[WEBINAR RECAP] Why Your Content Is Falling Flat (and 5 Ways to Overcome It)

By Brittni Kinney Ratliff

After a team member kindly brought it to our attention, we realized that the previous title for this article was insensitive and may have offended some readers. We’ve corrected as much of our content as possible to reflect the change.

This week, I fooled the powers that be at Influence & Co. into letting me host my first webinar. I'm not sure if it was my lack of filter or long-windedness that charmed them, but the deed is done, and our company did not (to my knowledge) go down in flames.

Because it is a dream of mine to host a very successful podcast without putting in all the work necessary to host a very successful podcast, this was a great foot in the door. Ira Glass will likely be calling any day now to request my services. Just in case he doesn't, know that I am now addicted to all the hype and glamour associated with webinars and have dubbed myself "The Voice Of My Generation/I&Co." for all future webinars.

Before you mark your calendars for the next time you can hear me on a webinar (don't fret — the next one is July 14), let me fill you in on what you missed this week:

I joined Jennifer Groese, director of marketing at Winmo, to talk about one of the most common problems content marketers face today: engaging content.

You spend time and resources creating and distributing content that you think is relevant and compelling and totally perfect for the audience you're trying to reach — but then ... crickets. Your content isn't resonating, and your team is starting to question whether this investment was the right choice.

In fact, a recent study found that while content production spiked 35 percent last year, engagement rates dropped 17 percent. Clearly, simply producing more content isn't the answer. What's a content marketer to do?

So glad you asked, because that's exactly what Jennifer and I discussed this week. You can view slides and listen to the full presentation below. (Full disclosure: Because I’m a human and have no desire to actively listen to my own voice played back to me in the recording of this webinar, you'll have to tell me how you think it went in the comments.)

I know, the insights are riveting, and you're furiously scribbling notes. Worry not; I've summed up the five key ways to overcome your content engagement challenge right here:

Create the right kind of content. This means thoroughly understanding who you're creating content for, what kinds of content these people need, and where they're looking to find it. Forming solid buyer personas and listening to your audience’s frustrations and pain points can guide you in creating the right kind of content here.
Amp up your distribution strategy. Man cannot live on tweets alone. Build out a stronger distribution strategy by taking advantage of LinkedIn publishing, platforms like Medium, guest-contributed content on external publications, email marketing. etc.
Put your content in front of the right people. The more specific your audience identification strategy is, the better chance you'll have of making sure the right people see your content.
Keep your data clean. Using sales intelligence tools like Winmo, you can keep your audience data clean and up-to-date, which is critical for engaging the right people at the right time and not tarnishing your brand by pissing off a potential client.
Use the right tools to make your life easier. You're not the only one out there struggling with engaging content — that’s why so many tools exist to help you with the specific problems you’re facing. I highlighted a few tools I love, like Xtensio for buyer personas and Visage for visual creation. For more resources, you can check out our list of 21 distribution tools to save you time and improve your content's performance.

Have a question that this presentation didn't answer? Leave me a comment or tweet us @InfluenceandCo, and we’ll be in touch to help you improve your content engagement.