You might have heard many marketing people buzzing about content marketing that is interchanged with native advertising, influencer marketing and audience-centric marketing. There are many clients that often get confused with content marketing and other marketing terms.
Concisely, content marketing can be said as the art and science of creating and sharing valuable free materials for a specific audience. Share on XThough being highly popular today, it has been around since centuries.
Basically, content marketing stands different from traditional marketing like commercials or brochures. Rather than just making a sale, content marketing means to educate, entertain or else meet an existing customer need.
As per James O’Brien, a writer and content strategist, the idea behind content marketing is that a brand must offer something valuable to get something valuable in return. He says that instead of the commercial, be the show and instead of the banner ad, be the feature story.
It’s being realized by many businesses that digital content marketing is a highly effective way to reach existing customers. In fact as per the Nielsen’s 2018 CMO Report, 82% of respondents were “planning to increase their digital budgets by about 50% in the next year.”
Though content marketing offers several advantages, it comes with some challenges. It’s good news that with a little planning, you can avoid these 15 common barriers to success:
Content Marketing Mistake #1: Trying to be Everything
There are some business websites that comprise of everything right from website design, SEO, marketing, etc. to travel, health and news. Due to this, it becomes difficult to maintain a loyal subscriber base. If a customer wants to learn about SEO tips, he won’t look for budget friendly travel tips, of course.
How to fix it: So, it’s better to divide the content into different blogs – each focused on a particular subject.
Content Marketing Mistake #2: Focusing on a Self-Satisfaction Goal
Some people continue writing content until they don’t get self-satisfied with the words. It is very hard to write quality content than quantity. Quantity just makes you feel that you are achieving something: “Look at all that!”
How to fix it: Focus on writing quality content because though it takes more time, it is far more worth the effort.
Content Marketing Mistake #3: Working for every project
There are brands that do content marketing based on a budget. This does not allow them to take the true test and learn from the mistakes. Then for doing it the right way, they judge the results accordingly.
How to fix it: Remember if it isn’t going to be done well, it isn’t worth doing.
Content Marketing Mistake #4: Serving All at Once
No doubt all love the big idea. But this doesn’t mean that sharing the big idea will encourage others to immediately buy. It’s completely a fool’s errand.
How to fix it: Hence, share your thought process first and then pitch the idea.
Related: Top 23 Content Marketing Statistics That Will Rule 2019
Content Marketing Mistake #5: Assuming Writers as Experts
This is the biggest mistake that content marketers do. No writer is an expert, if he can’t answer the audience’s queries.
How to fix it: So, prior to knowing the answers, it’s key to ask the right questions.
Content Marketing Mistake #6: Thinking that Audience will Find the Content
Many of the content marketers think that their audience will find the content. But it’s difficult for the audience to see what you want to show them. They many times take content in a wrong way and its effects are quite bad.
How to fix it: If you want your audience to find the content that you are willing to show them, you have to first make people aware of it.
Content Marketing Mistake #7: Keeping Virality as a Goal
Don’t prepare posts with an aim that they should go viral. You can’t make anything go viral. It either happens or it doesn’t.
How to fix it: Always create content so that it will be helpful to your audience.
Content Marketing Mistake #8: Following Only the Customer Research
Research for the “voice of the customer” creates commoditized content. If you respond only to known or stated customer needs with offerings same as your competitors, it means the only thing that can make your content stand unique is the logo of the company on it.
How to fix it: Make sure you create an edge or doubt in your content to change your buyer’s mind against the competitor. Be original and fresh for creating a differentiation.
Content Marketing Mistake #9: Forgetting Your Audience
Many have made the mistake of writing what you want to read (or what you think you would want to read) instead of asking your audiences what they want or using data to drive content strategy.
How to fix it: What you learn from this is that write for your audience, not for yourself.
Content Marketing Mistake #10: Posting without Checking
Have you ever sent an email that contains “text here, text coming”? It might have hit you badly right.
How to fix it: So, prior to clicking on any button, triple-check the buttons that you are clicking on while editing an email newsletter, creating a social media post or scheduling a blog post.
Related: Content Planning for the Website and Social Networks (With an Example)
Content Marketing Mistake #11: Good Writers = Good Content Marketers
Good writers too need to refer some other content to create a good content. It doesn’t happen automatically. It is hard to convince and persuade audience for taking a brand-specific action along with delivering value constantly. It requires more ability to create a pretty sentence for getting it done.
How to fix it: Content marketers should be tested on the basis of their insight into the audience, marketing objectives and conversion optimization rather than focusing on their writing sample.
Content Marketing Mistake #12: Waiting for The Strategy to be Perfect
Many businesses waste their time in preparing a perfect content marketing strategy.
How to fix it: Don’t wait for a perfect content marketing strategy as you won’t be able to find which the best is. Remember content marketing is an evolutionary process for many.
Content Marketing Mistake #13: Start Off on a Wrong Track
There are businesses that continue to produce content without listening to customers first or ignoring the suggestions and clues left by search engines.
How to fix it: So, first observe what your audience wants and then produce the content accordingly.
Content Marketing Mistake #14: Doing it Over
People make mistake by oversharing and saturating the same audience with the same posts.
How to fix it: Prepare different posts for different kinds of audience and schedule them properly.
Content Marketing Mistake #15: Undervaluing the Email Power
There are content marketers that underestimate the power of emails. They slowly build the subscribers list.
How to fix it: Make sure you focus on email subscribers as those are highly valuable in the business. Segment list based on the challenges and needs of your audience. This will help you to modify the communication for your audiences. Additionally, it will make much easier to get highly specific with your content.
Conclusion
Are you afraid to make mistakes in your content marketing? The best advice from the experts comes down to a single suggestion: Don’t be. When you continuously produce credible, convincing content, it helps to build trust and loyalty with your audience. This further increases the chance that new audiences will discover your brand. But remember your content marketing results are as good as your strategy, so invest some time in planning for avoiding the consequences and get the reimburse that you want.
