If your content, such as social media posts, blogs, and articles, isn’t performing how it should, take time to review it to see if you are making these 6 Common Content Marketing Mistakes.
1. Starting without a content marketing strategy.
If you’re winging it, you will get lost. This plan is your business map to success. It tells you where to go, who to take with you, how to get there, and what to do once you arrive. Create and follow your content marketing plan then go a step further: monitor, review, and revise your plan, often.
2. Writing strictly for SEO and not your audience.
Your reader’s experience should be your top priority. Of course, you should use keywords and other best-practice SEO strategies but not at the expense of readability.
Keep your audience coming back for more. They will determine whether your content should be shared. Studies have shown that 92% of consumers turn to User Generated Content for referrals above any other source. So make your content easy to understand, consume, and share.
3. Using text-only content.
Content isn’t just text. There are many forms and formats such as videos, posts, articles, white papers, infographics, audio, and many more. Each type will interest a different audience if it relates to relevant niche topics and meets the member’s needs.
4. Overusing automation or not delegating wisely.
Auto-posting and outsourcing is fine to handle some things. However, you still need to interact with your audience to gain their respect, earn their trust, and build relationships. Always keep in mind that social media is just that – SOCIAL. Connect with content and then focus on building relationships by being there.
There is some debate about what your content mix should be. One I like to use is the 5-3-2 Rule of Social Media Sharing illustrated here:
5. Posting content only on your website and not promoting it.
If you aren’t promoting your content, you are wasting your time creating it. It will very likely never be seen.
Cross-promote every piece of content you produce regardless of form. For example, promote your YouTube videos on Facebook then promote your Facebook community on your videos. Every blog post should be announced (with a link back to it) on all your social media platforms, bookmarking sites, and content curation sites.
6. Not backing up your content with Social Proof
When you use stats and resources to back up your ideas and assumptions, your audience will see you as an authority on the topic. Always quote your source and link back to it so that your audience knows where you got the information. (As a bonus, this is a great SEO tactic!)
Did you find these mistakes in your content marketing? Don’t fret evaluate where you’ve gone wrong and correct your errors. I suggest doing this one step at a time and studying your results to see which are most effective for you.