I’ve been writing content for B2B companies for almost 16 years so it's fair to say I’ve observed some trends during this time. For example, many businesses know they need to create content, but aren’t exactly sure why. Or, they aren’t quite sure what to do with it once it’s created. Many businesses also expect too much from their content and get frustrated when it doesn’t deliver the results they want right away. And most businesses are too impatient with their content and expect a quick return on their investment.
The bottom line is plenty of B2B marketers don't feel successful with their content and give up on it much too soon.
In fact, the Content Marketing Institute has found that only 28% of B2B marketers say their organization is extremely or very successful with their content marketing efforts. Twenty-eight percent is not a lot.
But here's what's interesting; that 28% attribute their success to:
• Aligning content with the organization’s objectives
• Measuring and demonstrating the content’s performance
• Having a strategy and following a plan
I took what my experience showed me and the Content Marketing Institute’s survey results and created a process to help businesses overcome their content hurdles and find success with it. It is called the Roadmap to the 7Cs and consists of two parts: the process and the outcomes.
First, let's talk about the roadmap, or the process, which consists of five tools to help businesses better plan and strategize their content. They are:
1. Content plan: the heart of any business’s content, it discusses what you will create, who it’s for and the results you want it to achieve.
2. Content calendar: lays out the next 3 months of content – what you will create when, how you’ll distribute it.
3. Content checklist: helps you stay organized with your content from beginning to end
4. Content parking lot: content ideas that did not make it into the plan
5. Content repurposing guide: helps ensure your content is working as hard as it can for you
The 7Cs is a play on the "seven seas," and though there is debate over which are the actual seven seas, there’s no confusion over these 7Cs
They are based on what I’ve seen in the market and my experience with customers and prospects, and they are:
1. Control
2. Clarity
3. Confidence
4. Calm
5. Connection
6. Conversion
7. Consistency
Let’s break each one down.
Control: I contend that businesses don’t control the content they create. Instead, content controls them because they have no plan or strategy. But follow the roadmap, and control is inevitable.
Clarity: Once you have control, the clarity follows with an understanding of what you’re creating and why.
Confidence: Finally, you will start to feel confident, not only in the content you publish and distribute, but also in the results you start to see.
Calm: The 4th C is calm because you are no longer throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Connection: Because you’re in control, have clarity, feel confident and an overall sense of calm, you will start to connect with your audience. It just comes naturally.
Conversion: Content that connects also helps convert your audience to prospects, and eventually – and hopefully – customers.
Consistency: And because it is working and it’s no longer a challenge, you become consistent with your content creating efforts.
Each C in the 7Cs is dependent on the one before it, so it really is a wheel that you turn to gain momentum.
Too many companies create content for the sake of it. They don’t know
• What to create
• Why they create it
• How it’s tied to their objectives
• How to measure its performance
They also underestimate what goes into creating content while overestimating what it will do for them. They want leads and sales right away. The immediate gratification they're looking for is often hard to find with content.
Content is a long game, and if approached the right way, can also be a very successful game. The Roadmap the 7Cs was created to give businesses a strategy and plan to follow so they feel successful with their content.
Are you ready to level up your content's success? Reach out and let's discuss how to get started.