Using social media and publishing content is a must for most businesses today. The old saying that "Content is King" has a great deal of truth to it. Content drives SEO results, attracts visitors, and communicates your brand and your product, or service, offerings.
Content Marketing Is Not A Random Act of Publishing
But publishing content simply for the sake of putting "stuff" out there can be worse than ineffective - it can be counter-productive. Because much, if not all, of your branding and company image is communicated through your website and social media platforms, What you publish and how you publish it will directly impact your brand image.
While there are numbers of mistakes and oversights that are committed by otherwise well-meaning marketers using social media, here are three major and common mistakes you want to avoid:
1. Having a One-Dimensional Message
A common error, especially among small business owners, is that the only thing to write about is their profession or industry. And while you may be enthralled with the nuances of carpet and upholstery cleaning, your readers will quickly move on if that's all you ever write about.
Any business, any industry, any profession can publish content that touches on a wide variety of topics. They may be related to your product or service, but they can be interesting, engaging, and compelling, too. Remember: the cardinal sin of content marketing is being boring!
2. Majoring in "You" With Too Much Promotion
Content marketing should not be confused with "Just another channel for advertising my stuff!" There is a place for promotion, but it is not and should never be the central focus of your published content. What many business owners forget is that people actually reading or viewing your content will subtly, if indirectly, draw attention to your brand.
So how much promotion is enough?
Using the "80/20 principle" is a good practice. Eighty percent of what you post should be engaging and high-value content. You should only promote your business about twenty percent of the time and usually as a postscript to your main content. The best content will move your readers along your marketing path so that you never have to directly promote yourself in your content.
3. Lacking a Consistent Schedule
Consistency and regularity are essential for fully leveraging the SEO functions of your content marketing efforts. In addition, it is also essential for fully engaging the buy-in and loyalty of your followers. People like consistency. They like predictability. In other words, if you publish every Thursday morning then your readers or viewers will come to expect fresh content every Thursday morning!
A typical mistake many marketers make, however, is inconsistent and random posts, long gaps with nothing being published, and a lack of continuity in the form and format of content being published.
However, a bit of planning and scheduling can ensure that you are consistent in your social media marketing efforts. The key is to have a documented strategy that spells out how and when you’ll use social media for content marketing. This strategy should include a posting schedule for each social media channel you publish on, including your blog.
Good Content Marketing Isn't "Too Much Work"
Another common mistake that many small business owners make when it comes to social media and content marketing is to believe that, in order to do it right, it takes too much work. The truth is that anything worth doing well takes work. And content marketing is worth doing well.
But the work need not be prohibitive or excessive. And it is really an investment of time and effort, not an "expense".
The potential return on investment with an effective social media marketing strategy is so great that most businesses can't afford not to invest in it! And the good news is that, as an owner, you don't have to do it all yourself. Much of what is required for a simple, but effective, content marketing effort can be delegated and/or outsourced.
If you want to learn more about content marketing - or inbound marketing, as it's also called - we would love to sit down with you for a Complimentary Inbound Marketing Session. During this session we will help you to "dig" into your goals and identify what is stopping you from achieving your goals. With that out of the way we'll discuss inbound marketing and what you can do to use it to grow your business.
Call BroadVision Marketing at 707-799-1238 or click the big obnoxious orange button below for your complimentary inbound marketing strategy session…
Jaco Grobbelaar is the owner and CMO of BroadVision Marketing. BroadVision Marketing works with business owners to put in place inbound and outbound marketing strategies that consistently secure new clients. The BroadVision Marketing Training Center is located in Petaluma, CA and primarily serves companies in the San Francisco Bay area.
Jaco can be reached at jaco@broadvisionmarketing.com, 707.766.9778 or connect with Jaco on Facebook -www.facebook.com/broadvisionmarketing - and LinkedIn -www.linkedin.com/in/JacoGrobbelaar.