Top 5 Reasons Content Marketing is not Attracting Clients to your Business

You’re worried that content marketing is not attracting clients to your business no matter how hard you try?

Of course you should BE WORRIED!

Because, the main reason people engage in content marketing is because they want to build an audience who’ll most likely become fans. And possibly, paying clients.

Unfortunately this doesn’t happen all the time.

Apart from the few that manage to garner a handful of readers, most new content marketers don’t ever build any audience that end up becoming paid customers. besides the few people that read their posts every now and then.

I mean this is why 95 percent of bloggers give up and abandon their blogs after a very short while.

Sounds like something you can relate to right?

Well, that report is from New York Post. And frankly, quite a good number of content marketers are not making any headway with their content.

If you’re struggling with building an audience for your business through content marketing then this post is the re-education you need.

In this post you’re going to find out why most marketers, freelancers and small businesses fail to build any audience after blogging for a long time.

And you’ll also learn how to avoid these mistakes and really build an audience for your business through content marketing…

Set? Let’s dig in. In the following paragraphs, I’ll be discussing the real issues with you…

No Well Defined Audience

The number one reason content marketing is not attracting client to your business is because you don’t have an audience.

And this is due to the fact that you don’t even know who should be in your audience. Or who shouldn’t.

So, you write for everyone. And writing for everyone technically means writing for no one. For this reason, no one really cares about the stuff you create.

And after spending the whole time writing great content, you find little to no engagement and then it becomes very disappointing.

Think about the United States Presidential Aspirant taking his campaign to Russia to tell the Russians about his agenda for the Americans…

After spending 100M USD on expenses and everything, he gives a rousing speech that gets a thunderous applause.

Now tell me, no matter how much he spends on this campaign and how wonderful the speech would be, do you think the Russian campaign will bring in the votes?

Definitely not. Because the people that will vote for him are in the United States.

But that’s how most new content marketers work out their marketing. Targeting just about any kind of reader.

This doesn’t work!

Your Content marketing strategy should be focused on meeting the needs of the target audience you want to attract to your blog.

So, if you’re selling beef, you will want to attract to your blog, people that eat and like beef. Not everyone. Because everyone includes vegetarians and non meat lovers.

If you’re marketing a Samsung Galaxy smartphone to working class guys between 25-35 years, your content marketing should focus on this group and how the device can fit into their lifestyle.

How to Identify your Target Audience

To identify your target audience, you want to start with creating a persona for your ideal audience. And building your content based in that persona and the kind of content that matters to them.

See him/her through your minds eyes while creating your content.

Be able to imagine their fears and aspirations. Paint pictures of their struggles and aspirations in your mind’s eyes and let these personal details guide you toward building a connection with them.

Zero Content Strategy

Another reason content marketing is not attracting client is because you don’t have any content strategy.

Now, a content strategy is a well mapped out plan of the particular goal you want to achieve with your blog at a certain time, including the steps you’ll use in achieving those goals.

Your content strategy embodies things like;

Your goals, the kind of content you want to create based on that goal, the number of times you’ll post in a week, the platforms you’ll promote the posts. And even the length of each post.

Most content marketers don’t bother about creating a content strategy. But it is important you put this in your bucket list, if you’re thinking of getting an impressive result with your content content marketing effort.

Because it’s your strategy that will help you map to out your audience and find out who (say a particular sub segment) to target with a particular content.

From there, you’ll be able to acknowledge the particular audience’s journey, and find out the post that will be suitable to them at any point in time.

That’s because building an audience is a journey on it’s own.

No Connection with your Audience

Lack of connection with your audience through your content is one of the reasons why content marketing is not attracting clients to your business.

Even when you get to define your audience, your audience need to really connect with your content, if you’re planning to have them take on your call to action, after coming across your content.

Now there’s something I want you to understand.

Most content creators make the mistake of creating the kind of content they have in mind, without trying to understand the real needs of their target audience.

This happens especially with bloggers. So you wake up one day and because you felt so sad with your life and you begin to talk about your feelings.

You see, that’s a great thing to do. Because it relieves your heart of whatever stuff it is you’d probably had to deal with.

But the point is, does this add any value to your client? Will it make them feel like coming to you for more?

These are the obvious questions your content should be able to answer before you hit the publish button.

Don’t get me wrong. Some personal stories helps you to create a better connection with your audience…

But these stories can only create real connections if you have a way of wrapping them around content that appeals to your audience.

Because whether you like it or not, people are moved by self interest. So they’ll only head over to where their interest is best served.

Instead of focusing on yourself, your content should be focused on your audience. And the things that matters to them. Because they are the reason you’re here.

Otherwise, you can focus on yourself if you’re some Kim Kardashian, some Dooce or your blog’s mission is to share your life journey with your readers. (that’s not bad anyways).

If your blog is not cut out for any of the above, focus on your own journey. Don’t be everything to everyone.

The main reason why you were asked to create an audience and a persona is because we wanted you to be able to know some details that will help you build connections with your audience.

Details that will help you inspire them to take certain actions without stress. Because it’s what will really work for them.

Expecting Readers to Come without Effort

Of course readers are supposed to come to you. They are the ones with the problem you have solutions.

But, having this kind of mindset is one of the reasons why content marketing is not attracting clients to your business.

Yes! Although, clients might come to you in the brick and mortar world. Especially, if you have a brand like the Apple, The Samsung or the Coca Cola of this world etc.

But you see, you are in the online world. And you’re not yet well known. So, you have to go out there and get your audience over to your blog before expecting to convert them into clients.

Learn about and use the right keywords combination in your content, promote the post also. And try to use the right strategy, to get across to your audience.

Promoting the Wrong Way

Lack of promotion could also be one of the reason why content marketing is not bringing clients to your business.

But apart from complete lack of content promotion, a lot of content creators promote the content the wrong way. And this leads to zero results.

From using the wrong platform to using an incorrect strategy, most creators are consistently getting less than they expected.

For instance, as a content creator, its natural you’ll focus on promoting your content on a social media platform you’re already comfortable with. Or the one you have the most audience.

A lot of creators make this mistake. I also made same mistake while I was starting out as a content creator. But, sometimes; these platforms might not have the right audience for you.

That’s why before embarking on content promotion on any social media platform, you need to understand the platform that has your audience and then focus on promoting your content there.

Conclusion

To say the least, content marketing is meant to attract an audience that will be converted into paying clients for your business.

Where this is not happening then that means the whole purpose of your content marketing activity has been defeated.

If you ever get to this point, creating more content will not bring any solution. It will only lead to a waste of your time.

Now that you’ve learned about the possible reasons why content marketing is not attracting clients to your business, you need to begin to analyze your content marketing results based on the solutions I’ve provided here and the work on fixing it, using the listed strategies.

So, there you have the solutions to fix your content marketing outcomes.

Do you need any further strategies to reposition your content and get even better results? Sign up for our content marketing master class here.

Now, it’s over to you. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve experienced so far, in your journey as a content marketer? Lets hear you!