7 reasons why your content isn’t converting

and some simple steps to improving it

Let me start off by saying: I do not consider myself a content expert. I did not go to school for it; I don’t know how to “go viral”; and I’m not sure where the marketing trends are heading. What I do know is that marketing, specifically content, is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to increase brand awareness, brand affinity, and generate leads. For those reasons, I spend a lot of my time on content.

Some definitions (so we’re all on the same page):

• Brand Awareness: the extent to which consumers are familiar with the distinctive qualities or image of a particular brand of goods or services.

• Brand Affinity: a belief held by customers that a company aligns with their own values and philosophy.

• Lead Generation: the action or process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a business's products or services.

I feel pretty good about where our content is and where it’s heading. It’s taken a few years to get to this point through a lot of trial and error, and I believe it is achieving the three main purposes outlined above.

Because we spend so much time creating content, we also spend a lot of time observing and studying content. We primarily study the really good stuff and try to unpack why it does well, what we can learn from it, and what we can implement. Naturally, we also come across really bad content. Most content, especially in the cleaning industry, falls into the latter.

There’s a saying I heard a long time ago that has always stuck with me: when your competition is making mistakes, don’t correct them. I just googled who said it and apparently it’s a derivative of a quote from Napoleon.

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake” - Napoleon Bonaparte

Well Mr. Competitor, it’s your lucky day. I’m going to tell you why your content is missing the mark and how you can improve it. Why, you ask?

1. I deeply believe that a rising tide lifts all ships

2. I’m tired of seeing generic cleaning service posts on my LinkedIn feed

Let’s dive into the reasons your content isn’t converting:

No Strategy

The foundation of your content. This is a primary reason why your content isn’t converting. You have zero strategy. I’m not talking about a detailed deck with plans and timelines and metrics and trends. I’m talking about a simple one-page strategy where you write down your plan and goals.

For example:

This is really all you need to get pretty good and pretty consistent with your content game. This is basically the extent of my strategy. I update it as I learn new things. It’s worked so far and I don’t plan on complicating it any time soon.

In the cleaning industry the majority of people/companies aren’t posting content regularly. Which means you don’t need to spend a lot of time on strategy to beat 99% of companies in the content game. Put a few goals and ideas onto a sheet and use it as a reference point. It makes it easier to stay consistent across all platforms. We try to post daily across all platforms from multiple accounts. This can get daunting and chaotic, but with a simple strategy laid out clearly it makes your life a lot easier.

Not to contradict the above point, but it’s more important to just start than to figure out your strategy before starting. You do not need a plan to start. There is so much you don’t know and trends and best practices are constantly evolving. The one constant that holds true across all platforms is that consistency usually wins. So start posting, don’t stop posting, and in between your posting start to develop your strategy.

In less words:

1. You don’t need a strategy on day 1, you just need to start

2. Once you start don’t stop

3. Once you get consistent for a few weeks, you need to start dialing in your strategy

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency

Let’s start off with some quotes on the power of consistency by some successful people:

“Greatness is consistency. Meditating once is common. Meditating daily is rare. Exercising today is simple. Training every week is simply remarkable. Writing one essay rarely matters. Write every day and you’re practically a hero. Unheroic days can make for heroic decades.” - James Clear

“Successful people don't do extraordinary things; they do ordinary things extraordinarily well.” – Jim Rohn

If you want your content to produce results you need to be working on it consistently. It’s better to do a little bit every day than to spend a lot one day and then neglect it for the next two weeks. Posting this week recognizing the upcoming holiday, next week about your services, and then two weeks later announcing a promotion is not going to lead to engagement and awareness.

Again, content is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to increase brand awareness, brand affinity, and generate leads.

Effectiveness depends on sustained effort over time. It also increases the odds of having a post go “viral”. Virality is relative. If you post once per month, it’s likely your posts' views and interactions will be relative to the size of your network. If you’re posting daily, more people see your posts, which means more people will interact with your post. As a result, the platform's algorithms will give your posts a little extra umph, which means more eyes on your post thus leading to more interactions, and the fly wheel kicks in.

Consistency compounds. Putting a little time into it each day will make your content better, which will increase the likelihood that people resonate and interact with your content.

Know your audience

This ties back into your strategy. Figure out who you are targeting and then make sure you are speaking their language.

Property Managers and Facility Managers are similar but different. They both manage commercial properties, but their roles, functions, and priorities are unique. Understand what their pain points are and what success looks like for them, and speak to that.

To take it a step further, within the Property Management field a PM has different priorities than a Director and a C-Suite Exec. Figure out who your ideal customer is and make sure you are speaking directly to them.

Every cleaning company can post content about their work. Before and afters are great, but what value does that give to a Property or Facility Manager?

Do your research. Understand what they care about and what they look for in their cleaning partners. Share content that highlights why you are uniquely positioned to solve their problems.

If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll be nothing to no one.

No-Value Prop

Everyone has a “value proposition”. If your value prop is generic and does not resonate with your ideal customer, then it has no value.

Tell me if this mission statement sounds familiar:

“We strive to be the best cleaning company, focused on delivering exceptional cleaning to our customers in a sustainable way and ensuring we have 100% satisfaction. Guaranteed!”

The cleaning industry is so competitive and commoditized that it is extremely difficult to differentiate yourself. However, we all have something we can offer that our closest competitor cannot. You need to figure out what that is and lean into it.

A great starting point for demonstrating your value is to consistently post content that is true to who you are. Most of the content we put out has nothing to do with the services we offer. It’s mostly focused on sharing who we are as people, how we operate our business, and our learnings along the way. I even share some of the screw ups. While this is certainly not a “value proposition”, people like authenticity. Showcasing how you’re improving and growing is a pretty powerful proof point.

By posting content more regularly, you’ll also figure out which messaging resonates most strongly with your target audience. You can study which posts get more engagement and do more of that. This also allows you to channel those key messages into your proposals and presentations.

Keep it stupid simple

That’s not a typo. A software engineer once said it to me once and it’s stuck with me ever since.

Do not try to be clever or cute. Your messaging needs to be clear, compelling, and concise. Vague, jargon-filled, or confusing language dilutes the brand's impact, fails to engage potential customers, and can lead to misinterpretations.

Here’s a clip of Alex Hormozi explaining the power of simplicity:

Stop selling

If your only goal with your content is to try and generate sales, you’ve already failed. People hate being sold to, especially today. We’re inundated with people all over social media trying to sell their widgets and courses. Then we get hit with a flurry of ads every time we swipe and scroll. If it smells like a sales pitch, people will skip it.

Reminder: content is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to increase brand awareness, brand affinity, and generate leads.

Generating leads is the least of my concerns with my content. My primary goal is to increase our brand awareness and affinity. I don’t post in hopes of making a sale. I post in hopes that a new person will see it and think something like:

• “Wow! I can relate to that!”

• “I had no idea that’s what goes into building a generational cleaning company!”

• “These people seem to be really passionate about cleaning! I would love to work with someone who cares that much about what they do!”

Content should prioritize being helpful, educational, and value-driven, building trust and positioning yourself and the company as a knowledgeable resource. If you do these things, the sales will come.

Be different

The cleaning industry, writ large, is commoditized. It is tough to stand out in such a crowded space. There is very little you can do to build a moat or have true pricing power. What you can do is have your brand stand above the rest and, in my opinion, that gives you an edge in a world where everyone looks, operates, and prices more or less the same.

Be proud of who you are, the business you’re building, and the experiences you’ve had along the way. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Your content should be a reflection of who you are and the culture you lead your company with.

The more you put your true self into your content, the more opportunities it creates for partners, prospects, clients to see some common ground and see the human side of you that they likely never see. Maybe you both experienced something similar in your individual travels that really impacted their life. That can open up a unique and memorable connection.

It’s ok to take inspiration from other creators and influencers. In fact, once you know what you’re trying to achieve with your content, you should study those that are crushing it in that category or similar categories. Just be sure to not copy them or plagiarize. No one likes a copycat.

You have to be yourself. Write content how you speak. Post videos that are authentic to you and what you believe. Don’t parrot what other people say to sound smart. Most importantly, don’t try to be something you're not. People will see through it.

If you’re worried about people finding you weird, dorky, lame, or boring, don’t worry because you’re not alone. My friends used to tease me about posting my book reviews on LinkedIn. It didn’t stop me. I kept posting them because I’m passionate about reading. Guess what? My posts resonated with people who also like to read and they would ask me for book recommendations. While I don’t read as much due to lack of time, people still reach out to me to ask for book suggestions. That’s neat!

Just be yourself.

Bonus: Measure it

Reminder: just get started.

You don’t need a plan to start and you don’t need to collect metrics from the jump. Simply start sharing and you’ll figure it out along the way. Keep in mind, metrics are valuable and can help guide you as you navigate the content game. Tracking a few key metrics will tell you if you’re heading in the right direction and what content people like best.

If you’re already on your way and you want to level up, find a platform that consolidates your channels and provides some simple dashboards with charts and metrics you can easily follow.

HubSpot has a good social feature. You can link your channels, create posts, and share across all platforms with the click of a button. They also have tracking features, dashboards, and reports that will show you a few key metrics to ensure your content is producing the results you desire.

That’s all for now. Looking forward to seeing your next piece of content on my social media feed :)