By Jayne Schultheis — A great content strategy typically isn't going to be your first draft. And if you've ever wondered why your content isn't hitting the mark, you may have some unseen challenges that are preventing the content from hitting your goals. This article dives into the hurdles many face and offers practical solutions. Together, let's look at how to set the stage for content success by catching potential pitfalls before they affect your bottom line.

Understanding Content Strategy Challenges

The best way to prevent setbacks is to anticipate challenges before they arise.

Understanding your audience.

Among the 22% of B2B marketers who said their organization is very or extremely successful, 79% of these top performers most often attribute their success to knowing their audience. But when you think about all the potential people who could potentially be your "audience," it's easy to get overwhelmed. Who are they? What are their shopping habits? Where are they spending their time online? What kind of budget do they have? There are a million questions you could ask, all of which takes some serious market research. From those insights, along with a thorough analysis of existing customers, you should develop a few different buyer personas-- that is, detailed descriptions of your ideal, target customer. When you're trying to find that ideal customer, try using A/B testing to narrow the groups down.

Finding the right marketing channels.

This can be a complex challenge, especially given the diversity of platforms available. With each channel catering to different audience demographics and content types, it can be difficult to determine where to invest time and resources. Marketers must consider factors such as audience preferences, engagement levels, and the nature of their content, all while navigating the ever-evolving landscape of social media, blogs, email, and emerging platforms. Snags in channel selection can lead to ineffective campaigns, wasted budgets, and missed opportunities for engagement.

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To choose the right content marketing channels, marketers should start by clearly defining their target audience and understanding where that audience spends their time. Conducting audience research through surveys, social media analytics, and competitor analysis can provide valuable insights into preferred platforms and content consumption habits. You can also test different channels through pilot campaigns to help identify which ones yield the best results.

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It’s also beneficial to consider the type of content being created. Visual content may perform better on platforms like Instagram or TikTok, while long-form articles might be more suitable for a company blog or LinkedIn.

Lack of clear goals.

When surveyed, that same 22% of B2B marketers who said their organization is very or extremely successful, 68% of them attributed their success to content that aligns with the organization’s objectives. You might be confused, thinking, "Isn't my goal just to get people to to buy my product or services?" Well, ultimately, yes. That's your over-arching goal. But there are lots of different smaller goals that content can achieve, including, but not limited to:

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• Brand awareness
• Lead generation, conversions, or customer retention
• Customer engagement or education
• Increase website traffic
• Improve SEO rankings
• Establish thought leadership

Inconsistent brand voice or tone.

An inconsistent brand voice or tone can significantly undermine a content marketing strategy, creating confusion and diluting brand identity. When different pieces of content convey varying tones—whether overly formal, casual, humorous, or serious—it can lead to mixed messages that frustrate audiences. This inconsistency can make it difficult for customers to understand what the brand stands for, weakening their trust and emotional connection. Over time, this can result in diminished brand loyalty as consumers may struggle to recognize the brand amidst a sea of competing voices.

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Moreover, an inconsistent brand voice can hinder the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Content that lacks a cohesive tone may fail to resonate with the target audience, resulting in lower engagement rates and missed opportunities for conversion. If a brand’s communication shifts erratically across different channels or campaigns, it may also create a fragmented customer experience, where individuals feel disconnected from the brand's values and messaging. Maintaining a consistent voice and tone is crucial for reinforcing brand identity, ensuring clarity, and fostering deeper relationships with audiences.

AI.

We'd be remiss if we didn't address the elephant in the room: artificial intelligence. One of the biggest content marketing challenges facing companies presently is how to effectively incorporate artificial intelligence into their processes. Nearly half of content marketers use AI to brainstorm new topics, and 46% use it to research headlines and keywords. More than one-third (36%) use AI tools for writing, though many feel conflicted about the idea. There's still quite a bit of gray area as companies and consumers alike grapple with the ethics and practicality of AI in marketing.

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But there's a lot more to AI than just hitting a button and generating text. AI can be used in countless ways throughout your processes, even in analytics. At Rellify, we've harnessed the power of AI to make topic and keyword research exponentially more effective. With a Relliverse™, customized for your brand, you can easily discover topics and keywords that are already doing well within your industry niche. Then, you can create content that's poised to climb the SERP rankings and be better found by your target audience.

Competitors.

The digital landscape is saturated with content vying for audience attention. With countless brands producing similar types of content, standing out becomes increasingly difficult. This saturation not only makes it challenging to capture potential customers' interest but also raises the stakes for quality and originality. Content marketers must consistently innovate and find unique angles to differentiate their messages, which requires a deep understanding of both their audience and their competitors’ strategies.

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Additionally, competitors often engage in aggressive SEO tactics, making it harder for new or smaller brands to rank highly on search engines. They may also leverage social media and paid advertising more effectively, drawing attention away from other content. This means that content marketers must not only focus on creating high-quality content but also continuously monitor competitors’ activities, adapt to shifting trends, and invest in strategic promotion to maintain visibility in a crowded market.

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A thorough competitor keyword analysis can also be a helpful strategy. This is the a process of examining the keywords that your competitors are targeting in their online content and SEO strategies. This helps you identify opportunities and threats in your own SEO strategy. A competitor keyword analysis can lead to a boost in your SEO when you successfully identify high-value keywords that your competitors are ranking for, then target similar terms with your own optimized content.

Tight Budgets.

Demand for high-quality content is high, but budgets are tight. Only 45% expect their content spend to ‌increase this year—a 13% drop from the 2023 survey. It's no secret that lots of companies are increasingly cutting down their teams to skeleton crews and looking ways to cut corners in any way they can. But when it comes to content marketing, you have to be careful where you cut corners. A colleague of mine recently started a small business, and when asked how they intended to fill out their website with content, they said they asked ChatGPT for a list of topics and had it write the articles, too. This is an example of how you should not cut corners. Not only does a tool like GPT lack the insights regarding SEO topics and keywords, it also generates its content based on pre-set algorithms and formulas. Absolutely no one will be finding that website through search engines, or any other avenues, unless they have the specific URL.

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If you find yourself struggling with budget constraints, marketers can adopt several strategies. First, they can prioritize content that offers the highest ROI, like evergreen pieces that remain relevant over time or user-generated content that leverages customer contributions. Repurposing existing content into different formats—like turning a blog post into an infographic or cross-promoting across platforms—can also maximize the value of prior investments. Additionally, utilizing cost-effective tools and platforms for content creation and distribution, as well as leveraging organic social media reach, can help stretch a limited budget further. Remember, the amount of time and effort you put into making content will be reflected in your returns.

Understanding and managing analytics.

Analytics are a huge part of a healthy content strategy, as they can help you hone in on what's working, what isn't working, and how to modify your strategy to improve your ROI. While eight in 10 content marketers use content analytics to decide what to create, yet three in four aren’t entirely clear how that content performs. Interpreting vast amounts of data and translating insights into actionable strategies is a huge task, especially for those who have tight content budgets. Without a solid grasp of data interpretation, marketers risk making decisions based on incomplete or misleading information, which can lead to ineffective campaigns and wasted resources.  

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To tackle these challenges, marketers can leverage a variety of user-friendly analytics tools that simplify data analysis and visualization. Google Analytics is a powerful option for tracking website performance, providing insights into visitor behavior, traffic sources, and conversion rates. For social media analytics, platforms like Hootsuite or Buffer offer comprehensive dashboards that allow marketers to monitor engagement metrics and audience demographics across multiple channels.

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Additionally, tools like HubSpot and SEMrush provide integrated solutions for content performance tracking and SEO analytics. Rellify even can pull analytic insights on content performance directly into the platform after publishing so you can plan, write, monitor all in one place. By utilizing these tools and prioritizing ongoing education in data analysis, marketers can develop a more nuanced understanding of their performance metrics and make informed decisions.

Difficulty keeping up with changes in the market.

The ever-changing content marketing landscape presents a huge challenge for marketers striving to stay relevant and effective. Rapid shifts in consumer behavior, technology, and search engine algorithms require constant adaptation and agility. What worked yesterday in terms of content formats or distribution channels may quickly become outdated as new trends emerge or audience preferences evolve. Anyone who's keeping up with the recent innovations in AI can tell you that. Marketers must continuously monitor these changes and be willing to pivot strategies, which can strain resources and complicate planning.

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Additionally, the proliferation of new platforms and tools can create a sense of overwhelm, making it difficult for marketers to determine where to focus their efforts. Marketers face the challenge of not only mastering various formats but also integrating them into a cohesive strategy. This constant need for education, experimentation, and optimization can lead to burnout and frustration, especially for smaller teams or organizations with limited resources. Ultimately, success in this dynamic environment hinges on the ability to embrace change and leverage insights effectively while maintaining a clear vision and consistent brand messaging.

Ineffective content planning.

Ineffective content planning can severely hinder a content marketer's ability to execute successful campaigns. Without a clear strategy, marketers may produce content that lacks focus, fails to address audience needs, or misses key deadlines. This disorganization can lead to inconsistent messaging, wasted resources, and missed opportunities for engagement, ultimately diminishing the overall impact of the content. When content is created on an ad-hoc basis, it often lacks cohesion, which can confuse audiences and weaken brand identity.

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To overcome these challenges, marketers should implement a structured content planning process that includes:

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• setting clear objectives and KPIs
• identifying target audiences
• developing a content calendar
• setting editorial guidelines
• establishing a workflow for the content lifecycle
• potential for scalability

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This roadmap not only helps ensure that all content aligns with the brand’s goals but also allows for strategic scheduling that maximizes reach and engagement. Regularly reviewing and adjusting the content plan based on performance metrics can also help marketers stay agile and responsive to changing audience preferences.

Preventing and Overcoming Content Strategy Challenges with the Experts at Rellify

Rellify has helped many companies with their content marketing efforts and assisted them in setting and achieving their specific goals. With an interactive content calendar for planning, expert topic and keyword research, and analytics pulled directly into the platform, you can seamlessly prevent and overcome any content challenges you might face. And with a Relliverse™, you can harness the power of customized AI and deep machine learning to find topics and keywords that will naturally position your content higher in SERP rankings and resonate with your target audience. Ready to find out more? Contact a Rellify expert today for a brief demo and learn exactly how Rellify can transform your content strategy, processes, and returns.