Is your content creation game as strong as you think it is? Perhaps you aren’t getting as much engagement as you’d like? Whatever the case, in this article we’re going to talk about the biggest content creation mistakes and how (if you aren’t careful) they can come back to haunt you and hurt your brand.
1. “Me, me, me!”
If your content is geared towards you, your brand, and why you are so darn amazing, you’re going to bore your readers.
As a rule of thumb, aim for the 80-20 balance:
- 80% entertaining, informational, and engaging.
- 20% promotional.
Remember that the modern consumer only really cares about what you can do for them. So, change that message from “Me, me, me!” to: “You, you, you!”
2. Sharing too much negative content
Most social media feeds are littered with negativity (we’re looking at you Facebook). Rather than contribute to this doom scrolling phenomenon, instead try to share some light and uplifting content for your audience to engage with.
If you are constantly sharing negative content, your audience will invariably associate your brand with negative connotations.
3. Lazy writing and design
Don’t be posting content purely for the sake of it. Every single post that you put out should have a clear purpose – which means getting creative with your writing and the designs that accompany them.
If you consistently put out content that is riddled with grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and lazy punctuation, you’ll put some people off.
Sure, some people won’t notice or care, but those who do will be lost forever.
4. An inconsistent brand voice
Not only do you need to find your brand voice but you need to stick to it as well. Don’t be like James McAvoy in the movie Split; keep to one personality and your audience will have a much easier time connecting and resonating with you.
5. Not repurposing content for different platforms
If you constantly publish the same piece of content on every single platform without the faintest customisation, you’re wasting your time.
It’s lazy and you also miss out on many great opportunities to grow your audience and encourage higher engagement rates.
Here are some examples of how you can turn a single blog post into food for all your socials:
- Share the blog post on Facebook.
- Break the blog posts down into Tweets.
- Screen shot each Tweet and create a carousel for Instagram.
- Break down your blog post writing process for LinkedIn.
- Transcribe the blog post into audio.
- Turn the blog post into a YouTube video or Podcast.
And on and on it goes! There are many ways you can repurpose a piece of content to better fit the platform and in doing so you’ll enjoy much more engagement.
6. Uncredited curation
It’s OK to curate content on social media from time to time – especially on days when you can’t think of anything fresh to say. However, if you share another creator’s content and you do not credit them as the author, it will reflect poorly on you.
Share the love, give credit where credit is due, and only curate content as a filler for when you need a day or two to produce your next piece of original content.
7. An over-abundance of hashtags – #ChillOut
Just because Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags it doesn’t mean you have to include 30 hashtags in every single piece of content you produce.
In order to be effective, do your research and identify the most relevant hashtags and then use them sparingly. For example, if you are doing it right, you should only ever really need to use between 1 and 3 hashtags per post.
8. Failing to understand your audience
If you aren’t already crystal clear on who your target audience is then it’s time to go back to the drawing board and conduct some thorough research.
Failing to understand your audience will result in messaging that does not resonate with them – which means you’ll have a hard time building a following, getting regular engagement, and ultimately converting those clicks into customers.
Build your ideal customer profile and speak directly to them.
9. Half-heartedly supporting causes
The average brand will jump on every single cause possible, changing their profile pictures to rainbows or black squares with very little else in the way of tangible support.
This empty virtue signally is disingenuous and transparent. Instead, if you are going to show your support for a cause that you care about, take action and do something different.
Raise awareness and lead by example – don’t just copy & paste the same regurgitated method every greenwashed company spouts once a year before putting it back on the shelf.
10. Not delegating where necessary
If you are struggling to produce awesome content whilst also trying to manage your business, then it’s time to outsource your requirements to the professionals.
Too many business owners make the mistake of holding onto the marketing reigns for far too long when they would be much more productive with a third-party SEO consultant in Brisbane to help you create high-value content consistently.
Delegate well.
