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6 reasons your content-marketing efforts are failing

Terri Brown, CEO of MLB Creative, describes six practices to avoid when engaging your customer.

August 17, 2016

By Terri Brown, CEO of MLB Creative

As a fast casual restaurant owner you're most likely not following the "more for less" philosophy. Your focus is likely on building a trusting relationship with your customers through high-quality food. Just like the ingredients you use, content marketing is most successful when putting quality ahead of quantity. Audiences respond best to thoughtful and targeted content.

In order to connect with your audience, it's important to use everything in your creative arsenal including graphics, text, audio, and video across your social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, etc. Then, lure guests in with your message. Think about how you can connect with your audience in ways other than your food and service. Sharing behind the scenes insights freely and consistently can help become a brand people trust.

Below are six practices to avoid when engaging your customer.

1. Sending mixed messages.

Too much information will kill your audience's attention span. Standing out in the crowd is challenging. You have just seconds to catch the attention of your target audience as they scroll through a hoard of posts, tweets or images, so give them one thing to remember. Get their attention, then leave them with a tidbit that makes a lasting impression, and quickly. If you clutter up your messaging, you'll lose them.

2. Not staying true to your voice.

When you have an opportunity to be timely, to take advantage of a trending topic, for example: the unstoppable juggernaut of Pokémon Go, you need the clearance and confidence to act. The art of newsjacking, i.e. capitalizing on the latest trending hashtags or celebrity news can boost your visibility tremendously, but stay true to your brand — always! A few years ago, Oreo brilliantly stole the show during the infamous Super Bowl blackout with their "Dunk in the Dark" tweet. It was fun, super-relevant and reaffirmed the playful brand voice that a global audience had come to expect from the famous cookie brand. Watch for trending topics your potential customers may be following and be ready with content that is relative to your brand as well as the topic.

3. Stay away from industry terms and acronyms.

Say what? People use uncommon industry or insider terms to make themselves sound knowledgeable, in-the-know. This can turn off your audience if not done appropriately. Unless you're talking to serious nutrition gurus or gourmet critiques, leave acronyms like DV, RDA or COP out of the conversation. FWIW. (For what it's worth)

4. Embracing sensationalism.

If you're lucky, you have three seconds, sometimes less, to grab a viewer's attention with your content. Your message had better be entertaining, unique, and emotional. Videos and photos need to start with all the magic you can give them. Consider carefully whether headlines using words like secret, now, shocking, best tip ever are good for your brand. Avoid scams like "watch it now before it's banned from the Internet" — guaranteed to lose your target's trust.

5. Not using video. 

While content marketing in the form of a written article on your blog or useful tips on your social media channels is an inexpensive way to attract new customers, we live in a world that suffers from short attention spans. Visuals and moving images will help attract readers and keep them engaged. It doesn't have to be an over-the-top, polished video. On the contrary, a "real" video filmed with a stable smartphone or other HD camera makes for a more believable message and can create a closer connection.

6. Thinking it's about you. 

Don't create content just to fill a space to fulfill your quota of posts. If it's not relative to your audience and your brand, helpful, interesting, informative or entertaining – don't do it. It's about your audience and what's important to them. If you want to talk about a new food trend, talk in personal terms about what this will do for your current and future guests, even civilization in general. Take the time to understand what's important to your customers. If you come off too corporate, you'll alienate your audience. Think about content in your own feed. If it's too stiff, overly salesy, or just dull, you can't swipe fast enough.

When taking these tips into consideration, remember: every customer is unique, so cater content pieces to different audiences to provide a more meaningful experience. Tackle content marketing like you do your restaurant concept — with passion — and you should be just fine.