Content marketing is a powerful way to build your brand and gain customers. It’s an effective way to increase awareness of your product or service, but only if you spend time creating valuable content relevant to your readers. If you’re not getting results from your marketing efforts, you might wonder why. Let us shed light on some common mistakes brands make when trying to execute successful content marketing strategies.

 

Your Content Lacks Relevance

While it’s clear that relevance is a crucial element in content marketing, many companies still struggle to make their content relevant. This can be due to many reasons, but one reason is your content isn’t relevant to your audience’s needs.

Always gear your content toward your readers and what they want — not you. One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying too hard to sell something in their content rather than educate the reader.

 

Your Content Doesn’t Help Readers Solve a Problem

To get your content marketing to work, solve a problem for your audience. If you can do that, you have the potential to build a relationship with your readers and show them how much value you offer. If you can solve problems for readers by providing information they need, they will be more likely to become loyal customers. Why? They see the value in what you offer. Plus, solving problems is always good karma.

How can you ensure your content solves problems? Ensure you’re covering their pain points, and also that you’re not wasting time or space on something they don’t care about. There are a few ways to do this. One way is by looking at what your competitors are writing about. If you see a trend in articles about a particular topic, there’s probably an audience for those posts. Another way is to do keyword research. If someone else has already written about the problem your reader has, there’s probably an audience for that post.

Another way to identify readers’ problems is by looking at their social media feeds. Look at user-generated content (UGC) on Facebook and Twitter, as well as user comments on your website. This helps you figure out what your customers are interested in — and then write articles that address those topics.

 

 

Your Content Isn’t Shareable

The best way to create shareable content is to ensure that your content is something people want to read and share.

There are a few ways to accomplish this:

• Make sure the content has an angle that will interest your audience (e.g., “5 Things You Didn’t Know About…” or “5 Reasons Why…”)

• Avoid writing fluff pieces (i.e., don’t write about things just because they’re trending)

• Create something original and unique, so it stands out from other pieces of content published about the same subject.

 Make sure your content has a clear call to action. You can’t expect people to share your content if they don’t know what to do with it. (e.g., “Join our email list for our top 5 tips”) At the very least, encourage people to share with calls to action such as: “tweet this post” or “share on Facebook.”

 

You Aren’t Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) To Its Fullest Capacity

SEO is the process of optimizing your content to be found by people searching for it. The best way to optimize your SEO is to use keywords and keyword phrases that people are searching for.

• You can also use keywords in the title, URL, meta description, and body text of your content. For example:

• Keyword Phrase: “How to Build Your Brand”

• Title: How to Build Your Brand

• Image alt text on an infographic about how to build your brand (use these tools): How to Build a Brand That Stands Out in a Crowded Marketplace

 

You Are Not Spending Enough Time Writing Titles

A title is the first thing people see when they come across your content. It should be short and descriptive, yet unique and eye-catching.

The good news is that Google’s algorithms are getting better at understanding and ranking content based on its readability (i.e., how easy it is to understand). However, titles remain one of the most important factors affecting SEO rankings — not only because they’re included in search results, but also because they affect click-through rates and conversions if you use them as landing page headlines.

Your titles should include keywords that relate to the topic of your article or blog post, but don’t overdo it by stuffing too many words into a single line: Google will penalize you for keyword stuffing. Also, avoid using overly generic words like “tips” or “helpful.” Instead, try something like “5 Uncommon Hacks for Successful Content Marketing Campaigns.”

 

 

You Don’t Have a Consistent Publishing Schedule for Your Content

The more you publish, the more people will see your content. The more they see it, the better chance they will be interested in what you offer. This is why it’s important to have a consistent publishing schedule for your content. Studies show that people are more likely to be receptive and engaged if they know when those things will happen (like a show or event).

Also, publishing regularly ensures there is always something new for users looking for interesting info in their feed, inbox, favorite app, or website. Otherwise, you can lose the interest of your audience.

The best way to set up a publishing schedule is by using tools such as Google Analytics or Buffer App, which will allow you to get insight into what works best on social media platforms. It also helps you schedule posts at certain times during each day, so that you can create consistency across multiple channels.

 

Your Content Isn’t Well-Written and Organized

Is your content well-written and organized? If not, you could alienate your readers and drive away your audience. Proper formatting and spell checking are increasingly important with the vast amount of content available to readers. If your content is hard to read, people will click away and look for content that’s easier to read and digest.

Also, make sure you’re writing in a conversational style that’s easy for people to understand and read quickly. This will help them retain more of what they’ve read. Active voice helps readers visualize what you’re describing.  Passive voice doesn’t have as much impact because it doesn’t feel like they’re doing anything while reading. Writing in an active voice engages your readers.

Formatting matters too. Use frequent subheadings so readers can easily find their way back up through the document if they lose their place during reading. White space is easier on the eyes, too.

 

You’re Not Adapting To Your Audience

Content marketing is not a one-off process. It’s iterative, so your messaging and approach will change as you learn from your audience. You might think you have a great idea for how to create content and put it out there. But if it doesn’t resonate with readers or leads to conversions, it won’t work for you. You can adapt your content by looking at what people say about the topic on social media and forums and then using that information to ensure you’re addressing their concerns and needs.

Example: If people are talking about how hard it is to find a job in their area, make sure you include that information in your post. Answer the questions people are asking and address their concerns.

 

 

Impatience

Content marketing is a long-term strategy. It takes time to see results, and it takes even longer to build trust, a reputation, an audience, and a community. You must be patient and committed if you want content marketing to work for you. But when it does work, its effects can be long-lived if you’re consistent.

A common problem is that new content marketers don’t understand how long content marketing can take before it starts working. They expect immediate results from their efforts and give up when nothing happens immediately. If this has happened with your content marketing strategy (or if it’s happening now), realize that content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

Conclusion

One of the biggest challenges with content marketing is creating content that people are interested in. As a digital marketer, you must ensure your content creates the right type of interest, and you must break through the clutter and get the attention of your audience. It sounds like a tall order, especially since it’s competing against other content and other media, but it’s possible. Hopefully, these tips will help you see a bigger return on your content marketing efforts.