In today’s digital age, it isn’t easy to get noticed. When you look at statistics on how much content is being created, it is quite astonishing. According to a report by DOMO (image below), over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every single day, and it’s only going to grow from there.

There’s no question content is an important part of any digital marketing strategy. But how do you make your content really work for you? Be wary of the common pitfalls that can undermine your content marketing strategy. Read on to find out what those pitfalls are and how to avoid them when creating content.

1. Writing for Google
(rather than your audience)

One of the most important things not to forget is who you are creating the content for – your target audience.

Yes, you want your audience to be able to find your content when searching online. A keyword strategy that is well thought-out will help to achieve this. Focusing too heavily on a keyword strategy can risk the quality of your content and true purpose of what you’re producing.

Keyword stuffing is something many try to incorporate into their strategy to try and “beat” the search engines. Not only will this create a poor reading experience, Google’s algorithms are becoming increasingly more intelligent and can detect such tactics being used.

Here is an example of keyword stuffing:

Are you looking for a good credit card? If you’re looking for a good credit card, you’re in the right place. Our good credit card website is the best website to research all the good credit cards available out there. Once you are on our website go to the credit card section to choose one of the many good credit card options.

For your content marketing to work, you are not writing it for the search engines. It is a very common mistake, but if you do your research you will notice that honest content ranks higher. Those that have content that relates to their customers gains their trust and a true following.

2. Putting quantity over quality

How much content do I need on my webpage to rank on the search engines? It is true that the more content you have on your site, the better. However, it’s quality content that will make the biggest difference, not the quantity.

This is where many businesses looking to implement content marketing strategies fail. They make the mistake of focusing on quantity rather than the quality of their content creation.

Content that is well thought out, targeted and engaging will increase the likelihood of it being read and even referenced or shared by others. Take the time to focus on the quality of the messaging. By doing this you are putting the customer first and in the long-run you will see better results by providing value to your audience.

3. Forgetting to ask for an action

As part of your content strategy, content creation should serve a clear purpose. Ultimately, you want your content to inspire your readers to take some sort of action if they’ve found the content of value.

Calls-to-action are an important part of any content and should not be forgotten. It can be as simple as encouraging your readers to comment or share with their friends. It can also encourage them to take further actions like follow your brand or sign up for your newsletter.

You want these calls-to-action to be easily identifiable so it’s clear to the reader what you’re wanting them to do. Here are some examples:

“Join our Community”

“Earn Rewards”

“Learn More”

4. Not diversifying your content strategy

Everyone consumes content in different ways. While you want to create consistency with your content strategy, you can achieve this by using varying mediums of content.

It’s important to diversify content to keep different audiences engaged. You can still build out your site’s blog by leveraging a variety of different content types. Here are a few to choose from:

• “How-To” Guides
• Case Studies
• Whitepapers
• Podcasts
• Opinion pieces
• Videos

DOMO’s report highlights the amount of content that is consumed and also how people are consuming it. For example, 4,500,000 YouTube videos are watched and there are 4,497,420 searches on Google taking place each minute!

Across these varying content mediums, it’s clear that people consume information in different ways. Applying this to your content strategy will ensure you are able to reach and connect with all potential audiences.

Conclusion

Content marketing, when done correctly, can prove to be a powerful tool for building awareness and creating brand engagement.

It’s important to remember that your content must add value to your audience. While incorporating a keyword strategy into your content creation approach is important, what’s more important is the insights you’re sharing.

Choose quality over quantity, and in doing so, make sure to incorporate a range of mediums, like articles, case studies and videos.

If you are looking to take advantage of your content strategy and monetize your site, we welcome you to sign up to the Fintel Connect Network to get started.