Four content marketing mistakes you need to avoid

There is no questioning the benefit of content marketing. But while attracting and converting customers with valuable, relevant and consistent content can yield a significant return on investment, not everyone gets it right.

To ensure your content marketing is effective, here are four common mistakes you need to avoid:

Mistake 1: Thinking like a marketer, not a publisher

When it comes to content marketing you need to think like a publisher not a marketer. A marketer’s focus is on selling, where a publisher’s focus is on producing interesting content that engages readers and keeps them coming back.

Your content should build your credibility and expertise. It should also showcase your value in such a way that readers see the benefit in working with you, without you having to push for the sale. Sales naturally come when you add value.

Mistake 2: Being inauthentic

When customers and potential customers sense inauthenticity they lose faith and you lose followers. To build credibility in your content marketing you need to be authentic.

To ensure you are being true to yourself and your brand, you need to know:

• What you stand for
• Why you do what you do
• Who you are targeting
• What they want
• Why you are using social media

When you know this, you can then establish your tone of voice, personality and the content that aligns with both you and your target market.

Mistake 3: Unoriginal content

There is nothing worse than reading blog posts, books and resources that are a regurgitation or blatant copy of someone else’s content.

While it is only natural that some content will be similar when you have a similar viewpoint or process to someone else, you can always find a way to make it your own. It could be through using a personal anecdote, a case study of a client, your professional experience or approaching the topic from a different angle.

Mistake 4: Publishing for the sake of publishing

We’re all told about the importance of regular content. In fact, it’s drummed into us so much that it often gets prioritised over quality.

The result? We publish content we know isn’t our best, prescribing to the theory that something is better than nothing. But it’s not.

You can lose credibility and followers if your content isn’t valuable to your readers. Missing a blog because you can’t think of anything to write is far better than publishing something that is irrelevant or of a lower standard.