Every day we talk with business owners who need help with their content marketing. Often, they’ve tried handling their own digital efforts, only to realize that they don’t have the time, or the expertise needed to do it well. After we published a recent article on content marketing best practices, we heard about a business example that closely parallels the points we shared. We’re reproducing that story here so you can see what content marketing mistakes really look like, and how you can get back on track to fix them:
“As a business owner, I thought I had a solid grip on content marketing—turns out, I was wrong. I’ve made plenty of mistakes that wasted time, money, and opportunities. Here’s my story of the biggest content marketing blunders I made, and how I’m working to avoid them going forward.
“As a business owner, I thought I had a solid grip on content marketing—turns out, I was wrong. I’ve made plenty of mistakes that wasted time, money, and opportunities. Here’s my story of the biggest content marketing blunders I made, and how I’m working to avoid them going forward.
1. Lacking Value – I used to create content just for the sake of having something to say because I thought that would make my brand relevant. I’d post generic articles, thinking they’d attract someone. But all I was doing was adding to the white noise. Our content wasn’t reaching anyone meaningful because it lacked focus. And the people it did reach weren’t really being helped because the content wasn’t all that valuable.
Now, I make sure every piece we create has real value for a specific audience. I pick one group—no matter how small—and tailor the message just for them. If we need to speak to different audiences, we do! We routinely create separate content for each of our key audiences around the same topic. Our aim now is to offer something genuinely useful.
2. Hurrying – Like most people, I’m guilty of pushing content out the door to just get it done. I’d write something, give it a quick scan, and hit publish—only to realize later that it was sloppy and didn’t reflect our brand well. Again, it just added to the noise we were trying to avoid.
Now, we’ve slowed down. We take the time to plan our content (what we’ll write about and when we’ll publish it), create it with intention, edit thoroughly, and ask for feedback from the team before publishing it on the blog. We make tweaks based on their suggestions to ensure it’s the best it can be. Our content is the face and voice of our brand, so I’m committed to doing it right—even if that means hiring a content marketing company when I’m stretched too thin.
3. Failing to Focus on Business Goals – Other times I’d create things that I thought were brilliant, but they didn’t fit anywhere in our buyer’s journey. This content wasn’t white noise, but it also wasn’t moving anyone closer to becoming a customer. I was so focused on micro goals like increasing social shares or email click-throughs that I lost sight of our main business goals (like increasing revenue!).
Now, we align every piece of content with the path we want our buyers to take—from prospect to lead to customer to evangelist. If something doesn’t fit, we either rework it or scrap it entirely. (Yes, it can be painful, but it’s also extremely important!) We’ve learned to prioritize organization-wide wins over short-sighted objectives and to not let internal politics arise that could derail our focus.
4. Not Putting in The Work – For a long time, I’d post content on our website and hope search engines would magically bring traffic. But with fewer people using traditional search engines like Google in favor of tools like ChatGPT, that strategy fell flat. I was thinking too small.
Now, we diversify. We post on all our social platforms multiple times throughout the day to boost visibility across time zones. As the business owner I also share content through my own social media accounts to reach my personal and professional network. I’ve also been known to shoot a direct message or an email to someone I think would specifically benefit from the content we’re creating with a personalized invitation to discuss it further with our sales team.
Reflecting on these mistakes has been humbling, but it’s also given me a clearer path forward. If you’re struggling with your content strategy, don’t be afraid to reach out for help—I wish I had sooner!”
LionShark Can Help!
Struggling with your content marketing or digital marketing strategy? Let’s connect! We help businesses like yours attract more leads, improve conversion rates, and increase customer satisfaction. Whether you’re unsure where to start or want your content to deliver better results, we can help! Reach out now to start a conversation.
Now, I make sure every piece we create has real value for a specific audience. I pick one group—no matter how small—and tailor the message just for them. If we need to speak to different audiences, we do! We routinely create separate content for each of our key audiences around the same topic. Our aim now is to offer something genuinely useful.
2. Hurrying – Like most people, I’m guilty of pushing content out the door to just get it done. I’d write something, give it a quick scan, and hit publish—only to realize later that it was sloppy and didn’t reflect our brand well. Again, it just added to the noise we were trying to avoid.
Now, we’ve slowed down. We take the time to plan our content (what we’ll write about and when we’ll publish it), create it with intention, edit thoroughly, and ask for feedback from the team before publishing it on the blog. We make tweaks based on their suggestions to ensure it’s the best it can be. Our content is the face and voice of our brand, so I’m committed to doing it right—even if that means hiring a content marketing company when I’m stretched too thin.
3. Failing to Focus on Business Goals – Other times I’d create things that I thought were brilliant, but they didn’t fit anywhere in our buyer’s journey. This content wasn’t white noise, but it also wasn’t moving anyone closer to becoming a customer. I was so focused on micro goals like increasing social shares or email click-throughs that I lost sight of our main business goals (like increasing revenue!).
Now, we align every piece of content with the path we want our buyers to take—from prospect to lead to customer to evangelist. If something doesn’t fit, we either rework it or scrap it entirely. (Yes, it can be painful, but it’s also extremely important!) We’ve learned to prioritize organization-wide wins over short-sighted objectives and to not let internal politics arise that could derail our focus.
4. Not Putting in The Work – For a long time, I’d post content on our website and hope search engines would magically bring traffic. But with fewer people using traditional search engines like Google in favor of tools like ChatGPT, that strategy fell flat. I was thinking too small.
Now, we diversify. We post on all our social platforms multiple times throughout the day to boost visibility across time zones. As the business owner I also share content through my own social media accounts to reach my personal and professional network. I’ve also been known to shoot a direct message or an email to someone I think would specifically benefit from the content we’re creating with a personalized invitation to discuss it further with our sales team.
Reflecting on these mistakes has been humbling, but it’s also given me a clearer path forward. If you’re struggling with your content strategy, don’t be afraid to reach out for help—I wish I had sooner!”
LionShark Can Help!
Struggling with your content marketing or digital marketing strategy? Let’s connect! We help businesses like yours attract more leads, improve conversion rates, and increase customer satisfaction. Whether you’re unsure where to start or want your content to deliver better results, we can help! Reach out now to start a conversation.
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