How to make sure your content marketing doesn’t suck. A Field Guide, Part Two
Unlocking the essence of your brand through your content will bring rewards, but you need to avoid a few traps.
You’ve worked hard to ensure your content reflects the character of your brand. In an effort to continue ‘sharpening your content sword’, try to avoid these howlers by giving proper attention to the needs of your audience.
- Incorrect information
Nothing will knife your content more than false information – especially fake news. So, beyond proofreading for spelling and grammar errors, check the veracity of every claim in an article before publishing it.
Having your content fact-checked is a must to build credibility. Credibility builds trust, and trust drives revenue
- Obsessing about length (ahem)
There’s loads of discussions on the merits of 500 versus 2,000 word posts. Both arguments promise an ideal length that offers a way of keeping readers engaged with your content. But that’s not the point. Your content – whether a 10 second or 10 minute read – should always be purposeful and in a succinct way that respects your reader’s time
- Irrelevance
Poor content is irrelevant and doesn’t add value. It doesn’t answer a question, solve a pain point and it doesn’t entertain. The point here is audience. We need to continuously challenge our assumptions, with analytics and yes, intuition
- Negativity
Don’t focus on attacking others in the market. Trying to put the competition down and creating conflict is not cool. Remember, a rising tide lifts all boats
- Fluff is not fun
Unnecessarily padding content by adding irrelevant words simply to make the desired word count to satisfy Google comes at the cost of poor audience experience
- Ticking the boxes
Being generic won’t help you. “We blog three times a week because it’s great for SEO.” Unless you have something to say, you’ll end up with sterile, recycled blog pieces that don’t represent the essence of your brand
Avoid these traps and liberate the real story of your brand. If you need support, tap www.richardmarkwebb.com or hit the WhatsApp button or contact him at richard@richardmarkwebb.com or find him on social