How to Find the Time for Content Marketing

Ask any B2B marketer what their biggest content marketing challenge is, and they will likely say, “finding the time to get it done”. In fact, the 2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America report stated that 69% of B2B marketers cited “lack of time” as their biggest content marketing challenge.

However, lack of time shouldn’t be a barrier to content marketing success. If you examine your current processes, you can probably find the time and resources to create content that engages your target audience and increases your conversions.

Here are five ways you can make more time for content marketing:

1. Redirect your marketing resources.

You’ll free up more time and resources for content marketing if you analyze your current marketing efforts and cut the things that aren’t bringing you results. For example, are you placing paid advertisements in an industry publication but not generating leads from them? Could you get better results if you instead contributed a bylined article to the same publication? Readers would be more likely to trust you after reading a helpful article than after just seeing one of your ads.

You should also focus your efforts on the places where your audience hangs out. For example, are you ramping up your efforts on Facebook, when your audience is most likely to engage with you on LinkedIn? Although Facebook is one of the Big Three, it might be a big waste of time if your audience doesn’t want to engage with you on it.

2. Focus on one or two key audiences.

According to TechTarget, up to 10 people can be involved in the IT buying process. Ideally, you want to create content for as many of these people as possible. However, this might not be realistic. Start by focusing your content marketing efforts on one or two of your key audiences. You will get better results if you gain a deep understanding of your ideal customers and create content that speaks to their needs – as opposed to doing a half-assed job producing content for a large number of audiences.

3. Perform a content audit.

You have more content than you think. Go through your existing presentations, reports, videos, etc. and see how much of it you can refresh. Repurposing your existing content for new channels takes less time than creating something from scratch and allows you to get your content in front of a wider audience.

A content audit will also show you where you lack content. For example, does one of your products lack enough supporting materials (e.g. white papers, webinars, case studies, etc.)? When you identify gaps in your content, you can focus on the areas that matter the most and make smarter use of your time.

4. Use an editorial calendar.

An editorial calendar is a great way to keep your content marketing on track. Magazines use editorial calendars to plan upcoming issues. Now that businesses are becoming publishers, editorial calendars can also help them plan content themes. One of the biggest benefits of using an editorial calendar is that you’ll always know what content you need to produce. This means you won’t waste hours wondering what blog post to publish next.

5. Outsource your content development.

Many marketers are doing the work of two or three people. If content marketing is another ‘to do’ that you don’t have the internal staffing for, it’s time to outsource your content development. Find skilled freelance copywriters, designers, videographers, etc. who can help you create content. When you partner with freelancers, you can dramatically increase the amount of content that you produce. This helps you stay top-of-mind with your audience, drive more traffic to your website and increase your opt-ins.

Also remember that you don’t need to do everything at once. Start by creating content for one key audience, product or initiative. When you get your processes in place, it will be easier to expand your content marketing efforts and reach a wider audience.

Would You Like to Learn More About Maximizing Your Content Marketing Results?

Download my FREE ebook, “Content Marketing Quick Fixes: 10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your B2B Content for Increased Conversions” . The ebook describes how to engage your target audience, get the biggest bang from your content, improve your SEO and more.

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