This is why bad content costs you more than good content, 100% of the time

I don’t like to call content “bad.” It’s like saying students are “bad,” or my 12-year-old jar of chili flakes is “bad.” It just hurts people’s feelings, to no good effect.

So let’s dispense with the labels and focus on the results.

And the results are … not there. From white papers and blogs, to case studies and e-books: zero traction.

According to research from Forrester, 60% to 70% of content produced by B2B marketing organizations goes unused.

That’s a lot of dumpsters.

And if 60% to 70% of B2B content is going unused, I’m willing to bet that a fair chunk of the remainder could also use some help.

Forrester’s research suggested that lack of insight into the buying persona was the main culprit. That is always going to be a factor (see my blog post on why understanding your audience is key) – but in my experience, the real culprit is qualitative.

Good content engages. It gets results. It finds a home.

When content goes unused it’s because it’s not meeting the mark. It may not be bad content … but I’m comfortable calling it “leech” content.

Because if you’re spending time and effort creating content that is not moving your pipeline, that’s time and effort that’s being leeched away from your marketing.

“Leech” content: 5 costs that are hitting you harder than you think

Aside from the sheer wastage hitting your marketing budget, leech content has a number of other costs.

Here’s my take on what they are, ordered from “severe” to “actively unhelpful.”

#1 You alienate your potential buyers

Not only does leech content potentially target the wrong audience, but it also alienates the right audience. Leech content is an attack on your own credibility as well as on the trust you’re seeking to build with potential buyers.

#2 You incur opportunity costs

If your content is not helping you meet your targets, content creation efforts are detracting from higher-value activities, by definition – activities that actively burnish your brand, generate leads, and move the profit needle.

#3 You disrupt internal cohesion

All teams need to be on board with the right messaging, from dev to post-sales. If you’re not putting out content that crisply and clearly reflects your messaging, your teams are likely to create different variants of homemade messaging, which a) doesn’t travel well, especially once it hits your target market, and b) still further promotes confusion.

#4 You actively hamper recruitment efforts

Your content is the face of your organization. If the content you produce is simply languishing in content libraries and dusty blogs, the signals you’re sending to potential hires have more in common with half efforts than with high-quality performance.

#5 You poison downstream activities

You’ll never be able to recover the budget you allocated to content creation, but throwing good promo dollars after suboptimal content is essentially doubling down on costs that are so sunk they’re sprouting barnacles.

So what’s the solution?

My recommended solution: hire a skilled content writer to produce quality content.

Now, it's true that I'm biased. But I'm also experienced enough to know what works and what doesn't.

Skilled writers know how to quickly produce compelling, credible content that supports your brand and opens doors to the conversations that are going to help your business.

Not ready to take on a permanent employee? Contract out. There are compelling reasons either way (read my post explaining when you should - and when you shouldn’t).

Valuable content does not have to be pricey, although it’s true that you’ll usually get what you pay for.

The alternative? Carry on executing the same game plan, with the same results.

And that’s bad.