Content Marketing Errors: What You’re Probably Doing Wrong

Content is still king. It’s what every business needs to effectively:

• Promote their products and services.
• Earn the trust of the modern consumer.
• Develop relationships with an audience.

• Improve conversions.  

That’s why content marketing remains so important.

Unfortunately, many businesses get it wrong or struggle to make it work, which means it’s important to work with professionals who offer SEO services in Miami. They can help you grow your business.

Curious why it’s so hard to get content marketing right? Learn about the biggest mistakes you need to avoid.

Common Content Marketing Mistakes You Need to Avoid

1. Writing Weak Headlines

More than 4 million blog posts are published daily across all platforms. Living in an era of information overload, people no longer have the time or energy to look through everything they see online.  

If you want to grab your target audience’s attention and convince them to read your content, you need to use impactful headlines.

Great headlines are:

• Eye-catching.

• Easy to read.
• Written in active voice.
• Concise.
• Geared to the needs and interests of your audience.

If your headlines don't pique the interest of your target customers, they won't bother checking out your content.  

Cosmopolitan does a great job of writing short and snappy headlines that speak to the needs and interests of its readers. Here are some examples:

• Killer Cocktail: How a Popular Drink Could Kill You in Your Sleep
• Meow!: Why Acting Just Like a Cat Will Get People to Come To You
• An Orgasm Almost Killed Her: We Are Not Kidding

See what we mean?

Writing poor headlines is the first content marketing mistake you should try to avoid at all costs.  

If your headlines aren’t engaging, people are unlikely to read the content you spent so much time working on.

Guilty of writing less impactful headlines? Here’s how to fix that:

• Write down headlines that catch your attention and compel you to read them. You need to read good headlines before you can write them.
• Use power words in your headlines. These trigger an emotional or psychological reaction that can make buyers more interested in a product or service.

• Practice writing headlines every day. Over time, you’ll develop a writing habit and be able to create catchy headlines fast.

2. Not Using Data to Your Advantage

There are many companies out there that build their content calendar through brainstorming. They list blog topic ideas, add them to their calendar, start publishing content, and see what works.  

However, in today’s highly competitive market, you can’t wait around and see what sticks. If you want to be successful, you need data to create content that is proven to cut through the noise and resonate with your audience.  

Instead of gathering your team and having them write down blog topic ideas, here’s what you need to do to craft data-driven content your target audience will respond to:

• Analyze existing content and see which blog articles are driving the most ROI for your business.  
• Examine your competitors’ content to see which of their articles are generating the most response from their audience.  
• Evaluate the qualities of these top-performing blog posts, such as length, content type, and the number of backlinks, to see what it would take to craft content that is both compelling to your ideal customers and guaranteed to outrank your competitors in the search results.  
• Apply these best practices to your content and write more about the topics that your audience loves.  
• Go to online communities like Quora and Reddit to discover which topics people are talking about in your industry.  

Data is power, so make sure to use it to your advantage.

3. Not Writing Content for Every Stage of the Buyer’s Journey

When a person wants to buy something, they go through a process called the buyer’s journey. This means they do research before making a purchasing decision.

Presenting content targeted at different stages of the buyer’s journey is crucial.

For example, when you meet your audience, they're likely searching for answers. By providing them with the information they need to make the best decision, you can push them closer to becoming a customer.  

The buyer’s journey can be summarized into three stages:

• Awareness stage – This is when consumers realize they have a problem that needs to be addressed.  
• Consideration stage – This is when consumers are exploring all their options and are looking for the best solution to their problems.  
• Decision – This is when consumers make their final purchase decision to address their problem.  

Before creating content, you need to first identify which stage of the purchase process you are targeting.

This will make it easier for you to identify the goal you need to achieve and how you should approach a certain topic.

If you're making content for the awareness stage, create blog posts or articles that aim to provide your audience with more information about their pain points and problems.

Your goal at this stage is to attract leads.  

For example, a prospect wanted to gain more muscles to look more lean and shredded. So, she typed in “bulking for women” and tried to look for answers online.  

Assuming you’re selling whey protein powders, your job is to provide your ideal customer information about the benefits of bulking and how they boost one’s physique.  

Once they’ve ready your article, the goal is to get them to think, “Wow, this is interesting! I’d like to read more articles by this company to see how I can build more muscles and look lean.”

This establishes a relationship, bringing someone into your marketing/sales funnel.

The next time you write an article or plan for content, identify which stage of the buyer's journey you're making content for.  

4. Not Promoting Your Content on Social Media

There’s no point in writing a compelling headline and having great content if it won’t reach its intended audience. This is why you need to promote your blog posts on social media.  

Aside from the fact that this helps drive traffic to your website, sharing your content on social media also increases its chance to go viral. If you want to build brand awareness and extend your reach, this is one of the most effective ways to do so.  

Social media channels, such as Facebook and Instagram, also provide analytics you can use to gain valuable insights about your target audience.  

If you’re not sharing your content on social media, it’s never too late to do so. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Share your article on your Facebook business page.  
• Answer a relevant question in Quora and share the link to your post.

• Share your post links on Quora and in other relevant online communities.  
• Share your content in relevant social media groups or communities you’re actively participating in.  
• Include a link to your post in your newsletters.  

These tips can help you promote your content and put it in front of a wider audience.  

5. Not Optimizing for SEO

SEO is crucial to your content’s success. It’s what your articles, videos, and infographics need to make sure they reach your intended audience and generate leads.  

If you want your target audience to know you exist, then you need to increase the visibility of your content.  

By optimizing your website and its content for SEO, you can rank higher on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and get more customers for your business. This is essential because:

• Few people go past the first page of a SERP.
• 54% of all clicks go to the top three spots on the search results.

• Search engines drive 10x more traffic to your pages than other digital marketing channels.

This is why it’s crucial that you seek help from professionals who are experts in SEO services in Miami. With their help, you can ensure that your content marketing gets positive results.

If you’re not following the best SEO practices for your content, here’s what you need to do:

• Use your main keyword within the first 100 words of your content.  
• Include your keyword into your meta descriptions naturally.  

• Keep your title tag short but informational enough for users.  
• Decrease the loading speed of your website. Make sure it loads within three seconds or less.  
• Optimize your images for SEO. When writing descriptions for your images, include your keywords naturally.  
• Link out to other relevant content within your website.
• Build backlinks with reputable sites.  

• Track your SEO results through your website’s analytics.  

Are You Making These Content Marketing Mistakes?

If you’re not optimizing your content for SEO, not promoting it on social media, not considering the buyer’s journey when thinking about blog post ideas, not using data, and writing poor headlines, you’re going to find it nearly impossible to get your target audience’s attention.

By implementing what we shared with you in this article, you can greatly improve your visibility and conversion rate with content marketing.

If you are looking for a company that offers excellent SEO services in Miami, Digital Resource can help you create a custom content strategy that will not only put you ahead of your competitors but also achieve both your marketing and business goals.  

Fill out this form to get started!

‍