What Is The Biggest Content Marketing Mistake Brands Are Making Right Now?

At Contentworks Agency, we know that content marketing can be a minefield for many brands. There are plenty of success stories but also lots of mistakes happening, even with the big brands! Don’t take our word for it though because in this influencer roundup we asked four of the top content marketing experts What is the biggest content marketing mistake brands are making right now? Here’s what they said:

There is such pressure to produce content, get it in the right format, optimize it for search and leads, publicize it far and wide, that content marketers are forgetting TO MAKE THE CONTENT THEIR OWN.

Those first to market have unique content - usually because it's the only content out there. Click To Tweet

If you’re not first, you’re going to have to immediately differentiate your content from what’s out there. When you do a competitive analysis don’t just say, “Well, 9 out of 10 podcasts do this, so let’s also do it.” Instead, say “Well, 9 out of 10 podcasts do this. Would it make sense for our audience and our goals to follow suit? Or would something different be of greater value for all?”

 

We use an ‘approximate’ rule of 20/60/20, whereby the content creation phase sets the benchmark. So, if you spend 2 days researching, writing and publishing an article, that means you owe it 6 days of promotion and then a further 2 days of optimisation down the way.

Promotion comes in the form of social sharing, sharing on groups and communities, paid social and native ads, outreach and engagement. We have an internal 50-point checklist that grows every time we publish (we’re always finding new ways to promote).

Any serious business should have a dedicated budget to promoting content. Facebook and Twitter ads are the staple, but also experiment with less obvious platforms such as Reddit advertising.

Optimisation is a monthly task where we review traffic, engagement and organic rankings using tools such as Google Console, Ahrefs and the like. We’re looking for opportunities to improve time on site, read-rates and increase rankings, but also click-through from organic search.

Content doesn't exist in a bubble and publishing is only the beginning! Click To Tweet

 

Content Marketing is about providing information that is useful for readers. Content must align with the challenges & problems your target audience is facing.

Whereas today brands are focusing more on providing promotional content. If it doesn’t solve a query then it is of no good use to the reader.
Content must align with the challenges & problems your target audience is facing. Click To Tweet
Yes, more content is good but at the same time quality also matters. Today brands are focusing more on quantity rather than the quality. Lead generation is important but brands are pushing more towards it rather than focusing on good content. Focus on the content that educates or entertain your target audience.

 

About a year ago a large online electrical store was launched in Ireland. They saturated the airwaves with ads. You couldn’t listen to a radio show without one of their chirpy fun ads popping up. They’ve invested in AdWords too. They have some serious budget. So, what’s their mistake? When I saw how much money they were putting into their paid marketing I went looking for their content. It’s always nice to use Irish companies as examples in the training I give and in the blog posts I write. But it wasn’t there.

They’re using all the social channels. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube but they’re not creating. Their YouTube looks neglected, yes there are two funny videos that have got some views but everything else looks lacklustre. There’s no blog, no home for content. It surprises me that a large company like this with a budget threw it all at paid exposure and ignored the benefit consistent unpaid content could bring to their business. They are not alone.

Not creating content is one of the biggest mistakes businesses can make when marketing online. Click To Tweet

 

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There is still so much we can learn about content marketing and Contentworks wants to thank our panel of influencers for their valuable insights. Loved this article? Be sure to share it and follow them over on Twitter.