25 Content Marketing Challenges Small Businesses Are Facing
Small businesses face distinct hurdles when building effective content marketing strategies, from managing limited resources to cutting through increasing noise. This article tackles 25 of the most pressing challenges and offers practical solutions drawn from expert perspectives across the industry. Each strategy is designed to help businesses create content that drives real results without wasting time or budget.
Audit and Optimize Aged Content Strategically
Deciding on whether to remove, redirect or update aged content that isn't necessarily performing as well as it should be within Search Console.
It's a huge part of the content process that is often overlooked as, ultimately, you want to ensure that search engines and users are only served with content that is optimised and makes the most sense for your website.
So, getting rid of content that is no longer fit for purpose isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Prioritize Quality Over Quantity in Content
My biggest content marketing challenge right now is content saturation. In 2025, we're dealing with feeds flooded by both human and AI-generated posts, and cutting through that noise to capture real engagement has gotten incredibly difficult. Audiences are pickier than ever, algorithms keep shifting, and measuring content ROI remains tricky when success doesn't always connect to immediate conversions.
The core issue is that generic, repetitive content is everywhere. It's making thoughtful, valuable content harder to surface. Today's audiences expect depth, original thinking, and genuine value, not just volume. And proving ROI gets complicated when content influences brand perception and buying decisions over longer timeframes.
Here's how I'm tackling this:
First, I'm prioritizing quality over quantity. Instead of pushing out more content, I'm creating fewer, more comprehensive pieces that actually teach something, inspire action, and offer unique insights.
Second, I'm using AI as support, not a replacement. AI helps with research and structure, but the final voice, narrative, and examples come from real experience and understanding. Authenticity still wins.
Third, I'm investing more in owned platforms like blogs, newsletters, and webinars. This reduces my dependency on unpredictable algorithms and gives me channels I actually control.
Fourth, I'm measuring what truly matters. I'm shifting toward attribution models and engagement analytics that reflect the full customer journey instead of just last-click results.
Finally, I'm adapting formats and experimenting more. Different audiences prefer different formats, so I'm testing video snippets, podcasts, interactive content, and micro-thought leadership to see what resonates.
The key is staying focused on value and authenticity while being smarter about distribution and measurement.
Optimize for AI Answer Engine Visibility
One of the biggest content marketing challenges we're facing right now in the explainer video industry is AI visibility. Specifically, getting our content featured or referenced in AI-generated answers. As more users rely on AI assistants for information instead of traditional search, the rules of discoverability are shifting fast.
Our videos and blogs used to rank pretty well on Google because we optimized for keywords and backlinks, but AI summaries don't always pull from those sources. They favor structured, niche, and expert-backed data. We're now focusing on creating ultra-specific, data-rich content for micro-niches (like "3D animation for fintech onboarding" instead of just "explainer videos for business") and publishing it in structured formats that AI models can easily parse.
I'd like to know if anyone has cracked how to consistently get mentioned or cited by AI answer engines yet. And I'd love to hear how you're balancing creativity with technical optimization in this new era.
Track Business Growth Instead of Vanity Metrics
The challenge is moving beyond easily measured but unpersuasive data points like traffic volume, impressions, or social engagement. These "vanity metrics" seldom convince executive stakeholders of content's true financial contribution. Instead, the strategic solution involves shifting focus entirely to Key Performance Indicators that directly reflect business growth: tracking the quality of leads generated by content, measuring its sustained impact on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and accounting for the value of Assisted Conversions in the early- and mid-funnel customer journey.
Of course, to make this more sophisticated reporting possible, technical tracking is required: use tools like GA4 in combination with solid UTM parameters to tie every content engagement back to eventual sales results and pipeline movement. And in delivering results, frame content as a strategic 6- to 12-month investment at the outset. This type of long-term reporting approach, often complemented by executive-level storytelling, is a great way to show how evergreen assets drive compounding traffic and long-term financial impact over time.
Connect Future Trends to Current Decisions
One of the biggest content marketing challenges I'm facing right now is bridging the gap between current needs and future readiness, especially when it comes to AI and emerging technologies. We're not struggling to create content. The challenge is in delivering information that helps organizations plan for what's 5 to 10 years out, without overwhelming them or sounding too abstract.
Most IT leaders are under pressure to address today's problems, so future-focused content needs to feel both relevant and actionable. We're working to break down long-term trends into digestible insights that tie directly to decisions teams are making now—like data infrastructure planning, scalability, or governance.
I'd love to hear how others are navigating this balance between thought leadership and practical value, especially in industries where the future is arriving faster than most teams are ready for.
Layer Content for Different Experience Levels
Balancing thought leadership with accessibility remains a major challenge. Our readers include both seasoned L&D professionals and those who are just beginning their journey. Meeting the needs of both groups without losing depth requires thoughtful effort. To achieve this we are developing layered content that addresses different experience levels while keeping clarity at the centre. Editorial transparency and empathy guide every piece we create ensuring that our content informs and inspires at the same time.
We are also investing in data-driven insights to understand what truly connects with our audience. This helps us create content that supports professional growth rather than just information consumption. Our goal is to make learning meaningful for everyone regardless of their expertise. I am also keen to learn how others manage to maintain a similar balance between expertise and relatability in their content strategy.
Convert Engagement Into Real Business Conversations
Lately, one of my biggest challenges in content marketing is turning good LinkedIn engagement into business leads. Getting likes and comments feels great, but it doesn't always lead to conversations or sales. To fix that, I've started reaching out to people who comment on my posts and mentioning something specific they said.
I share something useful like an article, quick tip, or offer a short chat to help them out. I've also started tracking how often my posts turn into real conversations. By seeing which topics get people to message me or ask about services, I can focus on what actually brings results. It's made my content more intentional.
Update Content for AI Search Algorithms
One challenge we're facing is keeping content both timely and evergreen as AI-driven search keeps changing how content is ranked. Some of our older top-performing blogs are losing visibility because they no longer match how AI platforms structure answers. We're addressing this by updating content with more direct language, clearer formatting, and structured data that makes it easier to reference.
Our approach includes a content audit focused on AI visibility, not just keyword traffic. We're also tracking how users engage with short-form summaries to decide what needs improvement.
We'd appreciate insights from other teams on prioritizing updates and spotting early signals that a piece needs to be reworked for AI visibility.
Cut Through Noise Rather Than Add
Consumers are burnt out from being exposed to the sheer volume of content on the internet these days. Social media platforms are reporting less engagement overall. While people are still longing for connection, brands need to be conscious about whether they are cutting through the noise, or simply adding to it.
Add Original Insights to Every Piece
One content marketing challenge we're currently facing at Social Sellinator is creating original and genuine content. The internet is flooded with repetitive, keyword-stuffed articles, and while those can rank, they rarely connect with readers or drive real engagement.
So, our challenge is to produce content that's both optimized for search and written for humans.
To overcome this, we're refining our internal content framework to include an insight layer where a section in every piece highlights real client experiences, fresh perspectives, or original data. This approach ensures that every blog, guide, or case study we produce reflects something only we could say.
We're also experimenting with AI-assisted research, but keeping all writing, tone, and storytelling 100% human.
What we'd love to hear from others is how they measure content authenticity at scale. SEO metrics are easy to track but gauging how human your content feels is more subjective. How are other marketers ensuring that their optimized content still resonates emotionally with readers?
Rewrite AI Research in Your Voice
My main issue with using AI to generate content is finding ways to avoid the content having that "template" feel. While AI certainly helps speed up the process of researching topics, without some type of unique spin, the content will ultimately have that generic tone. I've come to believe the way to combat this is to use AI for the bulk of the heavy lifting and then rewrite everything in your own voice. What really matters isn't what keywords you are using, it's where you are placing them within context. Agents in the real estate industry are especially adept at identifying copy-paste jobs, therefore, I invest my time into pulling in local references, or current transactions that illustrate you truly understand the local market. Perhaps I am being too cautious, however, lackluster content typically does not drive conversions.
Schedule Tasks by Platform and Purpose
Managing time across multiple platforms:
The biggest challenge that I face today is staying consistent across all the platforms I use. I currently manage an active blog, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok account. In some instances, I can reuse content across platforms, but when each requires its own type of content, it can get overwhelming.
I took a step back and created a schedule that I stick to. I dedicate certain days of the week to specific tasks. For example, on Mondays I focus on writing blog posts, Tuesdays are for editing photos and videos, and Fridays are for planning captions and scheduling posts. This way, I'm not switching between creative modes all day long. It saves time and keeps my focus sharper. And I feel like I have some days that I can be creative.
I also spend time looking at Analytics and Insight to see which content should be repurposed instead of constantly creating from scratch. For example, an Instagram Reel can turn into a blog paragraph. That mindset shift reduced my stress of always having to come up with new ideas. It also helps keep my message consistent.
I'd love to learn how other content creators handle their content planning, as strategy can be just as important as implementation. Do they focus on one platform first and adapt from there, or build everything together in a single strategy?
Show Value Through Interactive Content Formats
One of the biggest content marketing challenges we're facing right now is keeping up with the speed of content creation without losing quality. With so many tools and AI workflows available, publishing fast has become easy, but creating something that actually stands out is harder than ever. At Supademo, we're tackling this by focusing on original insights, customer stories, and interactive formats that show value instead of just telling it. I'm curious to hear how other teams balance volume with depth because that tension feels like the next big challenge in content marketing
Capture Attention With Strong Hooks Early
The biggest challenge right now is just outcompeting the flood of AI garbage. Everyone's pumping out content at scale now, and most of it is soulless, low-value filler. But the volume still clogs up feeds, search results, and attention spans. Even though it's bad, it's still noise, and you have to fight through it.
We've always focused on value-first content with actual insight or actionability, so we're sticking with that. But the bar for grabbing attention is higher now. Hooks matter more than ever. If you don't catch someone in the first 3 seconds, they're gone. The upside is—once they're in—they stay longer. We're seeing people's appreciation of high quality content increasing, and that's showing up in the form of better engagement, longer page time, and sharing.
Build Structured Pauses Into Production Cycles
Creative fatigue threatens consistency when production pace outruns imagination across content teams. Endless cycles erode inspiration leaving repetition disguised as reliability. The cure is space permitting curiosity and rest between campaigns. We learned renewal comes from silence as much as brainstorming sessions. Time itself becomes ingredient within sustainable creativity across operations.
Our plan establishes structured pauses for research and reflection after each quarter. Teams revisit earlier work searching improvement rather than constant invention. That process cultivates appreciation for craft and discipline strengthening culture overall. We invite peers to share rhythms supporting originality under continual demand. Collective wisdom ensures creativity survives productivity pressure across evolving ecosystems.
Use Search Term Reports for Intent
The biggest challenge right now is keeping content consistent while still making it sound human. SEO goals push for more volume, and AI helps with that, but too much automation makes writing lifeless. Posts might use the right keywords, but they lose meaning, and that's when traffic stops converting. People can tell when content is written for search engines instead of them.
So, to fix that, I started using search term reports from Google Ads instead of regular keyword tools. Those reports show what people really search for, not just what ranks well. Because of that, I get sharper ideas that match real intent, and each post feels more useful. It's slower, but it leads to better time on site and more conversions. The content feels more real because it's based on what people actually want.
I've also started adding short takeaways from real campaigns. Small notes like a 15% drop in CPC after a headline tweak or quick insights from split tests make content more believable. They don't have to be long stories, just proof that the advice comes from real experience.
Using AI for outlines and mixing in my own notes from the field has helped keep quality high without slowing down too much. It's a balance that feels natural and still scales well.
-- Josiah Roche
Fractional CMO, JRR Marketing
https://josiahroche.co/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/josiahroche
Refine Tone to Attract Target Audience
Over the past ten years we've brought on clients that might not necessarily fit into our niche, which is doing a disservice to them and to us, so we're currently being challenged to focus our content efforts on refining our tone of voice and offering to be able to speak directly with the audience that is our target market. How can we shift our current tone without alienating the clients that we have, or if we find that it makes sense to move on from them, how do we do that while also reworking ourselves through our content marketing? We're currently working on updating our overall strategy because the first step comes from within. We won't be taking on any more of those clients that don't match what we're looking to do, all the while repositioning ourselves within the ONLY space we're trying to occupy.
Align Content Calendar With Seasonal Rhythms
Our team is finding that aligning our product life cycle launches with strong storytelling content is difficult because our skincare formulas take time and are seasonal. We plan to align our content calendar with the land's seasonal rhythms and harvest windows, ensuring that product launches feel naturally timed. This approach will enable us to craft authentic stories that reflect the natural flow of the land, while maintaining consistency in our messaging.
We would appreciate advice on how to synchronize product development schedules with content launches in a way that maximizes impact. We aim to ensure that our storytelling complements the timing of each release and highlights the care and attention to detail involved in production. Learning from other heritage skincare brands would help us refine this balance. We are open to exploring methods that bring harmony between timing and storytelling.
Share Real Job Site Stories Daily
The most difficult content issue at Ready Nation Contractors is currently the ability to make it fresh when the task is the same. Storm hits. Calls spike. Roofs leak. Decking fails. We fix it. The trend does not change much and thus coming up with new angles without distorting the truth becomes difficult. I find myself looking at a partially complete post and suspecting; yes, I have already written this, maybe three times, maybe five. The audience must have the fundamentals, however, but they must be presented in a manner which makes sense. That's where the tension sits. You would be helpful but not to sound like a reenactment.
I intend to tilt more towards job site real-time storytelling. Not staged shots. Simply the naked scenes we enter each week. A house owner who is pointing toward a spot which was not there yesterday. A team of workers carrying up shingles and discovering that it is ugly. Something brief in the voice with a reason why an estimate had to vary after the decking had been discovered. Those passages have more substance than any polished guide since they have the truth in action. I would like to know how other people maintain that balance. What do you do when you have to repeat important information but lose audience who have listened to it but who must hear it at the very moment when the roof collapses in their house?
Pair Quotable Answers With Exclusive Assets
I'm Justin Brown, co-creator of The Vessel, where I run marketing and content ops for our books, mini-courses, and workshops. My current headache is simple to describe and hard to solve: AI assistants are great at lifting our best lines, which is good for visibility, but it trims clicks to our site. I want our pages to be quotable without making the visit feel optional.
To overcome this, I have a twofold plan:
First, design every cornerstone page with an Answer Pack that a model can lift cleanly, then pair it with a companion asset the assistant cannot deliver on its own, like a tiny tool, worksheet, or booking block that solves the next inch of the problem. Second, measure influence, not just traffic. We run a monthly prompt set in ChatGPT and Claude to track whether our canonical phrasing shows up, log it next to branded queries and hub conversions and tag those hubs in the CRM so we can see if weeks with assistant lifts correlate to more qualified actions.
That's why I'd love to hear thesr from peers: what are you using to attribute assistant visibility to downstream outcomes beyond branded search lifts and have you found a clean way to quantify the value of being cited or paraphrased when the click never happens?
If you have a lightweight framework for "assisted influence" that a small team can run, I would love to learn from it.
Repurpose Top Content Into Multiple Formats
One content marketing challenge I'm currently facing is keeping up with the constant demand for fresh, high-quality content that still aligns with SEO goals and audience engagement. With so many platforms and algorithms changing so quickly, it's tough to balance consistency with creativity. My plan to overcome this is by repurposing top-performing content into multiple formats — for example, turning blog posts into short-form videos, carousels, or newsletters — so each piece works harder across channels. I'm also exploring AI-driven content tools to streamline topic research and optimize posting schedules. I'd love to hear how others are maintaining content originality and engagement at scale without burning out their creative teams.
Rely on Experts and Customer Conversations
Currently, one of the biggest difficulties in content marketing is navigating through all the noise in an AI-saturated environment. As an overwhelming amount of content is getting produced and disseminated quickly, good content is no longer a distinguishing factor; the bar has been raised. That's why we're putting more energy into depth, originality and distribution. We're also going to rely more on subject matter experts, sharper points of view, and assets that relate directly to questions asked by customers and sales conversations. We may also start thinking about promotion as part of creation, repurposing channel-specific formats from the beginning, as opposed to an afterthought.
Align Content With What People Value
Attention doesn't come from algorithms; it comes from alignment with what people care about.
In content marketing, authenticity isn't just a goal, it's a daily challenge. We used to struggle with it too, especially in a world overflowing with noise. For a while, the pressure to produce more content pulled us away from what really mattered. Over time, we realized that audiences can instantly tell what's genuine and what's just filler and that trust is the most valuable currency a brand can earn.
Through experience, we've learned that attention isn't driven by algorithms alone; it's driven by alignment creating content that reflects what people truly care about. Once we stopped chasing volume and started focusing on fewer, more intentional pieces, engagement grew naturally. Listening before creating made all the difference.
AI tools now help us move faster, but the real impact still happens when content makes someone feel understood, when it sounds less like marketing and more like a meaningful conversation.
Extract Fresh Angles From Client Sessions
At Beacon Administrative Consulting, the toughest content marketing challenge right now is keeping a steady flow of material that feels genuinely useful instead of repeating the same safe topics everyone else is posting. The work we do is rooted in systems, organization, and structure, and those themes can easily slip into predictable tips if I am not careful. The real challenge is finding fresh angles that reflect what clients are actually dealing with in their day, not just what performs well on a trend list.
I have been leaning harder on real moments from client sessions to guide what I write, as long as the details stay confidential. When a pattern shows up more than once, that usually tells me the content will land. The hard part is slowing down long enough to notice those patterns instead of grabbing whatever idea is quickest. It takes more focus, but the payoff is stronger engagement and a clearer voice that feels aligned with how we serve people.
Break Narratives Into Modular Storytelling Snippets
One of the biggest content marketing challenges we're currently navigating at Timeless London is balancing storytelling with performance-driven content. Our audience connects deeply with authenticity, slow fashion, craftsmanship, and sustainability, but at the same time, digital platforms increasingly reward fast, trend-led content that isn't always aligned with our brand pace. It's a constant dance between staying true to our values and keeping up with the rhythm of algorithm-driven visibility.
To overcome this, we're focusing on creating modular storytelling, breaking down longer narratives into short, impactful snippets that work across different formats without losing depth. We're also experimenting with community-generated content to keep our voice genuine and diverse. Still, I'd love to hear how other brands manage to maintain emotional storytelling while meeting platform demands, especially those balancing purpose with performance in a fast-scrolling world.
