3 signs your content strategy is broken

Yo! Welcome to the next episode of The Reeder, where you get expert content strategy advice for growing your career and business every Saturday morning.

If you’re new, you can subscribe here and join the crew.

As a marketing leader, I’m constantly pressured to “do more with less.” 

But instead of consistently churning out new content to beat my goals, meet exec expectations, and deliver on the constant flow of requests, I repurpose content strategically.

It’s my “secret” for overcoming the demands for More! More! More! 

If you want to get more ROI from your content, Lindsey (CEO) and Adam (Co-founder) at Casted are hosting a live virtual session calledThe Art of Repurposing: Boost Revenue with Your Existing Content. Join and you’ll discover:

1. Strategic ways to create content faster while using less resources

2. How to accelerate deals and establish your unique brand voice using podcast content 

3. New Casted features that make getting more out of your existing video and podcast library easier than ever before

Register here to see the live show (and get the recording)

As Head of Content at Clari, I’m responsible for designing and executing our content strategy to grow our category, brand, and pipeline.

Specifically:

-Category and thought leadership
-Corporate and exec social media
-Influencer marketing
-Customer marketing
-Content marketing
-Webinars
-Podcast
-Blog

I also run The Reeder, my 6-figure side hustle which has five revenue streams.

Between those two jobs, and the conversations I have with execs and marketers — from 10-person start ups to giants like Notion every month — I see A LOT of ideas, strategies, tactics, and challenges.

Since we just kicked off a new year and most folks are building or finalizing their 2024 marketing plan (myself included), it’s the perfect time to focus on what’s not working.

Because before you start flirting with adding big ideas and new tactics — however fun, shiny, or trendy — it’s critical to to take an honest, objective look at your existing content strategy to see where the breaks are. This exercise tells you where to stop investing, where to double down, and the most optimal places to invest in new ideas given your limited time and budget.

But here’s the thing:

Most marketers and teams blindly continue last year’s plan and just add to it. But that’s “blind scaling” — doing more without spending time to scale the right parts that will give you the most return. Continuing ineffective marketing projects causes serious short- and long-term problems, from missed goals to personal burn out.

So today I’m sharing signs to look for to figure out if and why your content strategy isn’t working, plus advice to help you fix it.

Ready? Let’s ride.

3 signs your content strategy is broken

❌ 1. You’re not getting any (or enough) inbound

It’s dead simple: if your content isn’t creating inbound interest, something’s wrong.

Doesn’t matter if you sell million dollar B2B SaaS deals or consulting services as a one-person business — the most effective and valuable content strategies attract ideal buyers to you like an industrial magnet.

How?

Don’t just create content, build trust at scale.

People don’t just buy from people they like — they buy from people they trust.

Consider trust as your most important currency, and do everything you can to earn it, then convert it into action.

Here’s how:

✅ Follow this content messaging framework to boost your inbound lead flow

1. Share your POV so your market understands and aligns with your unique perspective.

2. Educate how your product/service is different, so your market understand which problems you solve, how, and why they should choose you over competitors.

3. Amplify your customer wins to motivate word of mouth (ie, more inbound) and build undeniable credibility.

Almost all content fits into these three buckets. Use this framework to guide your strategy and increase your inbound leads.

❌ 2. You’re audience growth is slow or non-existent

The #1 most valuable thing your can do as a marketer is build an audience.

Put simply, having an audience makes everything in marketing easier, from getting people to show up to your event to upselling new products — and everything in between.

Investing in audience growth is an investment in business growth.

Yet I’m shocked at how many annual marketing plans completely exclude this concept.

TBH, if given a choice between a loyal audience or having the best product, I would pick the audience. No BS.

Because what good is a great product without anyone actively listening to what I have to say?

Remember: You need to earn mindshare before you can win market share.

Prioritize building an audience so you have someone who actually wants to hear from you.

✅ My advice for growing your audience

1. Pick ONE social platform and produce insightful, relevant, and actionable content for your target audience.

2. Become an expert on that social platform to accelerate your results (almost no one does this!!)

3. Convert your social followers to your email list so you can communicate with them directly instead of relying on ever-changing and mysterious algorithms to show your content.

As your audience grows, so does your credibility and, you guessed it, trust within your market. It also drives your competitors crazy because they can’t copy your or buy their way into an audience of their own.

❌ 3. You’re strategy is missing a mission statement

You might be surprised to see this make the list.

But I always have a mission statement for one simple reason:

Mission statements give me a north star that determines how I make decisions. It ensures I’m consistent with my brand and aligned to my overall goal.

Otherwise it’s easy to veer off message over time and stray from your key objectives.

Below are a few examples to guide you.

The mission statement for my team at Clari:

Build trust at scale, dominate the Revenue Platform category, and create pipeline with the most engaging content on the f—ing planet.

My CEO’s mission statement for his LinkedIn content strategy:

Become synonymous with the word “revenue,” amplify Andy’s POV, and build a niche and eager following.

You can see the clear overlap which is critical when aligning multiple people to achieve a big, long-term goal.

✅ Advice for writing your mission statement

1. Consider what your high-level goal is, or in other words, what do you want to be known for?

2. Write something that excited and motivates you (resist over thinking it!)

3. Commit to your mission — this is the most important part.

That’s a wrap for today. Hopefully this gave you a little extra (orange) juice for your Saturday morning and motivation to tackle your 2024 content strategy.

Holler at you next Saturday,
Devin

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🌊 Reeders makin’ waves 🌊

Introducing a new section dedicated to Reeders putting up numbers and winningggg.

Let’s start the year by showing Joel Primack some love for landing a new gig as an Employee Marketing Specialist!

Joel’s been hustling in the content game for years, from posting on LinkedIn to hosting the very popular,The Community-Led Growth Show. I love seeing an OG Reeder’s dedication pay off to a new marketing gig that he’s excited about — especially because I know how intentional he’s been with his output.

Time to make waves at Postscript 🌊