Can a Single Software Program Fix Your Content Marketing Problems?
Sales and marketing teams all over the world, at one time or another, have spent good money investing on software for their content marketing needs. This kind of software does not come cheap. It can cost anywhere from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars, and that’s for each month, think about that. Imagine throwing all that money on software that is never fully utilized or worse, no one ever uses.
It is the reality for most companies after buying a particular software that they take little or none at all in making sure that their people learn how to use the software. Most often, it is left to gather dust, and money has gone to waste.
The purchase of the software, which they realize, later on, they aren’t using, can mean one thing: they were probably looking for the easiest route to fix their content marketing problems. And they have the assumption that all those problems will miraculously disappear after buying the software that promises exactly that. But the software will not run itself. Neither will it make the problems go away.
Signing up for an enterprise package of valuable SaaS products like Buffer or Zapier is not enough. If the assumption is that the software will magically fix all the problems, then it is wrong. People who purchase the software with that assumption in mind will be setting themselves for disappointment, their software, underutilized, and their content marketing problems are still there.
The real magic happens when great software gets to combine with great people who can learn how to use it to the best of its potential. Fill the marketing team with the best of writers, strategists, and editors, and you’ll see how things will skyrocket from there.
Is one software enough?
Well, it’s not a matter of how many software packages you have, if you’re not using any of them, then you’re not getting any of your money’s worth. It’s true that the software’s sales team can help you out with the basics through tutorials and advice, but you’re going to have to know how to adapt it to certain aspects that are unique in the case of your company so that it can best meet your needs.
You are going to need someone in the team who is knowledgeable and has the expertise about the software’s back-end to tailor-fit the software and enhance the experience for your company.
At the end of the day, we have to keep in mind that it is still people who make great content, not the software. That is why it is important to get the best people who can contribute real expertise in creating useful and quality content.
The software is a meant to complement your marketing team, not to replace it. A software, when properly used, can make the job of your team easier and can give them more time for strategy development and critical thinking. A smart and resourceful team with the right software can work together more efficiently in achieving their goals.
How to make the most of your software
A stand-alone software may not be enough. However, it can still be a valuable purchase if the team can take advantage of all the features it can offer. Whatever content marketing software you may prefer, there are ways in which you can maximize the most of it. Here are some of them:
Conduct Team Trainings with Experts
If your company didn’t create the software, there could be two options. One is that you can get training from the company that did build the software through on-site training and webinars. The second option is to hire an agency with the specialization of helping companies like yours learn how to implement and maximize the software you purchase. There are plenty of agencies all over the major cities. There are several affordable and capable digital marketing agencies in Manchester, London, New York, LA, and so much more.
Conduct Smaller Trainings Sessions
After sufficient training with the experts, your company can do smaller training with the members of the team who will be using the software. These smaller training will allow the software trainers to show the team how to use the software, set goals, and how to accomplish tasks to reach these aims. With the training from the external experts from the software company, your team will be able to see the different uses of the software and how they can best use it for your company.
Prepare a Training Handbook
Most of the training will demand the participants to engage fully with the software to understand it better. Most of the questions that members will raise during these training are the how-to questions.
Rather than making your tech team answer all of these questions, your company can prepare a handbook that is ready for distribution at the start of the training so the participants can refer to it during the lectures.
You don’t need to ask the company or the creator of the software to prepare those handbooks on your behalf. If they agree, you may get overly technical handouts that will more likely confuse your team than help them.
What you can do is ask people from your company who are passionate about learning and teaching the team to write the handbook for them. In this way, it can be written in layman’s terms and with a rather simpler vocabulary and direct to the point how-to’s.
What about the Content Marketing Problems?
When it comes to content marketing, it comes down to four things: time, energy, money, and direction. These four are all interconnected. You will need a solid direction to be able to come up with solid ideas. You will need the right resources, yes, money, to make those happen. It is the life of content marketing.
It is not surprising that the problems in content marketing begin with the content. But these days, there are so many mediums available than ever that it’s an exciting time to be a content marketer. However, this is the tricky part: just because you’ve created something doesn’t mean it’s good, and it’s going to work for you. There are no exceptions. It has to be great. If not great, then it has to be good enough. If you continue creating the same content, and the results are not as awesome as you thought it would then maybe it’s time to think of a different medium or format.
Engage your Audience
One of the things you can do to address your content marketing problems is to engage your audience. Now that there are more platforms and mediums available, you have more options in how to engage your audience. Explore mediums such as infographics and interactive infographics.
Get more Traffic
The next thing you can do is to get more traffic. Having great content is only have the work, you need people to read them. You can optimize your content to get the most traffic.
Right Tools, Right People
Lastly, get the right tools and the right people to help you. Many heads are always better than one. You will need all the help can get. You and your team can use tools such as Visage. It is an easy design tool that even non-designer can master. Don’t be afraid to explore new things and leave your comfort zone now and then.
Takeaway
In the end, the most important aspect to remember is that the software alone will not do the work for your content marketing problems. It will take a brilliant, fantastic, and passionate team who are willing to learn how to use it and use it well that will.
Nicolas Finet is a web marketer with a solid technical knowledge and the Co-founder of Sortlist – an online digital marketing agencies serving London, New York, and so much more. Connect with him through his Linkedin profile.
