What to Do If Your Content Marketing Campaign Stalls

You’ve put together a brilliant marketing strategy underpinned by valuable, relevant content, but you’re not getting the results you anticipated.

Don’t worry. It’s normal. And fortunately, it’s an issue you can easily deal with. Sometimes it’s a matter of being patient. Other times it’s a matter of tweaking your approach. Here’s what to do if your content marketing campaign has stalled.

Find The Problem 

Before making any changes, head to your analytics dashboard. Try to identify anything that may be impacting your traffic and reach. Maybe you’ve adjusted your meta tags or a competitor is strategically diverting your traffic. Perhaps you’ve been penalized by Google.

If your analytics doesn’t reveal anything of note, try conducting a customer survey in order to gather some qualitative data about where you have room to grow. Additionally, market and competitor reviews can show you whether you’ve missed a new trend or development.

You’ll also want to evaluate your tie-in strategies. Are these siphoning engagement from your content marketing? Conversely, have you stopped directing these users to your blog posts, articles and social media?

Want to understand if your social media efforts are driving any results? Schedule a social media audit.

Shift Your Strategy

Now that you’ve determined where the issue lies, it’s time to make a plan. Don’t change everything at once, as this will make it difficult to see exactly what’s working and to what extent.

If your issue is SEO, start filling those gaps with a data-driven approach. Adjust your meta tags, titles, and keywords and ensure your internal and external links are live. Start building a content calendar that will address any keywords or terms you need and would like to rank for.  You can also check in with Google to ensure that you’re meeting current SEO guidelines.

Next, review any opportunities surfaced by your customer surveys and competitor reviews. Don’t be afraid to completely overhaul your strategy — you’ll never see improvements if you don’t make changes. Become a master pivoter. Some common changes include shifting to a goal-oriented approach, casting a wider net and building in content as part of the sales funnel.

To paraphrase a Hollywood classic, always be testing. Test every new implementation to see whether it’s working. If it’s not? Try something else, and test that as well.

Finally, make sure that you’re promoting your content. Push it out through multiple channels, send out media releases and drive eyeballs through targeted ads. The marketing part of content marketing is half the job, after all!

Set Reasonable Targets

While growth ideally follows an upward trajectory, exponential or even linear growth is a pie-in-the-sky dream. Expect to see occasional dips or times of slower growth.

However, when these do occur, take time to analyze why they’re happening. Maybe it’s a seasonal thing, or perhaps you’ve reached saturation in your local market. Maybe your competitor has released a new product, or your prices are being undercut.

The larger you grow, the harder it is to maintain the rapid-fire growth of a new company. Remember, it’s much easier to double your followers or page views when the numbers are small!

That said, with a solid content marketing plan underpinned by analytics, user feedback, and market validation, you should be able to enjoy a steady performance. 

Need some help with your content marketing strategy? Get in touch!