15 Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Content marketing mistakes – we all make them! Even us veterans fall into the traps of overcommitting or skipping steps from time to time. We are human after all and sometimes we just want to check it off the list and move on.
The problem: crappy content marketing sabotages other marketing efforts and can even slow down business growth.
Yikes.
The solution: get ahead by avoiding these 15 content marketing mistakes.
15 Common Content Marketing Mistakes
Mistake #1: Publishing at random
Who cares how often you publish a new post? Well… your bottom-line does.
Businesses that publish blogs without a set schedule fall into two categories:
Random Sparks: A single article is published sporadically, usually when the brand has an announcement, a new product/service or is responding to major industry news.
Flame then Fizzle: A handful of blogs are published within a couple weeks… then nothing for a few months. Another batch is published… then nada. Repeat.
Don’t do this. Hubspot has shown that a well-maintained blog generates 68% more leads than companies without a blog. In other words, you need a solid publishing schedule.
Start slow with a cadence you can handle then ramp up as you refine your process or onboard an outside help to do the heavy lifting.
Mistake #2: No distribution
The content is published! Hooray! Time to move on to the next item… Surely Google will find it and it’ll be a HIT.
** crickets **
The reality is that publishing a blog or a video is far from the final step. Once that baby is live, start up your distribution engine and share your content everywhere. Hit up social media, send it out to your email list, tag people who might be interested. Then mark it for another round of distribution in the future.
Mistake #3: Wasting high-quality content
That shiny new article is well-researched and awesomely written. It’s live on your company blog and you shared it everywhere. Nice!
Now it’s time to squeeze it for all it’s worth.
High-quality content is super valuable – and you probably put a lot of time and money into creating it. Repurposing your content into a variety of other formats is just smart business to get every ounce of value from your investment.
Don’t let all that high-value content sit around on your website; instead, repurpose your blog into at least 2-3 additional assets.
Examples of content repurposing:
Blogs → short-form video, email newsletter, long social media caption
Video → blog post, email newsletter, shorts for social media
Email newsletter → blog post, video, social captions
You get the idea!
Mistake #4: Relying on one form of content
Blogs get most of the attention in content marketing (and for good reason) but it’s far from the only content you should be creating. Your audience consumes information in a variety of ways and it’s your job to deliver on that.
Repurposing is an excellent and efficient way to expand a blog into other formats and channels but the most effective content marketers know that original content is required as well. Here’s a giant list of formats to overwhelm get the juices flowing:
Blog post
Video, long-form
Video, short-form
Case study
White paper
Webinar
Email newsletter
Social media, quotes and highlights
Social media, long captions
Podcasts
Infographic
Checklists
How-to guide
Ebook
Checklist
Animations
So. Many. Choices. Start by picking 2-3 types of content based on your audience research and laser in on those.
Mistake #5: Expecting instant results
You published, you shared, and now you’re rolling in web traffic and high-quality leads.
Not quite.
Even if you do everything 110% right, winning heaps of traffic and converting readers to buyers takes time. But it’s OH so worth it…
>> Content marketing creates more high quality conversions than any other channel.
So keep at it! Start strong and stead and watch how the numbers start adding up in just a few months.
Mistake #6: Being boring
Publishing content with no original angle, no personality, and that has been created in some form 1,001 times isn’t going to move the needle. There’s no point in mimicking your competitors or regurgitating some industry news stats. Playing it safe with standard, boring content can feel productive but in the end you’re just wasting your time.
Shake things up and create content worth getting excited about:
Inject your brand’s personality with descriptive language and eye-catching supporting graphics.
Talk about something irritating in your industry that people just usually shrug off.
Show why your target audience should choose YOU over the competition.
You’ll never please everyone but if you can light a spark with your core audience that’s all that matters.
Mistake #7: Making silly grammar and spelling mistakes
First and foremost: do not under any circumstances publish a first draft. Ever. Promise me right now or stop reading this blog. Thank you.
Look, typos happen. Autocorrect isn’t always correct. I get it! I make my fair share of mistakes for sure (and I’m really hoping there aren’t any in this article…).
Use these two simple safeguards to avoid the most common spelling and grammar mistakes:
Put your first draft on ice for 24 hours before editing.
Use an app like Grammarly to catch oddball phrases and cut rambling sentences.
You’ll be shocked – and relieved – at how many silly mistakes you’ll catch.
Mistake #8: Avoiding SEO
Just because you “write for people, not the ‘bots” doesn’t mean that people are going to read your content. Sorry but the ‘bots are involved in digital publishing whether you like it or not.
The best content marketers come from a writing or journalism background AND understand the value of search engine optimization. They know how to flow keywords and key phrases seamlessly into a piece so it’s lovely to read AND pleases the Google gods.
Mistake #9: Too much SEO
Yes, search engine optimization practices are important but don’t lose sight of the writing and readability. We’ve all read those articles that are so clearly written by some SEO robot that it’s nearly impossible to follow along and get any real value.
The best content marketing balances SEO best practices and excellent writing.
Mistake #10: Creating without a plan
You need to publish something so you bang out a blog post, publish it and get crickets.
The problem here is publishing just for the sake of publishing.
Content marketing plans don’t have to complicated but you do need a general strategy. A basic content strategy includes:
Your goals
Target audience
Content pillars
Content formats
Distribution channels
Editorial/Content calendar
>> Need help with this? We’ve got you covered <<
Mistake #11: Unrealistic content calendars
Your company has a boatload of content plans and a totally packed editorial calendar. You’re feeling good and leadership is stoked!
Then you realize the amount of work it takes to produce just ONE blog.
The excitement of planning out a few months of content can get us into hot water without a realistic plan to make it happen.
Once you’ve had that big brainstorming session, the next step is to prioritize your content and figure out the exact steps you need to create, publish, and distribute that content.
Mistake #12: Forgetting about analytics
How’s your company blog doing? Not sure? Then it’s been way too long since you’ve taken a look under the hood.
Tracking blog analytics is essential to successful content marketing. Not only does it tell you how your previous content is performing, but it informs your future content. The data tells you what articles are most popular to your audience, which CTAs are most effective, the common pathways (ex: blog to sales page to sign up). On the flip side, the data tells you which articles need a refresh or are just not working at all.
Data analytics is its own field but if you’re getting started, here are the 3 content marketing metrics to track:
Pageviews: how many times a specific page has been viewed
Traffic sources: where are people coming from before they land on your site?
Conversion Rate / CTR: depending on the goal for a particular piece of content, this will show you that the reader is following through with what you want them to do next.
Mistake #13: Ignoring the middle of the funnel
Thinking up topics for the top of the funnel and the bottom of the funnel is pretty easy but what about all those folks in the middle?
Top of the funnel topics are broad, generalized, and meant to build brand awareness. The goal of the bottom of the funnel is to convert that reader into a qualified lead.
So what’s in the middle? Does it matter?
Middle of the funnel content is for those who have heard of you but need to be convinced that they need your product or service.
Examples of middle funnel content:
Case studies
Customer stories
Testimonials
Comparisons
Surveys
Webinars & webinar recaps
Think about what you can put out there that’s going to move a prospect from “Maybe…” to “Oooh yes, tell me more.”
Mistake #14: Audience is too broad
Who are you trying to reach? People with a pulse! Even for brands who have done all the Ideal Customer Profile work and know their ideal audience, a common mistake is creating content that is too broad.
That’s because when you’re creating sticky content, you need to be thinking about the individual reader.
Who are they?
Why do they care?
What are they doing while they’re reading your blog?
Asking these questions helps whittle down a broad audience like Creative Project Managers down to Emily at AZ Content who’s dealing with inhouse designers, freelancer creators, and Barb from accounting — and needs exactly what you’re selling.
Mistake #15: Product-only focus
We all know the real goal of creating stellar content is to sell more and increase revenue. But… one of the biggest missteps that early stage start-ups and new businesses make is writing blogs and creating content that focuses solely on their products and services.
I get it! You’re excited about your new venture and want to tell the world about all the amazing things your company is doing… but you’re missing out on a critical opportunity: engaging with the people who will actually buy your stuff.
Establish credibility and build that trust factor by creating content that teaches and inspires your audience. Position yourself as the expert in your field – and then fold in all the amazing features of your product.
Nervous about making these content marketing mistakes?
Don’t be! Like I said, even the pros make mistakes. If you focus on creating informative content for specific audience segments on a regular schedule you’re going to be ahead of most.
Download our free content check list to help avoid the most critical of these content marketing mistakes. And while you’re at it, sign up for our awesome newsletter where we share actionable advice to help you create content that super fuels your business.