If you’re a content marketer or use content marketing to promote your business, you want people to read your work and spread the word. The more people who see your content, the better for your business. But are you doing everything you can to ensure your content gains traction and holds the interest of your readers?
Also Read: 12+ Best Article Rewriters & Spinners (Mostly Free!)
How you present your content and what you write matters. Let’s look at some of the most common mistakes content marketers make that reduce the effectiveness of their content, so you can avoid them.
Why do you need to shift your focus on Content Marketing Mistakes?
Content marketing has become one of the most important tools in a marketer’s toolbox. And with good reason – when done correctly, content marketing can be an extremely effective way to reach and engage your target audience, build trust and credibility, and ultimately drive conversions.
According to Statista Survey, 91% of poll results are in favour of the use of Content Marketing in their daily marketing plan as people are consuming more content than usual, therefore demand for content marketing is inevitable.
However, as with any marketing strategy, there is always room for improvement. In this blog post, we will look at 6 common content marketing mistakes that could be holding you back from achieving even better results.
How do you know if you’re committing Content Marketing Mistakes?
Are you ready to find out if you’re making any of these content marketing mistakes? Below is a checklist of questions to ask yourself. If you answer “yes” to any of them, it may be time for a content strategy refresh.
- Getting Low Engagement
- Getting Low Traffic
- Getting Bad Feedback from users
- Low Sales Figures
To find out if you are, in fact, making any of these Content Marketing Mistakes, keep reading!
What are some common content marketing mistakes?
- Not optimizing old content
- Not creating content that’s visually appealing
- Not measuring your content’s performance
- Not having a clear call to action
- Not promoting your content
- Not using the right keywords
By avoiding these common mistakes, you can set your content marketing efforts up for success. Content marketing is an important part of any marketing strategy, and it’s essential to get it right if you want to achieve your business goals.
If you want to learn more about content marketing or how to improve your efforts, contact us today. We can help you develop a content marketing strategy that works for your business.
Mistake #1: You’re Not Making Your Content Easy to Share
It sounds basic but many content marketers don’t do the obvious; they forget to include share buttons on content pages. Placing social sharing buttons on each piece of content makes it easier for people to share at the click of a button.
You can use a plugin like ShareThis, which makes it easy to add these buttons with just one line of code.
Take it a step further by giving people a reason to share your well-written content. If someone shares your content, offer them something in return such as an ebook or free trial.
As you can see, when start scrolling, social sharing buttons start appearing.
This small gesture encourages more people to spread the word about your content and business if they know there’s something in it for them. Plus it will help you build a mailing list.
Mistake #2: You’re Writing Only for Search Engines
Are you writing for search engines rather than customers? Writing for SEO has been a good strategy in the past but it’s now an outdated way to think about content marketing.
In the past, people wrote content around specific keywords or phrases because they knew that these were what people were typing into Google and other search engines. However, today’s search engine algorithms are much more sophisticated.
Nowadays, with technology more advanced than five years ago, you need to write content primarily with readability in mind. Focus on understanding your audience and delivering real value with your content rather than keyword stuffing. AI technology can see through this trickery, and Google will penalize you for it.
Always write first for the customer and second for search engine rankings. If you follow this rule, you’ll have a better chance of earning traffic from organic searches over time and less chance of getting penalized by the Google algorithms, too.
Mistake #3: You’re Not Optimizing Your Headlines
It’s no secret that headlines get the most attention. In fact, research shows the headline is often the deciding factor whether people will read or not, and it plays a huge role in determining your content’s success.
Don’t spend two hours writing an in-depth article your readers will love and then slap on a headline that took you two minutes to create.
Think about the benefits readers will gain from reading your post and include the benefits in either the title or subheading.
For example, if we search for keyword “dog food recipe” first few results you see are;
As you can see the headlines which they are using seems to be more compelling which includes power words i.e. “Pros and Cons”, “Your dog will love”, “A Beginner’s Guide”. But if you go to third or later pages of the same result you will notice the difference;
Benefits are more important than features when it comes to creating compelling content.
Your audience wants to know why they should care, so get right to it by stating how they will benefit from consuming what you have written.
The importance of headlines is amplified in social media where you often have only one chance to grab someone’s attention with a title since they quickly scroll through their feed.
If you are using social media for content marketing, optimizing your headlines should be a priority. Online tools are available that will grade your title and give suggestions on how to improve it. Take advantage of these free tools.
Mistake #4: You Don’t Have a Plan for Content Creation
Not having a plan is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. A content marketing plan should include:
• your goals and objectives
• your strategy (including target audiences, topics, keywords, delivery methods)
• a content calendar
• an editorial style guide.
A content marketing plan helps keep you and your team accountable. It helps you track the success of your campaigns and know exactly how much output you need to produce to get results. It also ensures that everyone on the team is working together toward a common goal.
Mistake #5: You Don’t Include Calls to Action
A call-to-action (CTA) should be a staple of every blog post, article, and piece of content you produce. A CTA is exactly what it sounds like: the next action you want your reader to take when they’ve finished reading, watching, or listening to your content.
It could be a link to a landing page or another blog post. It could also be a link to download something.
It could be many things, but it’s essential that every piece of content you create has one — otherwise, all the effort you put into creating that article is diminished.
As you can see in the image above as the post has 4 call to action weather its something you offer for free, reviews, message or a contact page or you can create newsletter popup like below;
Give your reader something they can do with the information they just learned from you!
Mistake #6: You’re Not Using a Multichannel Approach to Content Marketing
Another common content marketing mistake content marketers make is to rely on a single channel or one type of content.
For example, many marketers think that if they just get their blog up and running, they will reach all their customers interested in the solutions they offer.
Some might even focus on the wrong types of content for their ideal customers by relying primarily on ebooks or videos when their prospects prefer short text-based updates. In both cases, these marketers miss key opportunities to engage with potential buyers as they move through the research process.
Content marketing is a multi-channel strategy, and you should tailor your tactics to meet your buyer where they are. Consider the types of content that fit each channel you use, as well as what stage in the buying cycle your buyers are in when they consume it.
Also, ensure there is enough variety across channels so that prospects see unique information at each point and aren’t simply being served up repetitive messaging over multiple channels.
A good rule of thumb is to build a calendar with different types of messages and then distribute those messages across several channels (at least two). This helps ensure you don’t overload one channel with too much noise.
Yet it will still provide enough messaging points for your prospect to decide if and how you can help them solve their problems.
Mistake #7: Not Aware of your Audience’s Content Preferences
When it comes to content marketing, one size does not fit all. Just because you like long-form blog posts doesn’t mean your audience will. It’s important to be aware of the types of content your audience prefers and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
You can find out what type of content your audience prefers by surveying them or analyzing your website traffic data.
If you have Google Analytics installed on your site, you can look at the Content>All Pages report to see which content pieces are getting the most traffic and engagement.
You can also look at the Site Content>Landing Pages report to see which pages are resulting in the most conversions.
Both of these reports will give you insight into the type of content your audience is interested in and help you determine what types of content to produce more of.
These are just a few of the most common content marketing mistakes that can reduce engagement and profits. If you’re guilty of making any of these mistakes, don’t worry — they’re all fixable.
Just make the necessary adjustments to your content marketing strategy and you’ll be on your way to producing more engaging, profitable content in no time.
Mistake #8: Focusing On Quantity Over Quality Content
A common content marketing mistake is focusing on quantity over quality. This usually happens when marketers are trying to meet a content goal, such as publishing two blog posts per week.
In their haste to meet this goal, they often sacrifice quality for the sake of quantity. As a result, their content isn’t as helpful or interesting as it could be, which reduces engagement and profits.
If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to take a step back and reassess your content strategy. Content goals are important, but they shouldn’t be so rigid that they prevent you from producing high-quality content.
It’s better to publish one piece of truly great content per week than four pieces of mediocre content. Your audience will appreciate quality over quantity, and you’ll be more likely to achieve your ultimate goal of driving engagement and profits.
Content marketing is a multi-channel strategy, so it’s important to tailor your tactics to meet your buyer where they are. Consider the types of content that fit each channel you use, as well as what stage in the buying cycle your buyers are in when they consume it.
Also, ensure there is enough variety across channels so that prospects see unique information at each point and aren’t simply being served up repetitive messaging over multiple channels.
A good rule of thumb is to build a calendar with different types of messages and then distribute those messages across several channels (at least two). This helps ensure you don’t overload one channel with too much noise.
Yet it will still provide enough messaging points for your prospect to decide if and how you can help them solve their problems.
Mistake #9: Content That’s All About You
When creating content, it’s important to focus on your buyer and their needs — not on your company and what you want to sell them.
Yet, many businesses make the mistake of producing content that’s all about themselves. This type of content is usually filled with self-promotional messages and product features instead of helpful information that addresses the needs of the buyer.
As a result, this type of content doesn’t do a good job of engaging the reader or providing them with value. It also doesn’t help move them through the sales funnel.
To avoid this mistake, make sure your content is helpful and informative. It should be designed to educate your buyer about their options and help them make an informed decision.
It’s also important to ensure that your content doesn’t come across as too salesy. If it does, prospects will tune out and you’ll miss the opportunity to engage them and sell them your product or service.
These are just a few of the most common content marketing mistakes that can reduce engagement and profits. If you’re guilty of making any of these mistakes, don’t worry — they’re all fixable.
Just make the necessary adjustments to your content marketing strategy and you’ll be on your way to producing more engaging, profitable content in no time.
Mistake #10: Not Optimizing Old Content
If you’re not regularly optimizing your old content, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to drive more traffic and engagement.
Over time, your older content can start to rank lower in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is because Google’s algorithms are constantly changing and evolving, so what worked to get you ranked highly a year ago might not work today.
To stay ahead of the game, it’s important to go back and optimize your older content on a regular basis. This includes updating outdated information, adding new keywords, and republishing old posts with fresh content.
By regularly optimizing your old content, you can keep it relevant and engaging — which will help you drive more traffic and conversions.
Mistake #11: Not Creating Content That’s visually Appealing
In today’s world, people are bombarded with content from all sides. In order to stand out and get noticed, you need to create content that’s not only informative but also visually appealing.
People are more likely to engage with and share content that’s easy on the eyes. Content with images, videos, and infographics tends to perform better than text-only content.
So if you want your content to be successful, make sure it’s not only informative but also visually appealing.
You can use tools like canva to create engaging infographics out of your content in no time and sharing to Visual social platforms like Instagram and Pinterest can drive in a lot of traffic you may be missing out on.
Mistake #12: Not Measuring Your Content’s Performance
If you’re not measuring your content’s performance, you won’t be able to tell what’s working and what’s not. As a result, you could end up wasting time and resources on content that doesn’t drive any results.
It’s important to set up some basic analytics so you can track your content’s engagement and conversions. This way, you can see what’s working and adjust your strategy accordingly.
There are a number of free tools you can use to measure your content’s performance, such as Google Analytics and BuzzSumo.
By taking the time to measure your content’s performance, you can ensure that you’re getting the most out of your content marketing efforts.
These are just a few of the many content marketing mistakes that can reduce engagement and profits. If you’re making any of these mistakes, it’s important to take steps to correct them. By doing so, you can help ensure that your content is as effective as possible.
The Bottom Line
Content marketing is a way to build trust and relationships with your customers and achieve your business goals. If you’re doing it right, content marketing can help increase conversions and boost sales. But if you’re making these six common mistakes, you’ll struggle to get results from your efforts. Now you know what not to do.
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