Over the past months (and well: whole years!), we’ve been witnessing many content creation mistakes along the way. Don’t tell anyone – some of them we’ve even made ourselves.
Content marketing is considered the most effective form of e-marketing (and one of the most in-demand skills at the same time!), but there are many things that can go wrong. No matter how hard you try, sometimes you end up committing a faux pas.
We don’t want to point fingers, of course — rather discuss what you can avoid. How to nail content creation and how to be sure that you don’t have to worry about harmful tactics and mishaps?
Starting today, we want you to give up on all those things that don’t really serve your account – and then embrace the change in your stats. Ready? Here we go, let’s dive in! Keep an eye out for these most common content creation malpractices:
Ignoring the purpose of the profile
What are the ultimate goals of your profile? What is your strategy based on? You don’t want to lose sight of that and post plenty of irrelevant things that are too personal or too random. It’s the easiest way to lose your target audience. Keep your purpose in mind.
Nothing repels readers more quickly than a chaotic profile with a BIO that tells them nothing about your mission or what they can expect from you.
Quantity over quality
A little bit of controversial truth, but you have to believe us: you don’t need to post on your feed every day. You don’t need to put as much content as possible: many times, that’s not a strategic plan. You don’t want to overwhelm your followers, right?
We hope that you’re no longer feeling the high pressure to post THAT often from now on.
Creating too many irrelevant posts just for the sake of “everyday uploading” can make you stuck in the wrong place (let alone the burnout you may face soon).
When you’re in a rush to create ANYTHING, you end up creating mediocre posts. It’s not enough to upload a random photo with a one-sentence caption. Experiment with different forms – it’s better to spend more time polishing something exciting than to create 20 posts that won’t attract anybody new.
Not making the content searchable
We get it – you’re looking for new topics to write about ALL THE TIME. But hey, don’t forget about the existing posts!
There’s a long list of tools that can help you rank your content higher in the Instagram search engine – and, what is even more crucial, they can help you get found by the RIGHT PEOPLE.
The easiest way to show off your posts is by using strategic hashtags – the ones that are related to your niche. How to find them? Research them! This can be challenging at times, so make life easier for yourself and use intuitive tools that will do it for you – we recommend IQ Hashtags, as it’s the most innovative one out there.
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of doing things the same way – don’t do it with hashtags. Test new ones, check out how they work, and monitor your reach and impressions. IQ Hashtags will give you plenty of good hashtags – let them work in your favor!
Ignoring storytelling
Your main priority is to deliver engaging posts with relevant information, but you have to wrap it up nicely! Many creators forget about friendly forms and a funny approach that can make your followers come back to your profile, craving for more. Catch their attention!
Introduce yourself, don’t be afraid to show your charisma and your personality – you can master telling little stories and helping your followers simultaneously. Content without any personal details and self-references sounds artificial and may be seen as untrustworthy.
Share your victories, personal opinions, mistakes, jokes. It will make your content more unique and engaging. Combining education and a funny-friendly approach in style will also make your posts sink in much better.
Ignoring the data from analytics
To be a content creator means so much more than just posting stuff online. You should know the performance of your activities, so try to measure and monitor it. That’s the only way to grow – actually, it’s the starting point.
Creating content is only half of the success. The other half? Understanding what works and what doesn’t and knowing the numbers standing behind your everyday decisions.
Most of you admit that looking at the stats is overwhelming and tedious – but hey, it gets you closer to doing more exciting things! Plus, we’re sure that once you see HUGE numbers, you change your mind.
If your content is performing relatively poorly, perhaps it’s time to get to the roots of the issue: scanning insights from your statistics is the primary step.
Ignoring the audience
Your audience is the foundation of your business / your community. That’s why it’s essential to take care of their needs. Ask them what they’d like to see. What problems they’re facing. Many creators neglect this part – they don’t realize what people want from them, so they’re doing the total opposite.
Never underestimate the power of understanding who you’re creating for. You need to prepare posts that will resonate with people who follow you – otherwise, you’ll find yourself writing captions that nobody reads and nobody shares. That’s more than frustrating.
Know your target audience – and connect with them. They have questions, issues, doubts, and they’re facing multiple challenges. By getting to know them, you can get closer to being the creator they trust because they’ll see you’re able to solve their problems.
Engage with your people – then you can strategize your posts and improve your topics!
We all make mistakes sometimes – but avoiding those gaffes can take your content creation efforts to the next level. Stick to those hints, and you’ll eliminate 85% of your Instagram troubles. Life will get easier. Sort of.
PS: if you need help tracking your growth or creating a working content marketing strategy — we’re always here to help!