Image Credit: Functional Nerds
Excuses, excuses, excuses.
Listing off excuses (in business we often call them “reasons”) is common. It’s easier to say “no” then “let’s do this!” That’s why despite all the figures charting the growth of content marketing, many organizations struggle to get their efforts off the ground.
Championing content marketing inside your organization, you’re bound to run into one – if not all – of the following excuses. Learn them and be prepared with sound reasons why they’re just plain wrong.
1. “We don’t have the talent.”
Content marketing isn’t a mystical operation performed solely by auteurs. True, the job requires a special skill set. But it’s a mistake to think talent isn’t available.
Install a Managing Editor. Plenty of writers and journalists want positions where building and informing an audience is paramount. It may take time for them to understand your buying cycle, so make sure they’re constantly communicating with the demand generation and sales teams.
The Managing Editor will not only develop clear guidelines for creating engaging, educational content, but also cultivate a team of skilled practitioners. If you can’t hire an expert right away, find the people on your team with a knack for crafting enjoyable content. Give them time away from pitching product. Remember: there’s a big gap between collateral and content.
2. “We don’t know which content to create.”
Ignorance is never a good reason for inaction. Staring at gaping holes in your content feels daunting, but a team-oriented dissection can identify priorities and even stir excitement.
Establish an Editorial Board that brings all the key stakeholders for your content marketing together. The Managing Editor can act as chair. The goal is to understand where the biggest holes in your content are (could be top of funnel, could be with a particular buyer persona), and then detail an action plan for buttoning those up.
A key initiative for the Editorial Board is performing a content audit. You need to know all the content you currently have, where it’s being distributed, and how it’s performed. Armed with this info, you can assign priorities intelligently.
3. “We don’t have bandwidth.”
If you don’t have time for content, you don’t have time for your buyers.
Content is not just a sexy way of luring prospects. It’s the life force of a healthy pipeline. Avoid maxing out bandwidth by producing Content Pillars. These are the big meaty content pieces that can be broken up and turned into several content assets.
Content Pillars come in many forms (video, eBooks, research studies, etc.), but should address a critical theme for your buyers. When producing a pillar, consider how you can build upon it by using it to write a series of blog posts, emails, webinars, and more. This will keep your team’s priorities on track and ensure you’re not constantly reinventing the wheel.