
- I want to achieve 1,000 Twitter followers by June.
- I want to amass 300 LinkedIn connections.
- I want to boost sales revenue by 25 percent with content marketing.
- I want to rebuild the blog site and post three times a week.
Simple, measurable goals are the way to go.
2. What's my purpose?
As a content marketer, what kind of responsibilities do you have? Are you responsible for a business' blog, website, social media posting, customer engagement, or everything at once? As mentioned, it's easy to become lost due to the overwhelming workload of doing everything you can to launch an effective campaign strategy.
To streamline your efforts, make sure your "purpose" is achieving your achievable goals. You'll likely have other duties, of course, but your purpose is to build online assets for businesses and professionals. Everything you do should work toward meeting that goal.
3. Is social platform "xyz" worth it?
Whether it's a blog or an article you read, you'll likely encounter a time when you have to take on strategies when you know they aren't fit for your business. Take Pinterest as an example, a social platform that has a definite purpose and audience. Twitter, on the other hand, is rather generalized and open to any industry.
Since there are only so many hours in the day, you have to prioritize the strategies that actually show results. Don't be afraid to ditch something that doesn't. If anything, a poorly-curated asset will make your company look worse.
The same goes for any campaign strategies (like old school keyword padding) that don't work anymore.
4. Am I doing everything I can?
Are you? This question is directed at those responsible for writing high-quality material for blogs, social media, and websites. Is what you're writing too automatic, is it too impersonal, or is it boring?
It's easy to fall into routine. Unfortunately, routine kills creativity and can put a wall up between you and future success. To combat routine, focus on optimizing the platforms you absolutely love working on. If you hate Facebook, for instance, your followers will tell.
5. Is it working?
You need to constantly challenge yourself with this question: Is my content marketing actually making a difference?
This constant self-check can wake you up from a slump and motivate you to try new things. By tracing your goals and monitoring results, you'll also be able to see which platforms work best, how successful your content is, and so on. It's a reciprocal industry, one that requires constant revision as it evolves.