Content marketing is a strategy that has been around for decades. However, it’s only recently that it has become mainstream.
This is because content marketing works and it works well. Even with a small budget, you can build a powerful presence online with content marketing.
I’ve recently been looking at various content marketing strategies and noticed that there are a number of common mistakes that people make. If you’re guilty of making these mistakes, then you could be limiting your success. The good news is that there are solutions to each problem. Let’s take a look at 19 common problems with content marketing and how to solve them:
Content marketing is about creating content, but it’s also about providing value to your target audience. This means you need to have a specific goal in mind when creating your content. This could be anything from increasing SEO rankings, to building an email list, or getting more traffic.
But what you must always do is measure the success of your content according to this goal. Otherwise you won’t know if your strategy is working or not. With too many goals, your strategy will fail miserably.
Nail one goal and then move on to the next one. You can always come back to it later if it starts working for you.
There are lots of different ways you can measure the results of your content creation efforts, but don’t go overboard with them.
Just focus on one or two metrics that align with the specific goal that you have and stick with them for now (this will make tracking easier). Over time, watch how these numbers grow and adjust accordingly as needed since they would likely differ from one another. You can read more about measuring results here.
Social Media plays a major role in your strategy. Not just social media but integrating your content with other tactics such as search engine optimization, email marketing, blogging, and so on.
In addition, you can also tailor your content around what they are interested in as well.
To start off, create a calendar that shows the days and times when people are most likely to be online (these are called peak times). What you want to do is make sure that you’re posting during these peak periods. The good news is that there are tools out there that can help you with this.
If you’re using an all-in-one social media tool like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Sprout Social you can quickly see when your audience is online. You can also use a tool such as Google Trends to understand what types of topics are popular in your niche (and when).
In addition, a good content calendar should also include the day and time that your audience will be most interested in the specific topic that you’re planning on blogging about.
There are so many tools out there that can help with the creation of your content marketing strategy. In fact, I think there are so many of them – it’s hard to know which ones you should be using!
However, I think it’s important to try a few out before committing to one of them long-term. Some services may not work so well for what you want to do while others might have more features than you need at the moment (or ever). My advice would be to try a few different ones out and then stick with one if it works well for you.
There are hundreds of content marketing tools available so start small by trying one or two different ones out first before committing long term (or at least until you see some results).
I would recommend trying Hootsuite since it has literally thousands of users using it every day and they have plans starting at only $9/month! If they don’t work well for your needs then move on to another tool like Buffer or Sprout Social .
Just make sure whatever service(s) you choose – It helps you improve and reach your goals.
The most basic content marketing mistake is talking about something you know little or nothing about. Again, with a small budget, it’s tempting to talk about things that you don’t really know about.
However, this will limit your success. You need to be passionate and knowledgeable about the subject that you’re writing on.
This is more than just reading a couple of books on the topic. You need to learn the ins and outs of the area and really understand it inside out. Then, make sure that every piece of content you create is based on your own research.
If you want to write a blog post on “How To Lose Weight” then create it based around your own personal experiences with losing weight and being successful at it. Don’t just rehash old information that is available elsewhere online – make it unique!
The biggest problem that I see is bloggers who produce great content but never get their articles seen by enough people who are interested in their topic area.
Content marketing requires an audience for you to have any chance at success. Without the right audience reach, your business might be at risk in the long term.
When we started Contenteum, we had to get traction. We did this by engaging audiences who might be interested in streamlining and organizing their content production.
We joined and engaged in various subreddits and facebook that were focused around Content Marketing, SEO and Content Creation. People who are absolutely as passionate about it as we are.
We got 150 signups for our beta platform in 45 days!
Improving sales in content marketing is all about getting people to your site and then keeping them there. If you have a site that’s hard to navigate, full of irrelevant content and has a confusing call to action, it’s not going to work.
First impressions count. You need your site to be easy to understand, fast-loading and full of relevant information for your customers. It doesn’t have to be pretty but it does have to do the job right.
Use plenty of white space so there are no distractions and make sure you structure the information logically so that people can find what they want quickly.
Make sure you are also using the right terms in your titles and navigation. Ensure they are visible on each page so that your visitors and search engines know what the page is about.
Creating engaging content is all about knowing your audience inside out. You need to know how they think, what their concerns are, what interests them and who their influencers are too. If you don’t take this step first, then you won’t be able to create engaging content because you won’t understand your audience at all.
If you don’t know who your audience is then start by creating buyer personas – these should include customer demographics such as age range and income level along with their interests, concerns and pain points too.
Buyer personas will help you get into the mind of your ideal customer so that you can create more relevant content with an eye on how they behave too.
Once you have created these profiles, start by writing about topics that interest them as well as sharing interesting articles or blog posts from other sites related to their interests too.
Your aim should be build relationships based around mutual interest rather than making sales immediately; though this will come over time with trust built up between the two parties.
It’s easy to get carried away when you’re creating your content. You can start out with a few ideas and before you know it, you’ve written a 10,000 word blog post.
Comprehensive content is a sign of good content marketing but it’s important that this information is relevant to your audience. If people are scrolling past your content without reading it, then you have a problem.
People don’t have time for long-winded articles.Make sure that the information in your posts is relevant to your audience and that every word has purpose. If there are parts of the article that don’t add value to your audience, then get rid of them.
Cut down the length of your articles to make them more readable and shareable by others.
Most people want to see their content shared by others on social media or they just want their work to be read by more people. When someone shares or reads something that you created, it makes you feel good inside and helps spread awareness for your business.
Titles are the most important aspect when it comes to shareability.
Boring title: How To Improve Your Content Writing Skills
Interesting title: 7 Ways To Improve Your Content Writing Skills In 30 Days
When creating content for other people, ask yourself: “What would make this piece of writing worth sharing?”
Of course, this doesn’t mean that everything has to be funny or contain a raunchy joke – sometimes just creating informative and actionable content will do the trick.
Just use whatever makes sense for what type of writing you are creating – if possible include an infographic if applicable as well, as infographics statistically get more shares.
A lot of content marketers create content and post it when they feel like it. This is a huge mistake because you need to schedule your content. If you’re not following an editorial calendar, you will find yourself creating a lot of content but not really achieving anything. It doesn’t matter what type of content you create – if you don’t have an editorial calendar, then you won’t know what to do next.
If you don’t have an editorial calendar, then the solution is to create one as soon as possible. There are a number of tools available that make creating an editorial calendar easy. When creating your editorial calendar, you should consider the following:
What type of content are you going to create? If it’s written articles, then how many per week or month? If videos are part of your plan, then how many per week?
Who will be writing the content? Even though most people write their own blog posts, there might be some pieces that other people in the company can write.
For example, if your CEO has seen a topic that needs covering in-depth before anyone else has covered it , he may be able to contribute this information in a blog post from his point-of-view. This will add credibility and value to the post for readers.
The first problem is that people think content marketing is just a new buzzword. There’s no denying that it is a new buzzword, but it’s also something much more.
Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing valuable content to attract and retain customers. It’s a process that has been around for years. Content marketing is absolutely crucial for any business, however, different business models have varying benefits.
If you’re guilty of thinking that content marketing is just a buzzword, then you need to educate yourself. You need to learn how content marketing can benefit your business. Read up on it, learn about best practices and then start implementing a strategy.
The second problem is that people think content marketing is just another term for blogging. This isn’t correct either.
Blogging is just one part of the bigger picture; it’s only one part of your content strategy. Blogging alone will not build a powerful online presence for your business.
You need to use a variety of tools, techniques and strategies if you want to create an effective online presence with your business blog.
Make sure you understand that blogging alone won’t cut it when it comes to content marketing. If you want to be successful at content marketing, then you need to use every tool at your disposal in order to build a powerful online presence for your business blog.
This means leveraging social media, guest posting on other websites, SEO, infographic design and more so that you have multiple channels for reaching potential customers; not just one channel such as blogging alone.
This is one of the biggest mistakes that I see in the world of content marketing – people don’t have enough great (or any) content.
This can be for many reasons including lack of creativity, interest or time but either way, this is problematic because if your website doesn’t have great content, why would anyone come back?
It seems like too much work for very little reward especially when there are other sites online that offer some great value in their writing as well!
If you don’t have great content, start creating it! There are a million ways to create content and you can always find a way to get at least some great content up on your website.
If you don’t have any time, then hire someone or outsource it.
This is one of the biggest problems with most content and it’s also one of the easiest problems to solve. If you want people to come back to your site again and again, then you need to engage with your audience.
One of the best ways to do this is through social media but there are other techniques as well such as commenting on other blogs, sharing insightful articles from other sites and being active in online forums where your target audience hangs out.
If you want people to come back over and over again, then you need to give them a reason why they should come back!
Do a little social media outreach each day and leave comments on posts that are relevant to your niche.
This shows people that they should come back because you aren’t just making stuff up but rather that you care about things in general (and their needs!) Give them something real and tangible value whether it be knowledge or entertainment – this is what will keep them coming back for more!
You don’t have a list of keywords that your ideal audience uses to search content. This can lead your blog to attract non targeted visitors who might not be interested in what you are selling/providing.
There are tools available that will show which key phrases/keywords people are using to search for related topics online, here are some of the best:
These tools should be used throughout the creation process so that each piece of content is targeted at the right people and contains what they want or need.
When it comes time to promote your content, use these key phrases/keywords when promoting on social media or or your blog, this will pull in your ideal audience.
As an example, If you have a web design business, the following topics can pull in the right audience:
The more targeted your marketing is, the better it works!
One common reason why content marketing fails is because people try to use old strategies. They see a post from 2014 and think it’s still relevant today. Unfortunately, they’d be wrong.
The world of content marketing is constantly changing, so your strategies must evolve with it. One of the simplest things to learn is looking at what your competitors are doing and see if those strategies can benefit you.
Be constantly looking for new strategies that will help you succeed.
People are generally turned off by spammy content. If you want people to read your content and click through to your website, then you can’t have it littered with unnecessary links and calls to action.
Don’t add any links or calls to action unless they are relevant to the article they are in.
If you are linking in articles, make sure they align with your website’s overall message. As a rule of thumb, there should be no more than two or three links per article.
Keep your users happy, and Google rewards you with more traffic.
There is nothing worse than a post that sounds like it was written by a robot or an intern with little experience in the field.
When creating content for your audience, it should feel personal and authentic. Try to create posts that sound like they were written by someone on the inside of the industry you’re marketing in rather than an outsider simply trying to impress their audience with jargon and buzzwords that have no meaning behind them (ie: “OMG! I love PPC ads! They work so well!”).
Instead, try writing posts filled with valuable information that users can apply themselves without having to do extensive research online before doing anything else (ie: “I used these tips on my blog and got twice as much traffic overnight! Check out what I did!”).
The second type of post will likely generate more traffic because it sounds more realistic and believable compared to the other one which sounds like a sales pitch for advertisers or search engine optimization companies instead of something useful for readers sharing their own experience using a tactic which worked well for them.
Another common reason why many writers fail at attracting large amounts of traffic through social media sharing is because their articles aren’t link-worthy.
Make sure each piece of content you create has original ideas which haven't been circulated on other sites before . This means making sure each piece contains unique material specific only to your site's own niche audience .
Some examples would be offering tips especially designed for people struggling with certain problems within your niche area, offering expert advice which goes above & beyond typical knowledge shared within blogging circles currently (even if it's just something really small like an easy way to tie shoelaces!)
