Everyone is into content marketing. The challenge is not only how to do it, but how to do it well. One of the best things a marketer can do is learn from the mistakes of others. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid while creating a content marketing strategy:
1. Content creation is too narrowly focused on a single buyer.
Narrowly focused content tends to be out of step and misaligned with the reality of buying in most companies today. The biggest drawback is that content then becomes non-shareable since it lacks relevancy to others. The solution: When considering the buyer personas for whom you want to develop content, content producers must consider more than just the single buyer or buyer persona. This is true when conducting buyer insight research - it is a mistake to interview only those whom you assume are direct buyers. Buying in organizations today is fluid, dynamic, flatter, and involves more participants.
2. Companies create content for themselves not their buyer.
You are not your buyer – get over it bro! Before you create anything – dig in deep with your current client base and your sales staff, they will give you the insight you need to create really compelling content. This is probably the biggest mistake in content, albeit the most forewarned. So listen up!
3. Their content voice sounds like a corporate twit.
From our early school days we were taught that formal writing = good writing. Somewhere along the way marketers found out that this is absolute crap, however the old days of getting slapped on the hand with a ruler for "writing as you talk" are hard lessons to break. Honestly, it’s the only reason I enjoy content creation in modern sales/marketing, all of the sudden its cool to speak to people like people again. And they're buying it! I just wanted to start a sentence with "and" there to see if a huge cosmic ruler would hit me.
4. Content is created without any personality.
Content that is written as an instruction manual will come across as just that, instructions. There’s so much crap content out there and there is a need for good writers with personality and opinions based on their own experience. That’s what I want to read.
5. Companies are jumping in the raging river of social media and content marketing without a plan or measurable goals.
Social and content marketing are not just hobbies or activities. They are business processes that should be approached with a strategic plan and metrics to measure success.
Image: KaterBegemot
