They said content is king.
I will agree if a king is pushing the kingdom to be ever-evolving.
Content is the most dynamic and ever-evolving part of digital marketing.
It is the forerunner and master tool for establishing visibility, commanding influence, and being showered with profit.
Content marketing is as important as the air you and I breathe.
But there is more to content marketing than content creation, as you might have been told.
The sheer number of tasks involved in content marketing can often lead to overwhelm and stress.
The creation feels easy but the results are not.
Are you a career or business brand?
Don’t forget that you are also a marketer.
This is why you find yourselves juggling multiple responsibilities, from ideation to creation, promotion, and analysis.
In this blog post, we will journey through the common challenges and my STAR approach to content marketing.
The goal is to share with you my knowledge on how you can overcome overwhelm and navigate content marketing successfully.
Let’s dive in.
Common Challenges Faced in Content Marketing
There must be a problem to be solved before a solution can be found.
In this section, here are a few of the many problems facing career and business brands in their content marketing journey.
1. Idea Overload
This is often overlooked but it is the genesis of many problems.
Content sharing is about being valuable, helpful, and thoughtful, if I am correct.
However, the work will be found in consistently generating fresh, valuable content ideas.
The too many ideas on the internet and sorting through the value and noise can be daunting.
There is internal pressure to produce engaging content consistently for your audience that often leads to burnout and creative blocks.
It doesn’t have to be like this; you know it but you can’t just shake it off.
2. Limited Time
If time were food, content marketing would be an Oliver Twist.
Just because content marketing involves various time-consuming tasks, I like to call it an Oliver twist.
From research to writing, editing, and promotion, there is a lot to manage for every piece of content.
Managing these tasks efficiently is a common challenge, which is why creation feels easier than promotion.
3. Multichannel Management:
Where is my audience?
Maybe on Facebook, threads, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and one of the many more to come.
The proliferation of platforms is a significant stressor for career and business brands.
Managing content across multiple channels also adds complexity to the simple work you are already tired of.
To cap it off, each platform has its requirements for discovery, nurturing, and conversion, making it challenging to maintain consistency and intensity.
4. Analysis Paralysis:
This should be the one thing I do not like doing but must be done.
Analyzing the performance of my content and making data-driven decisions.
Yes, it is crucial, but it can be draining if you think about all of the available platforms to work with.
Sometimes, even too much data or a lack of clarity on what to measure can result in analysis paralysis.
With this, I will present to you that on most days of your content marketing journey,
YOU ARE NOT REALLY AT FAULT.
The STAR Model: Structure, Trim, Automate, and Reuse
1. Structure:
Before you create any content, you must create a structure.
The structure of my weekly session with my SHIFTAIN community is to discuss the list of topics members of the community want to learn from.
Structure can always come in to save the day when you do not have the strength to do too much work.
- A document with a list of topics your audience wants to learn about or you want to teach about.
- A content calendar outlining topics, deadlines, and publishing dates.
- A delivery process for every part of your content sharing process.
Having a structured plan will help you stay organized and focused.
You will be able to track your milestones while eliminating the stress of last-minute rushes.
Use Google Docs, a spreadsheet, or project management tools like Trello to visualize and organize your content process.
2. Trim:
How do I go about building relationships the right way?
How to build rightful and peaceful relationship.
The above are lesson requests from two members of my SHIFTAIN community during the idea collection process.
It happens all the time that two or three people want to learn the same thing but describe it as a different topic.
Two blog topic ideas will mean the same but are described differently.
Your best bet is to combine them together in your content creation.
If it doesn’t fit into your goal for that period, box it up for later.
Not every idea needs to be executed immediately.
Many ideas can be executed simultaneously, too.
You should prioritize content based on its impact and relevance to your business and audience at a given time.
Combining them means focusing on quality over quantity.
You will be ensuring that each piece of content adds premium value, even if you are giving it away for free.
Therefore, always conduct regular idea and content audits to identify:
- Repetition in your ideas bank that can be merged.
- Low-performing or outdated content that can be updated or removed.
3. Automate:
What are those things you have to do daily, biweekly, weekly, etc.?
These are the most stressful and sometimes forgettable tasks, but they move the needles in your brand.
You need to find a way for them to get done without your presence.
Automation is the set of systems you put together to make sure your brand can work without you.
Leverage automation tools to streamline repetitive tasks.
Explore marketing automation platforms like Facebook blueprint, Planoly, Hootsuite, Buffer, and any inbuilt scheduler for your preferred platforms.
Use them to schedule social media posts, automate email campaigns, and manage content distribution efficiently.
Again, automation helps to build the consistency and intensity needed to get the visibility, influence, and profit you desire faster.
You will have more time for lead nurturing and customer engagement while doing the things you love.
4. Reuse:
A STAR content marketer lets their content work harder than they did. ~ Balqees Hamzat
It is no news that a lot of effort goes into one piece of content.
Reusing every single piece of content across different channels is a way to:
- Avoid overwhelm
- Share the content the way your audience will love it
- Get your content across to more people
For myself, this blog post will be made into a carousel, thread, Twitter, email, WhatsApp, and Facebook post.
For you, this might mean:
- Turn a blog post into a podcast.
- Create infographics from research data, or
- Transform webinar content into engaging social media snippets.
Every piece of content is reusable If you know how to break them into small bit sizes.
Have a weekly bank of carousels, listicles, and quotes that will make it easy to adapt and repurpose content.
CONCLUSION
You can stay stress-free with your content marketing journey.
The STAR Model is way beyond what we have discussed in this post but from this moment on, it can and will work for you.
Implementing the STAR model in your content marketing strategy can significantly reduce overwhelm and enhance productivity.
Look at all that needs to be done and create a structured plan; trim unnecessary ideas; automate the creation and even distribution of processes; and reuse every part of your valuable content.
This is for those who want to find themselves more focused and in control of their brand.
It’s 2024 and the key is to work smarter, not just harder.
Balqees Hamzat
I know you’ll not only overcome overwhelm but also set the stage for sustainable, stress-free content marketing success if you follow the process.
For more stress-free content marketing tips, follow me on Facebook and Instagram to stay tuned for regular updates!
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