Most marketers likely make at least one of these content marketing mistakes. With a larger number of brands understanding the importance of marketing, just about everybody wants a piece of the pie.
However, more and more businesses are making mistakes in the process. Here’s how to make sure you’re not making any half-baked content marketing pies.
Mistake #1: Putting search engines first over readers
Everyone is in the SEO game now. Everyone wants their content to rank well. When the prerequisites of search engine-optimised content and more have been fulfilled, what sets you apart from the competition? Content that’s meant for humans.
Choosing to satisfy only Google rather than remembering to make content readable and useful for readers is one of the content marketing mistakes committed by numerous businesses.
The result? Google searches that point toward articles that are chunks of text without proper explanations.
Want to generate good leads? Speak to your human visitors, not just website crawlers.
Mistake #2: Prioritising quantity over quality
Much like the internet ruthlessly calls out clickbait, your visitors are also discerning enough to know when you’re giving quality a shove to put quantity first.
Overloading your plate by prioritising quantity will inevitably make you compromise on other factors. This includes the amount of thought and useful information that goes into each published content.
When it comes to content writing, less is sometimes more.
Take the time to look at your editorial calendar and make sure that you’ve got a good mix of topics, and that you’re putting some heart into engaging with your audience. Your effort will show. While this might feel like a slow endeavour, you will do more harm than good by pumping content out just for the sake of it.
Mistake #3: Creating one tone of voice content across all platforms
Tone of voice is crucial when it comes to helping brands establish their very own personas.
You’ll never find the tone of voice of Singaporean publication Rice Media being the same as that of The Straits Times. Using a distinctive tone of voice will help you stand out from your competitors.
Put some time into understanding the audience, and figure out exactly how to connect with them.
Even if you’re an in-house marketer working for a single brand, having a single tone of voice across all of your brand’s business platforms isn’t going to work. Different platforms have different audience bases, which is a key reason why brands try to diversify with various business platforms.
Essentially, while you may have a simple targeted demographic, you’re still reaching out to different types of the people from that demographic. These people may have varying psychographics that affect their interests and purchase decisions.
To avoid sounding generic, don’t change your tone of voice. Instead, make some tweaks that help to frame your content more appropriately for the platform.
For instance, a platform like LinkedIn that leans towards formal business discussions and industry sharing would warrant a tone of voice that takes the formality up a notch.
But on Instagram, you might want to throw in emojis to accessorise your text to better connect with a younger audience.
Mistake #4: Stuffing too many messages or points in a paragraph
Stuffing your content with excessive points and messages are common content marketing mistakes that marketers make. It makes your content noisy, diluting parts of it that are valuable.
We know you’ve got a lot to say, as do we. But the key to making your words count is keeping your content concise and easily understandable.
There’s only a certain amount of information that your visitors want to be exposed to at one go. So the best way to thank them for their time is to make sure that they’ve got good takeaways from your content.
Keep your audience coming back by dishing out content that’s easy to digest.
Mistake #5: Not having a clear structure to your content
As tempting and exhilarating as it may feel, stringing together a piece of article without a clear structure might end up being a complete waste of effort.
Read more about how powerful outlines can be here.
While you may think that your content is best delivered in the form that you thought of, the reality is that its structure needs to be optimised for readers.
A good general rule to use is to give the reader a reason why it’s relevant for them.
Creating separate paragraphs for your content and using headers can also help to add visual and structure to your article. This makes it easy for viewers and gives them a greater incentive to read all of your work.
Mistake #6: Missing opportunities to engage the reader more
Killer content should always be integrated with another business intent, leading readers somewhere to go after the engaging read that they’ve just connected with.
Opportunities to engage your readers more include adding a call-to-action (CTA) that can offer them a tangible solution to a problem they’ve just read about.
What’s more, your readers are more likely to purchase or subscribe to you when there’s trust in your brand. Use your content to bridge that gap and establish a relationship between your reader and your brand.
Need help with your content marketing strategy? Drop us a line.
Mistake #7: Not having a proper production pipeline
Before you invest in a content marketing business or strategy, don’t make the mistake of not having a proper production pipeline.
Without a formal workflow structure and a team, expect to face numerous bottlenecks when it comes to taking the next steps for your company or brand. To keep things running smoothly, build a team and a reliable process that can efficiently get work done as they come.
Mistake #8: Not following a publishing schedule
One of the most common mistakes marketers make is not having a consistent publishing schedule.
Having a structured publishing schedule will allow you to build trust with your audience as they can rely on you for consistency.
Planning ahead also ensures that your content runs as scheduled even when you’re busy with other work.
Mistake #9: Turning your content into a sales pitch
Adding value for audiences is a tricky task. If your content pushes a product or service too much, readers may feel like they’ve been tricked into reading an article that was just an advertisement.
Showing your audiences that you care about their interests and priorities means building trust.
Sometimes, doing that means entering the minds of your readers, perhaps even mentioning your competitors’ offerings. Remember that in the eyes of your audience, your brand is just one of the many options.
To keep your sales pitches subtle, consider offering variety with your content formats. Here’s a list of content formats that appear regularly at the top of Google’s search rankings.
| Article type | Example |
| Blog posts | What I learnt working from home for 6 months |
| Short-form evergreen content & articles | The History of Social Media |
| Long-form articles | The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Trends in 2020 |
| Photo and visual galleries | The best print adverts ever |
| Info-rich listicles | 45 Best Free SEO Tools (Tried & Tested) |
| Interactive tools & content | Check Your Website’s SEO: Free Analysis Tool & Audit Report |
| Category landers | Kitchen Ideas |
| Multi-page guides | The Beginner’s Guide to SEO |
| Visualised data or complex information | Digital Marketing Trends in 2020 [Infographic] |
| Videos embedded in pages | Jesper Astrom’s Google Analytics Video Tutorials |
Content marketing mistakes: what will you fix first?
Now that we’ve addressed these common marketing mistakes, it’s time for you to think about how you can stop committing any of the mistakes you might be making.
For starters, incorporating a strong article structure into your website’s SEO content is a good first step. If you’re interested, we’d love for you to use our free SEO-friendly article template. Download it here.