9 Things Not to Do in Content Marketing

Not Knowing your Target Audience

The first step before getting serious about Content Marketing is to know who your target audience is. Without it, you won't get too far because your target audience will help you determine the type of content you need to produce.

If you fail to deliver what your audience needs, you'll eventually end up losing a chunk of your audience. And that's the worst thing that can happen for a brand because losing out on people is directly proportional to the money you make.

So, before anything, make sure to keep a close eye on the type of people who consume your content. Once you know the audience you have to target, content marketing will become a whole lot easier.

Focusing Mainly on Conversions

Content Marketing beginners often make the mistake of putting too much of their focus on conversions. They think the users won't recognize their sneaky tricks to get more clicks.

Remember that your intention in Content Marketing is to bombard people with information and not with backlinks & affiliate links. Most users on the internet hate reading promotional articles. Because of that, the people who write promotional articles make an effort not to make their articles look 'too obvious.'

So, if you're writing informational articles, then you have to avoid them.

Give people information, infographics, and statistics.

There is no end to aspects that you can include to make an article more informative.

We know you want to earn money from your website. But doing it using spammy links will only worsen the situation for you. The results you could've achieved in 3 months would end up taking six months.

Think from a user's perspective, and you'll know when you're going overboard.

Not Analyzing Data

You get raw data when people interact with your website. Your job is to convert it into information. After all, information will help you to make decisions that will eventually put you on the path to excellence.

There's a new field related to data that has recently started becoming popular: Big Data. Experts in this field analyze data produced by massive companies. They analyze the database of those companies. The primary purpose behind the process is to help them make decisions for the company.

Data is a direct indicator of how people interact with your product/service.

All the major companies you see that seem to have it all figured out actively analyze data. Because of this process, they're able to make wise decisions that keep them at the top of their league.

Creating Ephemeral Content Only

A significant blunder you can make and not realize about creating evergreen content. We know this point came as a surprise for you.

The truth of the matter is that the news articles you want to publish now may be of little to no value for users on your website later on. The news articles won't stay relevant long after an incident has happened.

Now you may ask about some famous websites that only publish news articles. How do they do it?

The answer is simple.

Their entire website is built on news articles. All they've ever done from the beginning is publish news articles. It's their niche.

But it is different for your website. Your website focuses on the business and the articles you publish related to your products/services. You occasionally publish news articles, and they might do well, but after some time, the traffic drastically falls.

So, we recommend you don't spend time publishing news articles because they give a little return for the effort you put in.

Confusing Content Marketing & Copywriting

There's nothing worse than opening a link to get information but end up seeing the website selling their products/services.

That's the worst experience that a business can give to users. The users will then remember that website for being the worst of all.

But we cannot entirely blame the website because many people are still confused between Copywriting & Content Marketing.

However, we're here to debunk the myth that both of them are the same.

They are different fields wherein Content Marketing focuses on giving information to users without trying to sell a service. On the other hand, Copywriting is more inclined towards making profits by bringing up a brand's name constantly throughout the post.

Another significant difference is that Content Marketing is for long-term results. But Copywriting is short-lived and focuses on making as much profit within a short span.

Both have their benefits.

But mixing the two is not a wise choice. That way, a brand is not floating in either boat and surely won't get any results.

Playing Safe

Most businesses stay in the same position for their entirety because they refuse to get out of their shell. They don't try something different because of the fear of failing.

It has become a need of the hour to try something different, something that other people aren't doing. There is no innovation in the rat race that businesses have started to participate in. Most of the things you'll see in some years will be similar to what you've already seen.

But the truth is, any brand that decides to do something different ends up getting the attention they always wanted. What happens after that? All competitors start following in the footsteps of that brand.

It's sad but true.

Businesses have become so used to doing the same things that they've completely forgotten about innovation.

Time for an interesting fact:

Humans, on average, get about 6200 thoughts in a day. Do you think out of all those thoughts, you can't even get a single idea that can bring a storm in the community?

You can. It is totally achievable.

You just need to get past the fear of failing because fear is what holds most people back.

Forgetting the End Goal

It's surprising, but most businesses don't know their end goal. They don't know what they're in it for. They just blindly follow others.

We don't want you to make that mistake, as decisions can only be taken when you know what you want to achieve.

Do you want more followers? Cool.

Do you want people to know your business exists? Fine.

You don't want to become famous but want to sell services for a niche market? Different.

Do you want a combination of these goals? Amazing.

What's not cool is when you can't answer why you are in the business.

When you don't know the results you get from the business, you'll end up being exhausted with all the hard work because hard work without direction is useless.

So, sit with yourself.

Ask questions to yourself.

That way, you'll know your priorities and start working accordingly.

Being Inconsistent

When you decide that you want to add value to your content, you have to commit to it. It doesn't work when you publish articles once in a blue moon. You have to be consistent.

With consistency, you also have to provide quality. You can't compromise on either of the two. Taking care of both these aspects will surely bring results.

To make the process simple, you can make a calendar. That way, you can start gathering information, write and publish on the dates decided.

However, don't be tough on yourself if you somehow miss a date.

You have to stick to the calendar but remember not to make it a hectic process.

If all you do is publish content when it's due, you may exhaust yourself and compromise on quality.

All we say is balance both aspects.

Being Impatient

You've reached the last point in today's blog. Sure it is the last point, but it must not be taken lightly.

We have to talk about being patient because most people who start Content Marketing expect otherworldly results right from the get-go.

The truth is, results come slowly, and the process cannot be rushed.

The brands that you see at such incredible heights have been in the industry for several years. They've worked for it. So, expecting to match their level from the beginning is nothing but an illusion.

Often, people give up on their idea because they don't receive the results they want. But they don't know how close they could've been to achieving success.

You have to be patient to deal with the cutthroat competition nowadays. Because of that, it takes time for quality brands to rise.

But once they do, it isn't easy to take them down.

Always remember that the results you achieve slowly stay for a long time.

Conclusion

Till now, you might have read articles that list the steps you have to take to be successful in Content Marketing. We decided to take the opposite route and provide our readers with things to avoid in Content Marketing.

A quote from Thomas Edison will sum up the central idea of this blog. Here it goes:

"I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

While writing this blog, this was our intention because when you know what to avoid, you can focus on what matters and avoid any problems.