Content marketing is more popular than ever. According to the most recent data, we have around 94 percent of small businesses are doing it. And around 93 percent of B2Bs are also using it. But despite the fact that so many businesses are doing content marketing, few are doing well. There is a belief among many companies that if they put their content out there, business will come. But this is not how content marketing works. Content marketing requires focus and commitment over the long term. And it takes a certain know-how to get right. Here are three common reasons why your content marketing isn’t working.

You Haven’t Refined Your Strategy

Just as in any other area of business, content marketing requires a strategy. But here’s the problem: few businesses have a strategy. Yes, they follow the generic tips out there on the internet, but they’re not really engaging. According to industry data, only about two-thirds of companies have any sort of marketing strategy whatever.

More importantly, only 11 percent of those with failed content marketing strategies are unsuccessful. That’s an important statistic because it means that you are a lot more likely to succeed with a strategy in place.

But here’s the interesting part: most companies don’t have great strategies, to begin with. What the stats show is that you can have a mediocre strategy and still do well as a content marketer. Just including some basic KPIs seems to be enough for most firms to do well. There’s no need to go into a lot of detail to get a return on investment. What seems to be most important is to have a content timetable and to track the effectiveness of that content.

You Don’t Promote Your Content

Simply producing content and putting it up on your site isn’t enough to win business. You have to promote your content as well. Suppose you want to create a new infographic for example. The creation of the infographic is only part of the process. It’s then essential to promote the infographic as well. But many businesses fail to do this, perhaps out of inexperience.

Overcoming this actually pretty simple with digital tools. How about using an email newsletter to get your message out? Why not link a landing page to an email link? How about posting the content on Facebook? Why not pitch content to leaders in industry? You could even spread the content to different sites using a newswire service.

Your Content Is Boring

To stand out on the internet, your content has to be interesting. But too many firms concentrate on the boring, day to day operations of their businesses. This might be interesting to those who run these businesses, but it doesn’t have mass appeal. Companies need to produce content that resonates with their audience. Here’s what to do. For starters, you need to know a little something about your audience. That means collecting data and doing the legwork. But you also have to make sure that the content you produce is relevant to the business that you are in. It takes a bit of imagination to get right. Bringing new angles and perspectives on a topic is a good approach.