There is something to be said about understanding exactly what content marketing is before trying to determine what the biggest mistakes are that you should avoid. According to the Content Marketing Institute, it is a technique within marketing aimed at distributing content you have created that is relevant and targets a specific audience with the intent of eliciting a customer action that is profitable.
While that is a paraphrased rendition of their definition, the main point is made. It is content that is actionable with the intent of conversion, plain and simple. However, herein lies the confusion when it comes to avoiding those four biggest mistakes.
1. Lack of Balance
This is perhaps the most common of the Big 4! So many marketers focus on articles and blogs that they lack balance among the various types of media included in what is considered as ‘content.’ While the other forms of content should generally be used to a lesser degree, they should be utilized, nonetheless. These include:
- Videos
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- eBooks
- Photos/graphics
Each of these types of media are content marketing tools which should be used because they can elicit customer response, customer action. If they are created as marketing tools, then each should be engaging enough to interest the targeted audience.
2. Plagiarism – Insufficient Citations
As a perfect example of how to avoid this issue, consider the opening paragraphs above. We clearly stated that the definition of content marketing was paraphrased from the Content Marketing Institute and although we didn’t link to that organization, they were given credit. If the group defining content marketing hadn’t been referenced, a citation link should have been included. As a content creator, it is vital that you avoid plagiarism at all costs. There are plagiarism checkers online, so if you are interested in avoiding this mistake, you could try this free one.
3. Extremes in SEO
This is another huge mistake to avoid. Search Engine Optimization, SEO, should also be balanced. Unfortunately, it can become either the entire focus of a marketing strategy or is literally nonexistent. Yes, competitive keywords should be analyzed to target a specific audience, but it cannot be the entire thrust of strategy. Other elements such as well-written content that engages the reader should be just as important. Altogether too many times a content marketer includes almost every keyword mined which leads to both poor copy and a lack of interest (engagement) on the part of the reader. There are effective ways of using SEO without cramming every keyword into a 500-word article, for example.
4. Form Over Function
Most of your audience isn’t there to do the research for a master’s degree thesis paper. They are there for information or answers they need and are unlikely to stick around for a highly academic piece of content. When form takes precedence over function, you are likely to lose the reader in the opening paragraph. While the grammatical rules within form are important, the primary aim of your content should be the function of holding their attention long enough to elicit an action. Whether it is clicking through to a landing page or getting them to hit the “Buy Now” button, it’s the function of your content. Form should take a backseat to function to some extent.
There are other big mistakes to avoid within content marketing, but these are the Big 4. Unless you are simply blogging for the fun of it and have no desire to do anything other than talk about things that interest you, it is imperative to avoid making mistakes that could disrupt your entire content marketing campaign.