1. Trying to go full speed from the start
Creating content takes time and effort. Trying to go big in the very beginning without the necessary resources will only overwhelm you. Instead of going pedal to the metal start slow, examine the content and feedback, learn from mistakes and tweak your approach based on what you've learned.
2. No workflow
A big mistake is to think that the work is done when the content is ready. Sure the hard part might be over but what next? Who is going to review the content so that it is on point with the brand image? Who decides on which platforms the content is published? Make sure you establish a workflow before creating content so that you know what to publish, when, and on which platforms.3. Underestimating the amout of work
Creating quality content takes a lot of work. Neglecting this fact and trying to produce content by yourself can result in some costly failures. So make sure you have a professional team around you to whom you can distribute the workload, or if possible consider hiring an expert to create the content.
4. Underestimating the competition
Generally companies compete with other companies from the same market sector, but when it comes to content marketing you are not just competing with that other brand for customers, you are competing with established content creators.
5. Lack of goals
- Publish content
- ?
- Profit!
A crucial mistake is to think that just by publishing something somewhere will result in worldwide publicity and loads of new customers. Before creating and publishing content, it is important to identify the goals and then measure the performance in relation to those goals.
6. Forgetting distribution
Many brands are lacking in distributing their content. They think that promoting their content in social media is all it takes to spread their stories. Strategic distribution of content is what will set businesses apart in content marketing. Optimizing for search engines and mobile, promoting in branded publications, and using influencers from the field are few ways of making sure the content reaches the target market.
7. Mentioning the brand name at every possible turn
This is a sure way to drive away those few loyal followers that you have managed to obtain. If you want your brand to be seen as a trusted source of information, expertise, or entertainment be sure to create meaningful, genuine, and engaging content. Don't fill the content with brand mentions and sales pitches otherwise it will only feel like you are desperately trying to sell your product.
This is a good list. I think that many believe going for social media marketing automatically brings followers/likes/whatever and thus more profit. Many companies just are for example on Facebook: they don't share content or if they do so, it happens quite seldom and the quality of the content lacks effort. There are many ways to do things the wrong way but that's pretty easy to avoid. Checking out lists like this is a good start and doesn't take much time.
VastaaPoistaI also think you got some good points in this list. I believe one of the problems is that "companies" just think "let's start with social media, it's easy". Yes, it is easy to use, but in order to become a great social media marketer you should first make a strategy and learn how to utilize it. But social media has been IT in just a couple of years now, so I think companies will become better on it sooner or later!
VastaaPoistaGood reminder. We have seen many To-Do -list, so it's good to learn about common pitfalls as well before jumping into execution.
VastaaPoistaHere we can also see how important it is to not give up in the beginning (which can mean a long time), as the creating takes time and effort. We usually see very nice contents on the internet, and do not realize how much time and effort it might have taken. We get eager and want to try ourselves, but many gives up quickly as they do not realize how much effort they have to put in the project.
VastaaPoistaThank you for this post! It's good to have a list in mind what you should not do, after you have figured out the first main steps you should do :) related in content marketing you should have patience, I think. You have to start somewhere, and not give up!
VastaaPoista