At first blush, inbound marketing seems to be as exceptionally simple as it is effective. You just create and promote great content on a regular basis and soon you’ll have a consistent flow of solid leads that turn into closed deals. However, as people new to the strategy soon learn, there are a number of potential problems you can encounter. Knowing what they are and how to avoid them can make the difference between budget well spent and wasted.
Content Marketing Mistakes
- Your content isn’t useful. After viewing a piece of your content, a prospect says, “That was interesting.” You might want to chalk that up as a victory. However, unless that person goes on to make use of that content in some way, you’re really not any closer to making them a customer than you were before they read it. The whole idea with content marketing is that the consumer derives benefit from the material. For example, it might help them make a decision, perform better at work, or get more out of life. If your content doesn’t do that, it’s time to rethink it.
- You’ve slipped back into selling. Old habits die hard. If you have “old school” marketing experience—you know, the spray and pray approach—it’s easy to revert to trying to win new customers by beating them over the head with features and benefits. If you hear yourself (in your content) talking too much about your offerings rather than the reader’s challenges, that’s a red flag.
- You aren’t perceived as a thought leader. If you want people to value your content, you have to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Otherwise, you’re just one of millions of voices crowing about a particular topic and hoping your shouting catches someone’s ear. There’s no quick fix here. The key is to work every day at being better at what you do and sharing what you learn. Over time, your target market will see that you’re committed to your field and can be trusted to provide accurate info.
- You still haven’t embraced mobile. Inbound marketing experts have for years been encouraging the creation of content that can be viewed easily on a smartphone. And it makes sense. Often the time people have to view content is when they are away from their desk—waiting for a meeting to start, grabbing lunch out, commuting on a bus or train, etc. If your content isn’t mobile friendly, you need to modify it.
- You aren’t consistently testing your content. When an organization first dives into content marketing, they tend to test their content religiously. But before long, they start to think they “have a feel” for what will be well received. And while they probably are getting better at anticipating their target market’s reaction, it’s easy to get stung by the piece that fizzled, or worse yet, the piece that created a negative impression for some reason. You must keep testing your content!
Helping You Keep Your Inbound Marketing On Track
As an experienced inbound marketing firm and a certified HubSpot Agency Partner, 30dps can help you avoid costly content marketing mistakes that can throw a campaign into a tailspin and hurt your standing with your prospects. We’ve got teams in Colorado Springs, CO, Springfield, MO, and Olympia, WA, that work with clients all around the U.S. to achieve outstanding results and claim more market share. Let us know if you're ready to learn about other inbound marketing issues we can help you avoid on your way to tremendous success.
