Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day: Why Patience Is The Key To Content Marketing

Content Marketing is great. It can be incredibly effective by combining the power of the written word with the science-based elements of SEO. Both of these elements together can help plenty of businesses increase sales or grow an online presence. We should know, we’ve been doing it for years now at Embryo.

The problem is, successful content marketing takes time to work and that’s what I want to talk about it in my blog today.

The Importance Of Patience In Content Marketing

There’s a tonne of reasons why content marketing takes time to work, and in our experience delivering success to clients, patience is a key factor. Two other things to consider are volume and quantity. If you’re consistently putting out content that is thorough then, over time, you can expect to see results. As your target audience becomes more aware of your content so too will Google which will, all being well, lead to an increase in ranking. But this takes time.

Why?

• Google needs to get to know you – Posting a blog every now and then with no strategy is not going to get you noticed by the Silicon Valley behemoth. The key to content marketing is to combine patience with volume. Then, Google will start to take your domain more seriously because it is indexing more pages and recognising that you know what you’re talking about.
• It’s not just you doing this – At last count, there are around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data uploaded to Google every single day. So, to be blunt, you’re a drop in the ocean. The reason patience is important is that it sets expectations. You’re aren’t going to be successful in a month or two, it takes time to identify competitors, see what they are doing and create content that can trump what they are putting out.
• Never settle, always change up what you’re putting out – Google’s algorithm is kind of shrouded in mystery. There are just a handful of people out there who know what goes on behind the search screen. The one thing that we do know is that it changes a lot. It’s always being tweaked and altered to keep up with changing consumer behaviours. So, when it comes to your content, you should always be looking at the latest trends and finding ways to tweak your content to keep up with this. Thinking you have completed SEO is the fastest way to failure.
• It takes time to build an audience – Put yourself in the shoes of a reader. Would you read one piece of content and automatically invest in your brand, product or service? Probably not. Building a loyal audience of customers that are engaged with your brand takes time. Trust in what you sell requires a great deal of humility and patience before you can expect to see real results from your content marketing strategy.
• You’re starting at the back of the field – Newsflash, Google and content marketing has been around, in one form or another, for donkey’s years now! So when you enter the content marketing game don’t expect to suddenly reach the top of the tree. There are people that are years ahead of you. Patience is the best weapon on your path to success, accept that you’re at the back and see this is an opportunity to try new things, work out what your competitors are doing and look to eclipse it.

Why Patience Can Help You In The Medium To Long Term

Don’t see patience and waiting for success as a bad thing, see it as a chance to do something truly unique. It allows you to slowly develop your strategy while having the freedom to chop and change if things aren’t working. Instantly ranking is rarely sustainable and while it might be great for a few weeks, it’s a flash in the pan and will only do you harm in the long-term.

How To Use Patience To Your Advantage

• Find gaps in knowledge on the web – There is a lot of content on Google, granted, but not all of it is still relevant or, frankly, any good. Take time to write content that isn’t already out there. Look to fill a gap in knowledge and write about stuff your competitors aren’t.
• It’s a big pie and there is a slice for you – Success is everywhere and there is no reason you can’t do well and match the expectations you set. Taking time to craft a clear strategy will surely lead to success over time. Competition can benefit you because it usually means there’s a lot of noise out there and not a great deal of substance – that’s where you come in.
• Look at what competitors are doing – Being at the back lets you see what is out in front. Have a look at all the results that appear on page 1 for a keyword you’re trying to rank for. Assess each and every page. Are there things that feature across the pages? Is there something missing which you can bring to the table? Look at word counts, the number of links, how many H2 tags are there? All this scouting will provide you with a huge amount of information that you can use to your advantage.

I hope the things I’ve outlined above make you recognise that patience is the key to success when it comes to content marketing. For everything that you create, put yourself in the shoes of Google and any potential customers. This perspective will ensure that you retain trust in the process and enjoy long-term success… eventually!