Do You Make These Common Content Marketing Mistakes?

Like any other job out there, content marketing also requires discipline, dedication and commitment.  Even so, marketers can fall short of expectations for more than one reason. In order to succeed in this particular business, one has to create a strategic marketing plan in order to position the business as a useful resource for the kinds of information the audience requires.

There are many mistakes in the business, and up to 70% of all marketers end up making these mistakes. Below you can find all of the most common content marketing mistakes, and if you are among those who make them, it is time that you change your game plan.

Giving Up

The first and the most common mistake every content marketer makes is giving up too early. Being consistent is what keeps this business running, and the only reason for it to stop is to lose consistency or to stop completely. Consistency is the key to success, and even though it may not make things exciting again, it will keep them from falling apart. Stalling the business can usually kill it, therefore overcoming that phase is essential for any business. Once you get through the slow times, you will emerge victorious with a more inspirational and engaging content.

Quantity over Quality

The second and equally important mistake is focusing on the wrong thing. Namely, many content marketers think that giving tons of content is important for the business, regardless of the quality. That is why most of them just publish content without even checking its quality, all for the sole purpose of having as much content as possible. This is where they lose traffic, because most viewers and readers want to read something interesting and meaningful over reading bunch of low quality content.

“Quality over quantity” always has been and always will be the more important thing. Focus on the quality of your content, and improve it drastically, even if it means cutting down on more than half of your content. Start slowly and increase the amount of your content, but keep the standards high and give only the best.

Marketing Your Content

Having great content does not mean you can stop working on it; in fact, this is where everything begins. The most common mistake is not advertising and promoting your content. You need to make sure that it is found in search engines, and that your followers are getting it. In order for your content to bring more traffic and new followers, it has to spread its wings and fly, soaring high across the sky of Internet. But that takes some (a lot) effort and planning.

As seen in many case studies, marketers use SEO and content marketing hand in hand continually, with proven success. It is not only important to provide viewers with what they want to read, but you must bring that content to them. Once you realize what your viewers want to read, you go for it. One way of doing it is creating engaging content which gets shared by your followers or sent via emails. Build an email marketing campaign, and once you have a database filled with emails, simply send your emails every time new content is up. But social media is still the place where all the buzz is. Make sure yours is, too.

Storytelling is Important

The term content marketing is misleading, for it suggests that the content itself will promote something. It is not the content, but the ability to create and tell a story that makes people connect with you. People often want a call to action, or a request to do a certain action after reading your content. That is pretty much the entire idea behind content marketing – based on the information you have provided, people will react in a certain way and perform a certain action. That is it, end of story.

Make Sure Your Offering is Satisfying

One thing that frustrates most content marketers is providing content that is “expired.” What this basically means is giving your readers an insight into something that is already there for quite some time, something passé, something that is not interesting anymore. You have to think outside the blog, providing contents that are interesting yet of the highest quality. Shake things up by adding videos, pictures or webinars. Create conversations, and engage with your readers in order to find out what they are looking for. Inspire your writers to write autonomously and express themselves freely. Readers want to hear a story from a person’s point of view, not a company’s.

Once you start avoiding these common content marketing mistakes, you will see the numbers rise. Stepping up your game is just one step towards becoming a successful content marketer. But, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

Author: Nate M. Vickery is a business consultant and Editor-in-chief at bizzmarkblog.com. His fields of expertise are company management and efficient work environment through latest technology trends.