It\u2019s crucial to stand out in a crowded field. Whether you\u2019re a freelancer, a content marketing agency, or an in-house marketing professional hired to manage a brand\u2019s content, you need to make the most of your existing strengths in content marketing creation, but you also need to shore up your weaknesses and develop your lesser skill sets.<\/p>\n
To improve any skill set, you need a plan that encompasses at least three basic steps:<\/p>\n
Most people aren\u2019t gifted with pure rational objectivity when it comes to analyzing their own strengths and weaknesses. They need a little outside input from others who ideally have some experience in evaluating content marketing or writing skills and also can be trusted to deliver useful feedback.<\/p>\n
Find others whose opinions you\u2019d trust and ask them to give you feedback on past content. Look for any specific areas or factors that get mentioned more than once or twice and consider focusing on those first.<\/p>\n
Now that you have an idea of specific areas in which you could use a little improvement, where do you start? It might be tempting to work on all your writing or content marketing weaknesses simultaneously. Resist that temptation, however. It\u2019s usually better to focus on one area of improvement at a time.<\/p>\n
As for which skill set to work on first, you\u2019ll probably get the most benefit from focusing on the area you feel could use the most work. Concentrated effort and attention on the biggest gap usually translates to greater progress, creating a bigger impact on your results in turn.<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re working on skills development or any other kind of self-improvement plans, a targeted plan is almost always going to be faster and more effective than a generalized \u201ckitchen-sink\u201d approach.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also crucial to periodically assess your results and adjust your plan as needed. If your results are acceptable, keep doing what you\u2019ve been doing. If not, then switch things up and try a new tactic.<\/p>\n
Below we\u2019ve collected specific strategies to address some of the most common content marketing writing obstacles and weaknesses.<\/p>\n
Symptoms: Lackluster vocabulary; sentences and paragraphs of equal length; no or insufficient engagement rates; a high bounce rate<\/p>\n
Cure: Infuse your brand\u2019s personality into your writing.<\/p>\n
Storytelling isn\u2019t just a buzzword in content marketing. It\u2019s a concrete skill in content creation that yields measurable results. Humans are hardwired to respond more positively to emotional stimuli, and story-based narrative is the delivery mechanism for that kind of connection.<\/p>\n
Whether they\u2019re freelance or in-house, content marketing writers aren\u2019t always going to find their article topics fascinating. Sometimes, the topic might even bore you to tears. That\u2019s when you have to dig deep and find something to intrigue you. Your own natural curiosity is the best possible cure for boring writing. If you\u2019re struggling with this, put yourself into your targeted reader\u2019s mindset and find what fascinates them about the topic.<\/p>\n
Concert-level musicians keep their skills sharp through daily practice. Writing isn\u2019t much different. One practice that\u2019s frequently recommended by writing experts to keep your skills honed and your creativity flowing is to devote 15 to 30 minutes a day to writing practice. You can use writing prompts or freeform stream-of-consciousness exercises to hone your creativity and writing skills.<\/p>\n
You never know when inspiration will strike. Create some method for capturing any idea for your work at any moment, no matter where you might be. Many writers carry a small pocket notebook with them at all times, but you can also use your phone\u2019s Notes app. The trick here is in training yourself to habitually jot down every idea as soon as possible. You\u2019ll also want to regularly review those notes and process them into your current work.<\/p>\n
Symptoms: Too much content at top of funnel and not enough at bottom, or vice versa; not understanding the difference between content that serves one stage of the customer journey versus another<\/p>\n
Cure: Understand the specific phases of your brand\u2019s customer journey and target your content accordingly.<\/p>\n
While customer journeys share some common points of reference, they can differ from one brand to another. Moreover, a B2B buyer path usually involves different touchpoints than B2C paths.<\/p>\n
Understanding the basics of customer journeys<\/a>\u200a\u2014\u200aat a minimum, the stages of awareness, consideration\/evaluation, and decision\u200a\u2014\u200aand how those journeys map on to the marketing and sales funnel<\/a> is crucial for consistently good content. It also helps to understand how that journey differs for varying user personas. This information helps you target each piece of content correctly and more effectively.<\/p>\n Perform a content audit<\/a> to identify where the gaps are, then craft a plan to address those gaps. Start by creating a simple spreadsheet or document to track basic information about the content on your site, such as URL, title, date published, topic, targeted user persona, and the specific part of the funnel.<\/p>\n Once you have the audit completed, look at how those pieces are spread out between your user personas and funnel position. This might seem like a lot of work but once you get this audit started, you\u2019ll find it easy to add to as you publish new content. It will then be a fairly straightforward matter to pinpoint what parts of your customer journey need to be addressed with fresh content.<\/p>\n Symptoms: Productivity issues; unmet or nonexistent deadlines; no real production schedule<\/p>\n Cure: Regain control of your time and your workflow.<\/p>\n The simplest way to get yourself and your content production back on track is to create an editorial calendar that helps you plan and schedule your future content. A simple editorial calendar might suffice for small brands, or you can search for more complex templates online.<\/p>\n As long as you track the status of each proposed piece of content and which personas and funnel positions it targets, along with your proposed deadlines for creating and publishing, you\u2019ll find it far easier to keep up with your production goals.<\/p>\n Reduce distractions while you\u2019re working using one or more of the free or freemium focus tools that are available as apps, SaaS products and websites. Timer apps can help you keep track of how long you\u2019ve been working, remind you to take regular breaks (essential for good health!), and even help you prepare robust reports, which are especially helpful for freelancers with many different clients. Other apps can temporarily restrict access to distracting social media sites while you work. Play around with different tools to find the combination that works best for you.<\/p>\n Symptoms: Writing about things that interest you, not your targeted users; no real focus or direction; weak or nonexistent strategy<\/p>\n Cure: Get back to basics with customer research and targeted content development.<\/p>\n To reach the audience that\u2019s most likely to want the products and services you offer, you need to target them with the information they\u2019re most interested in finding. Assumptions here can be fatal. You may think you know them better than they know themselves but giving them what you think they need will never prove as successful as giving them what they think they need.<\/p>\n If relatively recent research is lacking or nonexistent, it doesn\u2019t necessarily take thousands of dollars to conduct a thorough survey. Simply asking a handful of loyal repeat customers can tell you a lot about what they love, what they loathe, and what they\u2019re looking for. If the company has access to data dashboards and other metric reporting tools, ask for access to that data in order to figure out what\u2019s working and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n One of the biggest concerns of marketers and content marketing writers is the process of building an engaged and attentive audience. The best way to achieve that objective is through a deep and thorough knowledge of the various types of purchasers they\u2019re striving to attract to the brand.<\/p>\n Your user personas will help you target your content more efficiently. Aiming content at a specific persona helps you provide the information they find most persuasive when they\u2019re making a purchasing decision.<\/p>\n If you want to achieve your brand\u2019s marketing goals, create a written content plan and strategy<\/a>. Document your plan and how you intend to execute it. Try to anticipate obstacles and how you\u2019ll work around them. Putting these tactics into an actual document has been proven to be an effective way to meet your goals and create winning content for your audience by avoiding the haphazard results that come from \u201cwinging it.\u201d<\/p>\n Symptoms: You haven\u2019t changed your approach in ages, or ever; your content is stale and uses the same old formats and strategies<\/p>\n Cure: Shake things up by using what works for others.<\/p>\n Dive into what\u2019s working for other brands by completing a competitive analysis<\/a>. Learn from the masters by deliberately imitating them without directly copying them. Whether you try this solely in your writing practice or in your actual content, make sure you target your content to your audience and buyer personas.<\/p>\n Additionally, don\u2019t limit yourself to written content. Exploring other content formats like video or podcasts or white papers can help strengthen ideation and increase your creativity. Look at how these other brands are telling compelling stories in these new formats and ask yourself how you can achieve those same results using brand-specific stories that resonate emotionally to the same degree.<\/p>\nAudit and strategize<\/h3>\n
Diagnosis: Falling Behind and Off\u00a0Schedule<\/h2>\n
Adopt an editorial calendar<\/h3>\n
Use focus\u00a0tools<\/h3>\n
Diagnosis: Unfocused and Non-Strategic Content<\/h2>\n
Update your customer research<\/h3>\n
Build up your customer\u00a0personas<\/h3>\n
Create a written content\u00a0strategy<\/h3>\n
Diagnosis: Stagnant\u00a0Content<\/h2>\n
Analyze the competition<\/h3>\n
Find better\u00a0stories<\/h3>\n