I’ve been out here in the content creation, publishing, and management world since the beginning of social media…maybe a before it was called social media.

It is exciting to see so many businesses and brands coming on-board to using content marketing.  Unfortunately, there are still some common mistakes I see marketers and business owners making that really is hurting their social media efforts.

Granted, creating and publishing content can be time-consuming which means it also is very costly.  This makes it imperative you publish content as effectively as possible.

I have come up with a list of common Content Marketing mistakes to avoid and the steps you can take to actively avoid them.

1.    Too Much Self Promotion.

Unfortunately, there are still many business owners who think business blogging means all of their content to be exclusively about their products and services.  Can’t blame them when you consider the cost of many of the social media creation and management plans. 

While self-promotion can certainly be one part of your digital marketing strategy, it’s certainly not what’s going to build connections and trust with your audience.

Instead, you should be focused on providing valuable information that solves problems and addresses key issues in your industry. It should be related to your business and products, however, it also needs to be engaging, interesting to read and it should meet the needs of your readers.

2.    Being Inconsistent With Frequency of Posts.

If you are managing your own content creation, it can be difficult to find the time to consistently be active on social media and to write blog posts and newsletters. The problem with being inconsistent convey a message to your customers that you just don’t care enough to be consistent.  You know that is not true, but your viewers do not.

For this reason, I suggest you create a content calendar.  This should take the pressure off you on when you should be doing something with the content creation.

3.   Interact with Reader.

Social media and blogging aren’t about you simply pushing a marketing message at your fans and readers.

Your job isn’t done once your content is ‘out there’; now it’s time to interact with your readers and social media followers. Be sure to respond to comments on your blog, ‘like’ comments and reply to mentions on Twitter.

Providing valuable content is a great first step, but it’s only the beginning of the dialogue.  Interacting with people produces more readers and more interaction.

4.    Content Does Not Achieve Your Business Goals.

Most business people starting posting content before they have developed a digital marketing strategy.  Content creation isn’t simply about providing valuable content. Yes, that’s a key piece of the marketing puzzle. However, to what end?

Your content should be a vehicle for forming relationships and building trust with your readers. Quality content that is easy to consume what will readers coming back to your site, and what will keep them engaged with you on social media.

And ultimately, it will be what convinces them to buy from you, rather than from the guy down the street who they have no previous relationship with.

5.     Not Using Video Makes it Harder for Readers to Consume Your Message

Over 80% of businesses today either do not use videos or are using videos incorrectly to deliver their message to their consumers.   Every day there are more and more reports being published confirming consumer’s interest in video content.  Videos are the fastest ways to get consumers to buy. 

Studies are even showing that even if after a business has a quality video produced showing their product or service and it did not produce sales it was not the video but the product is the reason for no sale, not the video.  

6.    Not Giving Your Readers What They Want and Need.

Even with the best of intentions, it’s possible that you’re not giving your readers what they want and need. While there may be issues and topics that you feel are important, does your community agree?

There are a number of ways you can find out what your website visitors and social media followers want:

• Send out a survey
• Ask for feedback in a blog post
• Look at your website and social media analytics to see what type of content has been popular in the past
• Monitor conversations on social media
• Check out what your competitors are doing
• Test different types of content

Video-centric marketing is arguably the best way to form long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with potential customers and clients. However, keep in mind that it also requires careful planning, adequate budget, a commitment to being consistent, and the willingness to get to know what your community really wants.

These are the mistakes business people make the most.  Hope it helps you to avoid them. 

Let me know how I can help.