5 Common Mistakes in Content Marketing (And How To Avoid Them)
Content marketing was once considered a trendy novelty that was adopted only by forward-thinking, digitally savvy brands. Today it is considered a necessity for brands that aren’t prepared to turn away a sea of potential leads that could just as easily surf right by them to the digital presence of their competitors.
The creation of regular, original content is the backbone of a digital marketing campaign and instrumental in creating brand awareness. Original content gives your business a voice and an identity with which consumers can identify and create a personal relationship. Sounds simple, right? It is, but as in all things, the secret lies in the execution. Many businesses have squandered the potential of content marketing with half-hearted, aborted and ill-conceived content that lacks strategy.
Here are some ways in which many businesses fail in their content marketing and how you can avoid joining their ranks.
Underinvestment
It’s in the nature of entrepreneurs to be frugal. After all, businesses of all shapes and sizes need to keep an eye on their overheads. For a content marketing strategy to work, however, adequate investment of funds, time and resources are essential. Many entrepreneurs choose to create all of their own content. While it’s undeniably important for business owners’ voices to be heard in their content, it’s often hugely counterproductive to take on so much in addition to the usual operations of a business. Outsourcing your content creation to a third party company or assigning it to a permanent member of staff are far more effective ways of ensuring that your strategy yields a good return on investment.
Lack of cornerstone content
Cornerstone content should be the foundation on which your whole strategy is based, yet many entrepreneurs are unaware of what cornerstone content is. Your cornerstone content will usually be your landing page, a white paper or an e-book. You can find a guide for writing an effective white paper at http://theprauthority.com/how-to-write-a-white-paper. Whatever form your cornerstone content takes it should be a go-to resource that comprehensively details everything that makes you and your business a cut above your competitors.
As well as cornerstone content, a blog is vitally important when it comes to defining the voice of your brand. Your blog should be the mouthpiece of your company’s online presence. The blog should be updated every day or at least 3-4 times a week. It should document new developments in your business as well as chronicling your growth.
Emphasising quantity over quality
While posting regular content is important, it’s equally important not to coast by on generic filler content. Nothing toxifies your strategy worse than content that isn’t written with a specific purpose that’s of value to the user.
Lack of variety
Many entrepreneurs are brimming with ideas and have a lot to say. While this is great, it should not come at the expense of variety in your content and how it is presented. Presenting users with monolithic slabs of text won’t do your consumption ratio any favors. Be sure to insert images or videos every 300-500 words.
Your content itself must also be diverse and varied to keep readers on their toes and keep them coming back for more. Cycle between different types of content and keep an eye on your metrics to stay abreast of what content is working for readers and what is not.
