Mastering content marketing may not prove challenging, but mistakes can be costly. Beginners, in particular, have to keep an eye out and try not to take the wrong step.

To help you better understand the challenges ahead, we’ve highlighted the ten most common mistakes and their corresponding solutions.

Creating duplicate content

Every beginner marketer feels tired from creating content without the desired results. During this phase, it’s easy to succumb to the temptation of creating duplicate content. Even some experienced marketers do this. When they get tired or lazy, they copy an old post to refresh their content.

The solution:

If you have a piece that you want to reuse or that you think people will want to hear about, don’t copy it. Instead, read through it and see which parts can be expanded on. Paraphrasing is a good solution if you want to repeat the piece. This move will help your ranking and attract readers.

Overdoing it with keywords

As you delve deeper into the marketing sphere, you will encounter keywords on a regular basis. Even though they are useful to improve your organic ranking, a misusage of them can have the opposite effect. Many young marketers stuff their text with too many keywords or irrelevant ones.

The solution:

To adjust to writing organic content, you can use this exercise suggested to us by Andrea Griffith, a senior writer at EssayGeeks.co.uk. Before you begin, write down each keyword you want to use. Then, write a paragraph about each one without mentioning it specifically. Once you’re done, insert them instead of pronouns that you’ve used.

Not knowing who your audience is

A marketing campaign is only as good as the goal it’s supposed to reach. Therefore, a marketing campaign with no goal at all is a worthless one. Beginners in the marketing sphere oftentimes try to direct all their content towards everyone. What is an ambitious project often ends up being a spectacular failure.

The solution:

Before creating any content, make sure you know to whom is it directed. Knowledge about your target audience can help you gain loyal and interested readers, not just passers-by. Always craft a plan before you craft a blog piece.

Writing for one overly-specific type of person

Even though writing for literally everyone is unlikely to yield success, the other end of the spectrum is just the same. Focusing on one overly specific type of customer can hinder the progress of your marketing campaign and make your otherwise quality piece boring to others.

The solution:

Ask yourself – to who will I direct this piece? Afterward, think of three professions that are closely related to that which you’re aiming at. Instead of writing for just one line of work, combine it with the three closely-related ones that you’ve written down. As a result, your piece will be enticing and interesting.

Coming off as a salesman

Millennials have recently become the biggest generation in existence. While their parents and grandparents adhered to aggressive sales tactics, they don’t. People nowadays want to feel special and be a part of something, not just a customer that gives money.

The solution:

While you may not aggressively urge people to buy, you can make your services seem indubitably necessary. The tone of your piece should be emphasizing that you can help and that your help is precisely the help they need.

Not enough content

Creating content is never easy, and it only gets harder as time goes by. With that being said, an insufficient amount of content is bad. People want something that will keep them engaged and that they can follow on a regular basis.

The solution:

To bypass writer’s block, always write down your ideas. Be sure to add notes to them and write the entire pieces when you have time. Also, don’t start at a breathtaking pace. Gradually release pieces, and you’ll have enough material for a long period.

Not being willing to learn

A successful marketer always thinks he’s wrong and always strives to add to his existing knowledge. Every single area that you can write about is in a constant state of flux. Beginners usually disregard this and become complacent.

The solution:

For starters, you can read up on current events on a daily basis. Then, you can explore the story behind them and mention them in a future piece. Such a move will make it seem like you’re knowledgeable.

Thinking you can do it on your own

While writing, young marketers let their ego get the best of them. A lot of them deem asking for help as a weakness and refuse to seek advice as a result of their convictions. Little do they know that such an attitude will leave them nowhere expect towards poverty.

The solution:

Assemble a trustworthy and dedicated team. Not your friends, associates or people that you like – actual experts. Empower them and make them feel free and confident to criticize you and your work. Such is the path of success in the marketing sphere.

Not using the right software

Sadly, simply creating good content and promoting it on social media isn’t enough. By not using advanced tools and softwares, you can doom your website. Beginners usually think they can do everything on their own and disregard tools that can help them.

The solution:

First and foremost, complete the course at Google’s Academy for Ads and earn their certificate. Also, master Google Analytics. While it doesn’t take much time to accomplish this, it will aid you greatly.

Not having an editor

When a marketer is only entering the sphere, he or she will be faced with financial problems more often than not. One place where everyone wants to save money is in the editing department. Instead of hiring an editor to review their blog pieces, marketers end up posting terrible pieces.

The solution:

If you’re not in an ideal financial situation, try cutting down costs in other sectors. A writer can never be objective towards his work, no matter how rational he may be.

To conclude

The key to making it big in the marketing sphere lies in thinking broadly. Know who your audience is, build a dedicated team, and your ideas will flourish. Most importantly, don’t be impatient and always try to learn more than the day before.

Jennifer Sanders

Jennifer Sanders is a writer and an editor from London. She loves sport,  to listen to music, and to communicate with different people. Find Jennifer on Twitter and Facebook.

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