Content Marketing: 5 Shocking Mistakes Killing your Readership

Are you a keen social media user or content creator? Are you trying to stir interest in your brand? Use our Content Marketing blog to optimise your content.…

Everybody makes mistakes.

But for a beginner, they aren’t always obvious to spot.

If your readership is low, followers are dwindling or your links aren’t getting the clicks they deserve, it can only mean one thing, your content isn’t hitting the mark.

‘But EinsteinMarketer, my content writing’s full of valuable information! Readers should be lapping it up!’

Yeah, we hear you. In fact, we’ve heard it all before.

Grab a comfort blanket, because we’re just about to dump a whole pile of blunt honesty on your unsuspecting head.

Your content writing sucks.

Not the information you’re sharing, not your use of grammar, not your punctuation.

Your content writing. Maybe you’ve got the literary skills of a Hemingway or a King. But that doesn’t matter in the digital world.

You have to gear your content writing for your readers.

Why?

Don’t worry, Einstein has the answers.

1) Content Marketing Mistakes: Weak Headlines

We’re sorry, maybe we jumped the gun on that writing insult. It could be your HEADLINES keeping an audience at arms-length.

Here’s a few that make our skin crawl:

-A Handful of Ways to Write Better Blogs

-All the Stuff I Wish I Knew About Writing Better Blog Posts When I Started out as a Blogger Five Years Ago

-A Blog Post about Blogging

-Attract Blog Readers

What’s wrong with those? Where do you want us to start?

How about the SPECIFICS? Headlines should make a promise, and your content should deliver on it. Just look at the title of this post.

EINSTEIN MOMENT –If you’re posting a list, include a NUMBER in your HEADLINE. Prospective readers love them.

What about the length?

Shorter is sweeter, but don’t sacrifice your content promise. Try to keep headlines to NINE WORDS OR LESS.

Take a look at that list of bad headlines, are any of them attention grabbing?

Thought not. The reason: no EMOTIVE WORDS. We want our readers to feel like they HAVE to consume our content. Threaten them, offer them gains, use social proof examples.

2). Content Marketing Mistakes: Slow Intro’s

Imagine if we’d kicked this blog off with:

Content writing is a type of online writing that is closely linked to web marketing campaigns. A content writer attempts to create engaging content for an online audience. This content can take several forms including articles, blog posts and press releases. In order to be successful, a content writer must avoid a number of common pitfalls. 

Still awake?

Intro’s like this will make your audience disappear FAST. Let’s take a look at why:

-We’re telling the reader things they already know

-It’s bulky and long winded

-It takes three sentences to understand where the post is headed

-Repetition of keywords

-It fails to relate

Remember what we said about writing for the reader? Put yourself in their shoes and accelerate into the heart of your content.

EINSTEIN MOMENT –Use short, punchy, curiosity inducing one liners. Take a look through our BLOG POSTS for more examples.

3) Content Marketing Mistakes: No Loops Opened

Let’s consider soap operas, the actors are average, the production quality is poor and there’s no ending. So why do viewers tune in five times a week?

Soap Opera writers are masters in the dark art of loop opening. Einstein is too. We’ve opened a ton of loops in this content to keep you moving.

We bet you’re wondering where they are. Scroll up the page and see how many QUESTIONS we ask. Look at how many PROMISES we make before fulfilling them.

Humans are curious in nature. When we dangle a question in front of them, they want to have the answer. This is called opening a loop.

Do it. A lot.

It’ll DRIVE READERS into the heart of your content.

4) Content Marketing Mistakes: Clumpy Text

Einstein will DEMONSTRATE a mistake we see all too often:

Long blocks of text are intimidating for readers. Sticking a handful of sentences into one large paragraph acts as a speed bump for readers. It suffocates space and slows momentum. We want readers to consume our content, don’t we? Of course we do, they should read every word we’ve written because it’s valuable. We’re experts in our field after all.

Compare that, to this:

Long blocks of text are intimidating for readers.

Sticking a handful of sentences into one large paragraph acts as a speed bump for readers. It suffocates space and slows momentum.

We want readers to consume our content, don’t we?

Of course we do, they should read every word we’ve written because it’s valuable.

We’re experts in our field after all.

Can you see the difference in pace? Readability? And understanding?

EINSTEIN MOMENT –Paragraphs longer than three sentences encourage readers to skim and ultimately abandon your blog.

5) Content Marketing Mistakes: Poor Endings

Are you closing your content or is it just ending? And, where does your reader go when they’ve reached the bottom of your content?

Imagine you’re on a bus.

The journey has been smooth, the window views were pleasant and the service was spot on. You’re thinking that you might just ride that bus again, but as you’re stepping off at your stop, somebody pushes you out.

You were getting off anyway, but it’s left a bad taste in your mouth. Einstein doubts you’ll want to get on that bus again.

That’s how your readers feel when you don’t tie up the content.

EINSTEIN MOMENT –Offer your readers a link to more helpful content at the bottom of your blog. If they’ve read to the end, they’ll probably want more.

So that’s EinsteinMarketer’s Top 5 Shocking Mistakes Killing your Content.

Remember to position yourself as the reader. Think about the blogs you READ, not SKIM.

ANALYSE the content and ADOPT their techniques.

And if you’re still not satisfied…

…learn more about Content Writing and Content Marketing at our BLOG, or  leave us a comment and maybe we’ll create a post about your biggest hang up.