10 Biggest Content Marketing Mistakes You Wouldn’t Want to Make

One of the easiest things to do in the world is to click the exit button on a website that’s wasting our time. It’s a miniscule action but for us content creators or general members of the online market, it’s actually an excellent everyday learning experience. We could ask ourselves “Why did I click exit?” and we could learn a few tips and tricks for our own content marketing strategies. After all, we don’t want to be on the receiving end of those exit clicks.

However, some of the biggest mistakes none of us would ever want to make are those that would come to our notice when it’s too late. Luckily, some experts at the Content Marketing Institute have shared some insights and helped us sum up what those lurking mistakes actually are.

1. Half-hearted commitment

Content marketing is one of today’s golden pillars of online marketing. But, it is a slow and tedious job that requires a good amount of effort day in day out. And having a half-hearted commitment to your cause is not only a sin to your business but, also to you and your audience. It’s simply putting yourself out there without the intent to take yourself to any direction at all while wasting time and energy. And that is the quickest way to fall off the grid. As the founder of Content Marketing Institute Joe Pulizzi said, if you’re not all in, you should just stop.

With content marketing, you have to start and keep going with solid footing. You need passion, hard work, and a lot of determination to take any steps to build that strong golden pillar for you that can stand the challenges definitely coming your way.

2. Creating without vision or purpose

What goes hand in hand with a strong and solid commitment is a vision or purpose. One can hardly go without the other. Simply imagine waking up one day having so much energy and drive without actually knowing why and where to use it. Without a vision or purpose, you’re simply tumbling around posting for the sake of posting. And in the worst case scenario, your content strategy simply amounts to becoming noise on the internet. With a specific vision and purpose in mind, you’ll have the strength of focus and direction. You won’t have to waste time, effort, and energy for you, your company, and your audience.

3. Being too present-focused

Simply focusing on the here and now results can only get so far. More often than not, marketers seek an instant gratification from the work they put into their content marketing. However, the milk spoils fast. And these kinds of short-term spurts have great difficulties building a stable cycle that helps the business or company grow. And though short-term results aren’t all that bad, it would be better for you to give more focus on the long-term results. Putting more focus on the long game helps you build better and lasting customer relationships as well as greater and more stable revenues.

4. Having too much ‘Me.’

A few pieces of content about you or your company is well and good. Your audience needs to know about you after all. They need to connect. But, too much of you and you’ll send people running to be as far away from you as possible. You must remember that content marketing is mostly if not all about your customers and their needs. And the harsh truth in marketing is that people won’t necessarily want to find out anything about you if they don’t actually think they need you. Limit your “I’s” and “We’s” and every time you use them, make them count.

5. Providing little to no takeaway

Having too much ‘me’ in your content obviously gives too little to your audience. But, publishing content that is oversaturated, irrelevant, and uninteresting next to “me’s” completely bankrupt your audience takeaways and your patronage count. Once again, you must remember that your customers come first. Instead of focusing your goals on yourself, shift your thinking and project outward towards your customers. For example, instead of starting with “We need traffic!”, think of “How can we create content that people actually need and want to read?”

6. Trying to please everyone

Though a lot of online marketers start off trying to please everyone as they’re dipping their toes in the waters, it’s not a generally advised practice. Like in fashion, even if fashion is for everyone, not one brand is. Trying to reach out to too many audiences would just spread you so thin until you simply snap and break. So, better remove that target mark on the general population and pin it on a more specific group. Just remember to weigh on a more realistic than idealistic persona in choosing your audience or niche. Vice President of Hyland Thao Le says that narrowing down your scope won’t give you mass appeal but, it will make one audience very happy.

7. Forgetting who the readers are

A very big mistake you can make in content marketing is forgetting who’s on the other side of the screen and who has the greatest power over the exit button. You might have a purpose, a vision, or a goal and all that commitment to it but, once you forget who your readers are, you can easily get lost in how to serve out your message. You need to keep in mind any knowledge about your readers and incorporate it in how you talk to them. Don’t just spew out technical jargon that only a handful of people would understand. Use the knowledge to your advantage to connect, to interest, and to make your readers understand that you are an advantage to them as well as they are to you.

8. Forcing it

Always be sensitive to how you plan and create your content. You are always free to offer up something new to the table but, make sure it’s something authentic and reasonably likable. Walk your talk and have people oppose your brand’s philosophies rather than crash your business for being a fraud. Don’t force humor if you know there’s a big possibility it’ll only make your audience’s toes curl. And don’t do something too crazy just because it’s new. Avoid being tone deaf at all costs to save yourself from epic fails that’ll bite back hard.

9. Ignoring gaps and opportunities

Every company or brand needs a healthy dose of competition to help it grow, expand, and go beyond its limits. However, too much immersion and attention on the competition and even the revenues can sometimes make you ignore the other avenues for your company’s growth. Instead of just looking right and left at your competitors, check in with your own brand. Work towards filling your gaps and decide wisely which opportunities are worth taking and worth letting go. This way, you’re not only competing, but you’re also innovating and setting yourself apart from the crowd.

10. Forgetting that content is part of a business

Content Marketing is not only made for the sole entertainment of your audience. It is an essential part of your business. It hooks them. It keeps their interest. And most of all, it’s what urges them to take action. So, always keep on top of your content and avoid producing content that is flimsy and has no long-lasting value to your audience. Think as your readers would and gauge what they want and need and balance it with your own needs and want as well.