So the pitch went great.
You took your stakeholders through a glittering presentation on the power of content marketing.
You unleashed your ultra-compelling content marketing statistics.
You explained. You showcased. You killed it.
And now, exhausted but floating on a cloud of inspiration and light, you turn it over to your audience and ask, “So, do you have any questions?” And then everything goes horribly wrong.
Has this happened to you?
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how compelling your stats are or how many microsites Pepsi created or what tools you can use to aggregate tweets. Sometimes you bump right into a hardcore philosophical objection…a big one. In this two-part post, we’re going to look at some of the most common objections to content marketing and how to navigate through them with some solid responses.
See if you’ve heard any of these before.
“People don’t want to read content about our boring industry.”
Let’s say you’re a gravel company or a consulting firm who provides research on paint drying speeds. In all seriousness, your execs turn to you and say, “Hey, look, we’re boring. No one wants more content about this kind of stuff!”
What do you say to that? Start with this:
- Explain that it’s not about them, it’s about addressing the pain points of the audience base. Together you’ll have to find out what those needs are.
- Walk them through the need to shift their focus from only talking about solutions to painting a picture of the solutions-space.
Action item: Map out an audience segmentation chart or needs analysis to show just what kind of value they can provide in terms of content.
“It’s too early in the content marketing game to establish value or ROI.”
Here’s an objection you’ll probably get from the CFO or other decision-makers who love financial acronyms. They’re saying, “This is too new, how are we going to measure this?”
Thankfully, this one is a relief to explain and really quite simple.
- First, reinforce the fact that the ingredients of content marketing aren’t new and that ROI and analytics have long been established for what you’re recommending.
- Second, explain that this is more like a slow dance and that obtaining top-of-mind awareness is a nurturing process.
- Third, put the burden back on them to clearly define their goals. Who cares about the details if the goals are being met?
Action item: Show off some Google Analytics reports or examples of how other companies report, and explain how you measure success in numeric and non-numeric forms.
“We don’t have the staff for this.”
Sometimes there will be questions on how current staff will be able to take on a newer venture like content marketing. And while 75% of your future content marketing team might be in the building already, odds are the team as it stands now is not currently prepared to roll out such sweeping changes right away.
Answer these objections with:
Overcoming Objections to Content Marketing
- “We’ll start small, with a pilot program to prove its effectiveness. As we evaluate the results, we can determine where to spend our energy for maximum results.”
- “Part of the investment we’d like to make involves working with some external partners who have expertise in implementing these types of plans in organizations.”
- “At the beginning, we’ll rely a bit more heavily on qualified freelance help and curated content as well.”
Action item: Internal experts are some of the best sources for content and content ideas. Show how you can work across teams to start creating content that resonates with buyers.
In my next post, we’ll look at a few other great objections including some popular ones about outsourcing content, social media presence, and the big one… cost.