10 Worst Content Marketing Mistakes
The dinosaurs fell into great bogs, became slowly immobilized, and died a slow and lingering death. Or at least that’s how it looked in a cartoon I saw one time. And the scenario bears a remarkable resemblance to the death of great content as well.
How does it happen? How does content die a lonely and forgotten death?
Here are the most common mistakes that lead to bogged down, lost and forgotten content.
1. Your content doesn’t talk like your target market talks.
In order for your content to be found, it must contain the keywords that your content market is using. Are you saying “toe-may-TOE” when they’re saying “toe-may-TA”? Figure out what words your audience uses to describe your service or product, and use those words so that you can be found.
2. Your blog is an island.
Perhaps you are creating regular content of high value (with the right keywords) and posting it weekly to your blog. Does anyone read it? Perhaps you haven’t been building inbound links, sending out a newsletter showcasing your content, or enabling sharing. You have to create the content, but you also have to market it thoroughly.
3. You’re being too sales-y.
Of course you are writing content in order to generate leads and build revenue, but if you spend all your time on a hard sales pitch, people will quickly lose interest. Put down the bullhorn for a while and try to be helpful. Try listening! Or ask your target audience some good questions, and see if you can craft content that answers their questions.
4. You, you, you.
Stop with the deadly press releases that you put out every time you hire a new intern, win the “best-watered plant in the office” award, and re-arrange the cubicles. And it isn’t “news” every time a client says something nice about you. Enough about you, in fact. Turn your focus around and think about your clients, and what they’d like to hear.
5. No really, you’re boring everyone.
These days your content needs to be larger than life. Rather than an understated point of view, try an unusual, outrageous, contrary, or questioning POV. Dig out the interesting and unique bits of information about your product or service and highlight those, rather than boring everyone with a dry recitation of the basic facts. Try a bit of humor (poke fun at yourself!) and see if by helping people laugh a little you can win some attention.
6. You put quantity over quality.
You hear it all the time and it’s still true. Stop writing posts simply because you need a post this week. Don’t put out the newsletter if you don’t have anything to say!
7. You did it once, wasn’t that enough?
Content marketing is like eating lunch; just because you did it once doesn’t mean you’ll never be hungry again. The search engines are ever hungry for fresh, relevant content. Feed them, Seymour!
8. You’re anti-social.
Don’t create content and then lock it down so that no one sees or shares it, ever. Content wants to be free! Add sharing buttons, cast to Facebook, put it on Twitter or LinkedIn, enable embedding, put links in your email signature, send out a newsletter — you don’t have to be a spammer, but you do have to make it simple for others to find and share your content and spread your message.
9. Strategy? What strategy?
Make sure everything you create, publish and distribute is clearly linked to your business goals and objectives. You know those people who leave their cars running while they go in to pick up a handful of items in the grocery? The money they paid for that gas is getting them nowhere. Don’t invest in content that isn’t going somewhere.
10. Goal: Everything! Market: Everyone!
Be discriminating with your content. Don’t market with the goal of selling your feather-and-rhinestone encrusted watchbands to everyone — market to Elton John and Lady Gaga specifically.
Got more content marketing death-bogs or precipitous cliffs to add to the list? Put ‘em in the comments!
Need help crafting your content marketing strategy? Who you gonna call? That’s right, Calvert Creative: we’ve never stepped in a bog, not even once.
