The five big content marketing challenges facing brands and

businesses right now

Prepared by Adam Vincenzini, managing partner, Kamber

@KamberCo

Putting content in contextContent marketing can be defined as the creation and distribution of relevant content that adds value to the lives of the people it has been crafted for.

In many cases, it helps solve problems for people or enables them to achieve things through access to niche information provided by organisations and individuals who house this knowledge.

Sharing this information not only creates goodwill, but also increases consideration and the likelihood of recommendation.

Social media has created a distribution and feedback mechanism for this content and made the ‘business-as-publisher’ dream a much more attainable reality.

But, why haven’t most businesses latched onto this opportunity?

1. Potential impact is not fully understood

Stop paying ‘rent’We’ve have been taught that paid media is the only guaranteed way to get our own messages in front of the right people.

We’ve also been taught that earned media is the only way to influence people en masse.

In essence, we’ve been paying rent to be seen and interacted with.

This reliance on traditional paid and institutional earned media can be reduced if you make a commitment to the properties you own.

The right content strategy will help your own online properties become destinations in their own right.

But, the right strategies aren’t being employed because this opportunity isn’t fully understood or being made a priority.

2. There has been a huge shift in search engine optimisation

The artist formerly known as...Search engine optimisation is going through a major identity crisis.

Traditionally, SEO service providers have been able to generate immediate results by using techniques like link building to make online properties and content more visible.

Now, with social media playing such a huge role and Google constantly changing the way it operates, the value of genuinely useful content that appeals to humans is gaining more consistent traction.

This does not mean SEO is dead, far from it, but it has built a rod for its own back as long-term content strategies can’t produce such immediate results.

The time to bite the bullet is now.

3. Social media has been a blessing and a curse

Out of focusWe were, and still are, so desperate to be ‘part of the conversation’.

Some chose to make customer service a key pillar of their social media existence.

Other chose the flashy campaign approach.

The thing most people forgot was the a sustainable content strategy that would act as the backbone.

This ‘backbone’ content is the key to being a valued online participant.

Instead, meaningless metrics are chased, content calendars are populated with ‘engagement’ content and people switch off.

This isn’t being challenged, internally or externally.

4. Where’s the money going to come from?

Show me the moneyIf an organisation did want to embrace the genuine publishing opportunity, it would require an appropriate budget allocation.

But, marketing budgets are already stretched thin.

It is hard for content marketing to get the financial support it needs because the initial return on investment won’t look that hot alongside traditional disciplines and metrics.

The best way to look at the content marketing journey is similar to the way you approach your personal health and wellbeing.

If you change your lifestyle and make exercise and eating well part of who you are, you will reap the benefits for life.

If you go on a crash diet, you might get an immediate return but you’ll pack the weight back on just as quick.

Content marketing is a lifestyle change, traditional marketing is a weight loss shake.

5. You won’t win any awards any time soon

Campaigns vs ‘always on’Big, creative and boundary pushing campaigns are sexy.

Content marketing is less so.

Linked to the budget dilemma, the time required to make a sustainable content strategy pay off means that the person who initiates it may not be around to enjoy the spoils.

The organisational priority will always be on the immediate commercial need, which has only ever been impacted by campaign-based activity.

However, if you build up an engaged audience through the delivery of your content over a sustained period of time, you can achieve those ‘spikes’ without relying on the big sexy campaigns to the same degree(s).

But you may cost yourself internal kudos and an award or two...for now.

About KamberKamber is a specialist content marketing and social media consultancy based in Melbourne, Australia.

The consultancy was established to provide clients with a partner that could drive genuine change within organisations, helping to make content marketing and social media central to operational success.Kamber’s core products and services include social media and content audits, social media and content strategy, content production, content visibility, social media management and social media monitoring.Find out more at www.kamber.com.au