“My dog ate my homework” and other excuses for not having a content strategy

When Allee’s CEO Melissa Harrison is giving one of her awesome workshops on creating an effective content marketing strategy, she often gets the comment “I just don’t have enough time to sit down and come up with all that material.” The truth is, in order to see your business succeed and grow you must be investing time and resources into all areas—content marketing strategy included! Content marketing is a powerful form of communication, costing 62% less than traditional marketing and generating 3 times as many leads. It’s time to tackle some of those excuses that are preventing you from creating your best content.

“There isn’t enough time in the day!”

Hey, we partially agree with you on this one—it really seems like there’s never enough time in the day to get everything done. Naturally, we squeeze the items and tasks we think are “most important” into our schedule so we can complete them. Your content strategy needs to be added to that list. Brands that are actively creating content have higher customer engagement rates, and as stated above, 3 times as many leads. There are plenty of options available to help you simplify and speed up the content creating task including content calendars, scheduling your posts and reusing content.

“I’m not a good writer” or “I’m not creative enough.”

These excuses show up in many different situations. First, you may not even know where to start with your content. The easiest way around that is to know and understand your customers and what their needs are, as they are going to be the reason you are creating content anyways. Second, you may not feel like you are able to continually come up with new content every month. Our tips?

• Read more,
• Follow other companies and new sources in your industry
• Never be afraid to reuse past content or blog posts in other ways

You do not always need to say something new, but be able to share relevant information in your own unique way. Finally, you may not feel like you are good writer, but it is more important that you are sharing relevant, interesting information to your audience. If necessary, you can reach out to a peer or colleague to edit and proofread your content before it is posted. Or, hire a writer!

“I don’t know how to narrow down all the tools.”

There are so many blogging and content marketing tools available out there—it can get a little overwhelming to narrow them all down and decide which tools will work best for your company. Not to mention, there is an abundance of social media channels that you have the option to post your content on. Your brand does not need to be active on every social media channel, however, so start by researching the uses and audience on each channel. It is important to have a thorough plan of action before entering the social media realm. In addition, begin mastering a few content or blog marketing tools at a time to see which ones work best for you.

“My audience doesn’t read about my industry.”

This just simply isn’t true. You are in your industry for a reason—to bring relevant information, services or products to your audience. Within your industry there are topics or issues that can and should be discussed with your audience, and you are considered the expert in your industry. Create content that will educate them and answer their questions.

Your content marketing strategy is an important part of your business plan. If you are struggling with time, inspiration or resources, we can help you create an effective content strategy that educates and informs your audience.