As we all know, creating great content can do wonders for a business, leading to increased brand awareness and customer loyalty. However, it needs to be of a high standard, as poorly written content can sometimes do more harm than good. For this reason, you have to ensure you haven’t made any critical errors in your copy before adding it to your site.
Keep reading as we discuss five common mistakes which we see crop up in content across the web, and how they might be damaging your brand.
1. Not writing for your target audience
The first mistake that is easy to make when creating content is not writing for your audience. Knowing who your target audience is before you start producing content is key because, essentially, it ensures that you won’t waste your time.
If you get your audience right, then you’re bound to see more engagement with your work; if you don’t, your content will probably be ineffective. This also applies to the platform that you choose to promote your content on. Certain platforms are better suited to particular audiences, (something that is often overlooked), so be sure to pick the right one for your readers.
To do this, you might choose to define a buyer persona that represents your audience and their key traits. Having this data will make sure that your content gets in front of the right people.
2. Lack of authenticity
These days, if your content isn’t authentic, readers will certainly see through it. Being authentic simply means being honest and true to your brand. Start by creating your desired tone of voice, then decide on what you stand for and be consistent with your messages.
This way, you’ll build your brand while simultaneously constructing authority and value, which will likely lead to customer retention. This also leads us to our next point…
3. Being overly promotional
Content marketing is all about creating a relationship with your audience (as we’ve discussed in the first two points). You need to obtain their trust, gain credibility and offer them things that they’ll enjoy seeing or reading.
So, it’s essential that you avoid creating overly promotional or pushy content. This style of writing usually just annoys potential customers, quickly breaking that connection you’ve been working so hard to establish.
4. Quantity over quality
This one is pretty straightforward. Something that should always be at the back of your mind when creating content is “quality over quantity”. As we all know, there’s no point creating page after page of text if it’s mostly irrelevant or inauthentic, as this is simply bad for your brand.
5. No CTAs
Finally, it’s always good practice to include a call to action at the end of your content. While your posts shouldn’t be too advertorial (see point 3), it’s okay to include a CTA to let the user know what to do next.
Whether you’re looking to convert engagement into sales or you just want readers to explore more of your blog posts, tell them at the end of your content. Even better, give them a quick link to click on.
So, those are just five mistakes which you should try to avoid in your content. Make these changes, and you’re sure to see an improvement in your results! Uncover more of our posts about all things SEO, e-commerce and content on the It Works Media blog (see what we mean about CTAs?)