My Top 3 Content Marketing Mistakes — How To Avoid Them

I’ve been posting content for a little over 3 years.

And I’ve failed a lot:

• couldn’t get followers
• couldn’t build relationships
• couldn’t make any sales

Here are the top 5 content mistakes I’ve made.

Mistake 1: Not Tracking Data

As a content creator, it’s easy to get stuck in “content creation mode.”

In other words...

constantly producing and publishing new content.

Now don’t get me wrong — creating lots of content is important for staying top-of-mind for your audience.

However, if you’re always creating new content (without tracking what’s working), you won’t have the opportunity for your success to compound.

It’ll always be a guessing game.

So if you want to create content that actually converts, set up a file for your best stuff. Make sure you update it often, too.

This will be a great reference to look back to for future content.

Mistake 2: Not Understanding Your Audience

There’s a concept called “talking into the void.”

This is especially relevant for newer creators — they barely have any followers and nobody ever sees their content.

They’re publishing to no-one.

No eyes on their content.

But I’d argue that publishing without understanding your audience is just as bad (or maybe even worse). If you have no idea who your audience is, your content will be random.

And — random content attracts a random audience.

Definitely not something desirable if you’re growing a business.

So if you haven’t done so already...

get to know who your audience is. Understand (1) what they want, (2) what their struggles are, and (3) what their potential objections may be.

This is going to help you create a more targeted content strategy.

Keeping track of any questions you receive will help with this. Not only will this give you a better idea of what they want, but also their exact wording as well (which you can implement into your content to make it more relatable).

Mistake 3: Posting on Too Many Platforms

It seems logical to post on many platforms, right?

The more exposure you have, the better chance you have to be seen. Even better, you have a better chance of your specific target audience finding you online.

However, this “omni-presence” has a major downside.

The more platforms you’re on, the less invested you can be in each one. Especially if you’re a solopreneur (or only a small team), you aren’t able to develop a deep understanding of each platform.

This is the problem I struggled with.

In my earlier days of content creation, I had Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, and later an email newsletter. As a result, I didn’t really understand the platforms well.

Now, I’ve narrowed down my focus — Twitter and my newsletter.

Of course, I still have other accounts (I just don’t post on them anymore).

More platforms may give you more exposure...

but considering the quality of your presence is important too. If you’re doing too much and are unable to create a solid presence on each platform, is this omni-presence even worth it?

In my opinion, probably not.

To recap

1. Create your content based on data (what performs well)
2. Make an effort to understand who you’re talking to
3. Don’t post on every platform if quality is impacted
   

Hope this helps.

Joshua Snitgen the founder & CEO of WordButler — a content management company helping businesses build a more intimate relationship with their audience through email marketing (based on their existing YouTube videos, IG Reels, podcast, etc.)

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