The most usual mistakes you might be making with your content strategy
We have helped our clients execute their content marketing plan over the years, so here are a few of the commonest mistakes we have seen marketers do when putting together their content strategy. If you can learn from others’ mistakes you are likely to make fewer mistakes, so you are advised to read thoroughly and avoid those critical pitfalls.
BRAGGING IS NOT OKAY
It is very common for businesses to write from their own point of view – an act which ultimately is seen as bragging. As a marketer, you must be wearing multiple hats during the course of a typical day, so it is important to remember when writing content to wear the hat of the ‘buyer’. This will help you to think as a buyer/end user/client and not as a business owner.
By being subtle on how you write content, you can be seen as ta thought leader in your line of business and as a consequence build a foundation of trust between your audience and your business. So why brag about how good you are and how does it better than your competitors, when you can just let your content dictate that? For example, if you are a printer specialising in different types of printing you can educate your audience about the different techniques (i.e. embossing, debossing, digital printing, etc) and position yourself as being expert in that field. It’s as easy as that!
SAME THING AGAIN AND AGAIN
Would you eat the same food again and again? I guess not. So just like you enjoy having a varied diet, you should provide varied content to your audience. Failing to use a variety of content formats (pictures, infographics, videos, ebooks, competitions, and so on) will result in boring your readers and followers. Depending on the demographic of your target audience, you should strive to use alternative content formats with relevant content. This is your opportunity to turn your audience into brand loyalists who would like to continue buying from you or doing business with you.
CONTENT IS KING BUT DISTRIBUTION IS QUEEN
What’s the point of going all the way to write quality content and use different content formats if no one is going to read it? You can research what channels your target audience mostly engage with and distribute your content there. By distributing your content on different social media platforms and even including it to your email newsletters and email signatures, you can reach the broadest possible target audience which in turn help you reach your marketing goals.
LACK OF PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND MEASUREMENT
While many businesses spend lots of time with their content strategy, they fail to monitor its performance and measure its effectiveness. You should think of this point as the ‘tried and tested’ method because by measuring you get to see what works and what doesn’t discover areas where improvements can be made and determine whether you need to adjust your content strategy approach. Remember that without tracking, monitoring and measuring, it is like you are driving blind!
