Diagnostic: How Valuable is Your Content Now?

Take this valuable content diagnostic test from Valuable Content Marketing to pinpoint how useful your marketing is today. This will help you focus your efforts and improve your results. So... how are you doing?

1. Our marketing activity generates good leads that drive profitable sales.
a. Yes. It’s all tickety boo, thanks.
b. Sometimes, but we’d like more leads.
c. No, it’s a real struggle.

2. We actively market our business online and get results.
a. Yes. Our website works for us and we spread our content across the web. At least fifty per cent of new business enquiries come via the web.
b. To an extent. We have a website but we don’t do much else online. And we’d like better results.
c. No, we don’t market our business online properly. Actually, it’s embarrassing.

3. Potential customers welcome our marketing.
a. Yes. Our marketing is all about creating and sharing helpful, relevant and meaningful information and our customers tell us they appreciate it.
b. Some of it they appreciate. A lot they ignore.
c. No. The door gets slammed shut most of the time. Although it’s hard to tell through the deafening silence...

4. We publish fresh content regularly.
a. Yes – twice a month or more.
b. It’s a bit spasmodic to be honest.
c. No, our content hardly ever changes.

5. We have a working business blog.
a. Yup. We post a new article regularly and generate good leads from our blogging efforts.
b. To an extent. We do have a blog. We post from time to time but don’t’ really get much engagement or leads.
c. No.

6. We engage in social media for business.
a. Yes. We have a growing list of followers and lots of our stuff gets shared. It builds relationships and generates useful sales opportunities.
b. A bit. We dabble. But it’s not really getting us anywhere.
c. No.

7. We make sure search engines can find our content.
a. Yes. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important part of our strategy – we’re ranking well and getting found. We index our content carefully.
b. A bit. We don’t fully understand SEO yet.
c. No. Our content is invisible.

8. We have built an engaged list of contacts and keep in touch with a useful newsletter.
a. Yes. We send out regular, valuable content to our subscribers. We have an active and growing community, happy to receive our stuff.
b. Kind of. We send out company news regularly.
c. No.

9. We share deeper content on our website, eg useful guides, white papers, presentations, videos or e-books.
a. Yes. We’ve invested in some really high-quality, heavy-hitting content that’s easy to find on our website.
b. We could do. We have some good resources lying around the office but we haven’t yet put many of them up on our website.
c. No.

10. Our marketing efforts are targeted at a specific niche (or niches).
a. Yes. We know exactly what type of clients or customer we’d like to attract and we produce relevant information they connect with and value.
b. To an extent, but it’s a bit hit and hope.
c. No. Our marketing is pretty generalist and scattergun. We think we might miss out on opportunities if we make it too specific.

11. We take a strategic approach to our content.
a. Yes. We have documented our content strategy and refer to it regularly.
b. We kind of know what we’re aiming at but we’ve yet to think it through properly.
c. No.

12. The whole business is involved in content marketing.
a. Yes. From the sales team to the boss and the support staff, we’re all in on the act.
b. There’s a content team, but not everyone gets it.
c. Are you joking?

13.  We are proud of our website and marketing.
a. Yes. The messages we put out reflect who we are as a business and tell our story well.
b. Hmmm, some bits but not all. Some of it is a bit cringey.
c. No. It just doesn’t feel like us. To be honest, we feel let down by our website, and a bit embarrassed!

Your Score

Mostly As. Congratulations! It sounds as if you are getting your marketing right with good results in terms of leads and sales. You evidently appreciate that regularly sharing valuable content is the kind of marketing customers seek. You’ll find advanced tips in Part 3 of Valuable Content Marketing to make your content even more valuable.

Mostly Bs. You’re on the right track but definitely room for improvement here. Get your content right and you’ll see far better results from your online marketing in terms of leads and sales. Sections 2 and 3 of Valuable Content Marketing and the additional resources will really help you here.

Mostly Cs. All is not lost but you are definitely missing a trick with your marketing. It’s definitely not a source of happiness for your business. If you want to get found on the web and continually generate good leads from your marketing efforts, with prospects coming to you, you really need Valuable Content Marketing. Read it and act on it to transform your content and win more business.