Content marketing can be exceptionally powerful for businesses…when utilised well. However, without a proper strategy in place, there is a real and dire potential to put your audience off your brand entirely.
If you want to vibe with your audience and share content that will genuinely engage them and increase the likelihood of converting those clicks into customers, read on and we’ll share some of the most common content marketing blunders to avoid…
1. Not knowing your audience
This is the biggest and most common mistake of all: failing to do audience research. When producing content, if you are doing so without having given a second thought to who will be engaging with it, then you’re not going to have much success at all.
Without knowing your audience, not only do you risk getting minimal engagement, but you also risk putting off potential customers entirely.
Do your research and know your audience inside and out – that is the key to producing world-class content.
2. Focusing on quantity
Yes, it is important to put out as much content as you can; but if you are doing so to the detriment of the quality of content, then you’re going to have a bad time.
First and foremost, the quality of the content you produce should be exceptional. If you are unable to produce that level of quality in-house, consistently, then you should hire digital marketing services and let the pros do it for you.
If your content is poor, your audience will assume that your products / services are similarly rated.
3. Neglecting SEO
Pumping out mass amounts of content without any thought towards search engine optimization is another common mistake – thus resulting in low visibility and poor traffic.
If you want your content to go as far as possible and have the biggest impact, you need to understand – and indeed invest in – SEO.
4. Failing to track results
Content may be King but data is the Daddy! You should track every single piece of content that you publish online. Use the various analytics tools available to you and see how well your content is resonating with your audience.
If you don’t track your results, you’ll never know what is working well and what is not. Sure, if a post gets a lot of likes and shares you are clearly doing something right; however, if those likes and shares aren’t equating to conversions and money in your pocket, then it is clear that something needs to change.
Track, analyse, react.
5. Being too promotional
Yes, you are a business and you want to promote your products / services, but there is such a thing as going overboard.
There’s an 80 / 20 rule in digital marketing and it works exceptionally well: 80% of your content should be interesting, educational, and engaging – while the remaining 20% can be promotional.
If all you do is talk about how good you are all the time, you’re going to put people off. However, if you are constantly creating content for your audience and their benefit, you’ll notice a big difference in the quality of engagement.
Conclusion
Content marketing without any form of strategy is like trying to kayak upstream without a paddle; a total waste of time.
So, take a step back and do your due diligence. Brands who research, strategize, and track results are rewarded for their efforts with greater success. In essence, if you are going to do it, do it properly.
