About 82% of marketers now actively invest in content marketing. About 40% follow a documented marketing strategy. In fact, 64% of the most successful marketers have a documented strategy in place.
Nearly 70% say content marketing generates demand and leads.
If you’re making these mistakes in content marketing campaigns, however, you won’t appeal to consumers. Instead, update your campaigns using these tips. Applying these tips will boost your ROI.
Read on to learn more.
1. Never Establishing Goals
Before you begin marketing businesses online using unique content, establish your goals. SMART content marketing goals will give the direction of your campaign. It can also help you recognize when your content isn’t benefiting your business.
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. The “Measurable” component will help you choose a key performance indicator (KPI). Setting a KPI will help you track your progress as you work to accomplish your goals.
Your content marketing goals might involve:
- Gaining email subscribers
- Generating website traffic
- Improving search engine rankings
- Gaining social media followers
- Boosting leads and sales
- Improving your ROI
- Generating brand awareness/recognition
- Gaining credibility
For each goal you want to complete, consider how you’ll work toward success. For example, maybe you want to improve your organic search engine rankings. Use fresh blog content and search engine optimization (SEO) to achieve success.
Outlining multiple SMART goals can help you make smarter improvements to your content marketing strategy.
As you begin using these tips, make sure to track your campaigns. Determine which tactics are helping you meet your KPIs. For example, you might track website visitors, email subscribers, leads, or sales.
Break each large SMART goal into small, easy-to-achieve chunks. Set a deadline for accomplishing each smaller goal. If you’re not meeting specific benchmarks by your deadlines, it’s time to adjust your campaigns again.
If you don’t set SMART goals and KPIs, you could waste valuable time, money, and energy on ineffective campaigns.
2. Prioritizing Quantity
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is prioritizing quantity over quality when creating content.
High-quality blog posts will help demonstrate your experience within your niche. With multiple posts, you can position yourself as an industry thought leader. Becoming a thought leader can help you gain credibility and brand trust.
Once customers begin to trust and rely on your expertise, they’ll begin shopping from your business. If they can’t trust you, they’ll turn to your competitors instead.
Prioritize quality over quantity by adding content marketing campaign elements like EEAT to your content. EEAT stands for experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Show consumers why they should trust your brand.
Try adding external links that refer to other blog posts, data, or studies within your own content. External links will support any claims you make within a post.
Add author bios to your posts as well. Highlight your experience within your niche to demonstrate your credibility.
Update your business website content to ensure the information is current and accurate. You may need to update external links over time to avoid sharing outdated information. If the information is outdated or irrelevant, consumers might not trust your brand.
3. Not Researching Readers
Before marketing businesses online, it’s important for content creators to research their target audiences. Customer research will help you create personalized content. Personalizing each post you create will help you connect with customers.
When gathering research, consider:
- Pain points
- Online behaviors
- Buying behaviors
- Interests
- Hobbies
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Marital status
- Career
- Education
- Salary
If necessary, create smaller buyer personas. Think of each persona as a real person. What information would they hope to find from your blog?
Gather keyword research to determine what content these consumers already look for while online.
4. Neglecting SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) can help more people find your original content through search engines. Once you gather your keyword research, optimize the post for a unique keyword. The primary keyword should appear in the:
- URL
- Page title
- Opening and closing paragraphs
- Body text
- Image file name and alt text
- SEO title and meta description
The SEO title and meta description will appear when consumers search for content using search engines like Google. If your post is relevant, they can click on the link to visit your website. Make sure the title and description are compelling enough to generate clicks.
5. Never Diversifying Content
Diversify your content with different post formats. For example:
- Articles
- eBooks
- Polls
- Quizzes
- Infographics
- Webinars
- Videos
Diversifying your content will help you appeal to readers who need different types of information.
6. Not Using a Calendar
Use a content marketing calendar to remain organized. Your calendar will determine when to post content and where to share it online.
Creating a calendar can help you recognize gaps in your business website content.
If you’re not posting often enough, you could miss opportunities to reach readers online.
7. Neglecting Promotion
Once you begin applying these content marketing campaign elements, share your work! Determine where you’ll share posts based on the platforms your readers already use.
For example, you can use a lead magnet on your website to attract email subscribers. Share your content in a weekly email newsletter.
You can also share content on social media or other online forums.
8. Not Outsourcing
Make sure your content is a component of your entire digital marketing strategy. A cohesive experience can help you better engage customers. If you’re struggling, consider outsourcing this year.
Working with an experienced digital marketing agency can save you time and money. It can also help you avoid these content marketing mistakes. You can find a full service marketing agency here to learn more.
Avoid These Mistakes in Content Marketing Campaigns
These mistakes with content marketing campaigns could cost you leads and customers. Take the time to update your content marketing strategy this year. Learning to avoid these mistakes could boost your ROI and help your business grow.
Improve your digital marketing strategy with these tips today.
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