You invest time and energy into creating content that you think will excel online just to realize that your content is not going anywhere.

While there are other forms of digital marketing, content marketing is by far the most effective because you can show off your expertise. Content marketing is also one of the most cost-efficient ways to distribute your product or service.

I compiled the top six reasons why your content marketing fails.

1. Too many promotions

Instead of providing value, almost every post is a promotion on whether to purchase your product, download the freebie, or give you a follow.

Your audience will soon associate your account with solely promotional content and pay less attention to your post.

As a rule of thumb, you should create 70% of content that provides value and 30% promotional content.

If you ask yourself how to provide educational and informative content, here are a few ideas:

You can post client testimonials.
You can post how-to videos.
You can educate your clients on how to use your products.
You can share case studies.
You can share your company's mission and why you started in the first place.

For example, let's say you sell homemade candles and don't know what to post besides promotional content. Most business owners I work with are under the impression that their audience is already aware of the product benefits or product purposes, but that's wrong. Only because you know everything about your product, the ingredients, and how to use it does not mean that your audience or potential customers would know.

Going back to the candle example, you could talk about different types of candle wax and which one is the best. You can highlight how to properly burn a candle. You can show your audience different ways to repurpose the candle jar so it's more eco-friendly. You can take your audience on a journey on how you get all the ingredients and why you choose specific ingredients.

2. Wrong audience

Business owners or content creators often target the wrong audience. I've seen many times before that business owners create content that they would consume but not their audience.

In today's landscape, it is super crucial to understand your audience. Don't be afraid to niche down your audience and exclude people from your offer. You have to understand that not everyone is your customer, and not everyone will purchase your product.

If you're just starting out and have no clue, who could potentially be the right audience to target, here is a quick tip on creating an audience.

Start by thinking about your audience's problem and how your product or service can solve that problem.

Let's stick with the homemade candle example. The problem your audience could experience is missing a spa moment in their busy lives. Just assume that you are a parent with one or more kids, juggling your 9 to 5 and daily chores. Most parents don't have time to go to an extravagant spa day where they can spend hours relaxing, so you offer the solution that your candles bring them the at-home spa feeling.

Take a moment and think about your audience's problem and how your product can help them.

3. Poor content creation

High-quality content is the number one priority in your content strategy apart from value.

If you post content that has a low quality, looks grainy, or has poor audio quality when posting videos, no one will consume your content.

Nowadays, everyone is used to high-quality content. We already have access to 4K and 8K videos, so make sure everything you post online has a high standard and aligns with your brand.

Before you post content, ask yourself if this is something you would consume and does this piece meets the quality standards. If your answer is no, or maybe don't post the content and rework it.

4. No consistency

Consistency is key to being recognizable online. Consistency refers to the colors you use on your website and social media posts. Sticking to the same color palette and elements will help with branding and creating recognition.

Consistency is also how you talk online to your audience or through captions. Keep the same tone when you are talking to your audience in your captions, and stay away from using slang words if you typically don't use those words. If you keep changing your voice online, this will create confusion, and no one knows what your brand is all about.

Consistency also refers to how often you show up online. If you only post once in a blue moon, don't expect people to engage with your post or even remember you. You have to show up online, ideally daily, through story content or in feed content to build a connection with your audience.

5. Not a cohesive strategy

Not everything you will try online will yield results, although you thought you found the perfect strategy. Most Business owners or content creators make the mistake of not sticking with the process. I've often seen that a strategy gets overthrown only because it does not yield results, but that's not the reality, it takes time to see if your approach works.

The ideal timeframe to assess your strategy is after 30 days, after a quarter, six months, and a year. During that time, you can make small changes but don't change your approach entirely because this will not lead to success but instead makes you turn in circles.

6. Not using analytics

Last but not least, not using analytics will almost definitely ensure failure. It's crucial to use analytics to understand what works and what doesn't. Dissecting your analytics will give you a sense of your audience demographic and preferences. You'll be able to see what time and day favors the best posting outcomes and what content is preferred versus not preferred by your audience. This knowledge will help you laser focus on the correct approach to reach your audience.

If you want to grow your business online, check out my online course, "The six-step content framework," to leverage the power of content marketing.