Useful tips and steps to avoid Content marketing mistakes.

1. C O N T E N T
M A R K E T I N G -
L E A R N T H E
B E S T W A Y
P I N K L E M O N A D E . I N
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Table Of Contents
Topic I - Content Marketing: Step by step Approach
(a) Define Content Marketing
(b) Understand Why it matters
(c) Assemble the right team
(d) Arm yourself with right tools
(e) Create and publish content
(f) Distribute your content
(g) Analyse, Analyse, Analyse
Topic II - Avoid These 11 Mistakes (the Don'ts)
(a) Not doing your ground work
(b) Not having a clear take away
(c) Not Having Call to action
(d) Choosing Quantity over Quality
(e) Not Optimizing your content
(f) Writing long paragraphs
(g) No Internal or External Links
(h) Not using relevant images
(i) Overly Promotional Content
(j) Distributing Content haphazardly
(k) Ignoring Content Metrics

3. Content Marketing -
Step by Step
Approach
01
is a lot like George Orwell’s 1984.
Most claim to know it but in reality, they’ve only
glanced at the cover. More often than not, the
term content marketing has been used flippantly
with little to no knowledge of what it actually is.
Before we get down to the nitty gritties of what
content marketing can do for your business, let’s
break down this seemingly simple concept – step-
by-step.
Step #1: Define Content Marketing -
The definition of content marketing goes beyond
‘marketing content’. In fact, it doesn’t have just
one definition! The simplest one is this – content
marketing is a dedicated marketing program that
includes creating, publishing, and distributing
content to create an online presence.
Content Marketing

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Step #2: Understand Why It Matters -
The goal of content marketing is also simple – to
get attention, and more importantly, to retain it!
Many organizations today use marketing programs
like PPC or list purchasing to find their target
audience in minutes. A method like PPC is simple –
all you have to do is post your ads on Google and
pay every time a user clicks on it. Admittedly, such
methods offer quick results but they’re not the
most economical, scalable, or effective route.
As long as you’re funneling money into purchasing
more lists or investing in PPC, everything seems
fine. But once the money stops, so do the results.
Where methods like these fail, content marketing
triumphs.
Let’s say you’ve written a blog about your service
with a helpful link. Considering a minimal 2% rate
of visitor-to-lead conversion, you would find two
promising leads every 100 views. But unlike PPC or
list purchasing, you don’t have to keep writing the
same blog repeatedly. This single blog post will
continue to generate leads again, and again, and
again.
is like the gift that keeps on
giving, making it economically viable and
strategically smart!
Content Marketing

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Step #3: Assemble the Right Team -
Even with the most basic strategy in place, content
marketing needs manpower. The size of your
content team depends on many factors such as the
size of your organization and budget. So how do
you create a plan based on the size of your team?
Here’s how:
Team of 1 (Startups)
If you’re a solo entrepreneur or running a startup,
your marketing team most likely comprises a single
person – you. Your responsibilities include
creating content, managing social media platforms,
and optimizing SEO. Focus most of your time on
creating content – be it blogs, long-form, video
etc. When you gain traction with your content,
shift your attention to SEO and social media.
Team of 3 (SMEs)
If your business is enjoying steady success, your
marketing team may involve a small team of 3-4
people. You can either assign one marketer to
handle every aspect of content marketing while
the other two handle conversion and closing; or
you can leave the core content marketing tasks to
two marketers and let the third manage the rest.

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Team of 9 or 10 (Mid-size business)
With a larger team, you might be tempted to
expand your efforts into converting more leads.
However, your best plan of action is still to focus
on pushing out content that sustains your strategy.
In a team of about 9-10 people, at least half the
team should be dedicated to content creation i.e.
two for blog writing, one for long-form content,
one for SEO, and one for design. With a group this
size, it is smart to appoint a CMO who manages
everyday activities of the team.
Team of 20 and above (Large enterprise)
If your organization has a marketing team of over
18 people, kudos! Chances are you have a sizeable
budget dedicated to content marketing alone. A
team this size includes SEO experts, designers,
blog writers, and long-form writers. To sustain
quality, hire bloggers with extensive experience in
proofreading and editing and create a position like
Editor-in-Chief or Head of Content to support the
CMO. Their responsibilities include streamlining
reporting, securing budgets, hiring talent,
contributing ideas, and strategizing for growth.
Step #4: Arm Yourself with the Right Tools -
A few basic tools used right can make all the
difference in your content marketing endeavors.
Here are some necessary tools you should have in
your arsenal before you get started.
1) Analytics: Measure your performance against
your pre-determined goals
2) CMS: Publish and manage your content easily,
quickly, and effectively
3) Design: Create different types of creatives for
all visual content
4) Project management: Manage projects across
different campaigns and teams

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Step #5: Create and Publish Content -
You’ve got the strategy, you’ve got the team, and
you’ve got the technology. What’s next? The actual
work! If you’re not sure where to start, here’s a
quick rundown:
Blogs
Your blog posts should improve your company’s
presence in search rankings. You can achieve this
by publishing relevant content with SEO
optimization and keyword research. Depending on
your industry, these are the types of blogs you can
publish:
* How-to / Informative
* Thought leadership
* Listicles
* Slideshares
* Infographics
* News reports

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Premium assets
Long-form content is usually more time-intensive
but can be very rewarding when done right. Ideal
for and lead generation, premium
assets can work wonders in promoting high-level
content when tied in with regular blogs. These are
the following types of premium assets:
* Research reports
* Webinars
* E-books
* Templates
* Tools
Visual content
It’s not enough to include text-based content in
your strategy as visual media is gaining
mainstream popularity. A healthy mix of blogs,
long-form, and visual content can lend balance
and variety to your content marketing strategy.
Some popular examples of visual content include:
* Videos
* Slideshares
* Infographics
Step #6: Distribute Your Content
Once you’re done with content creation,
distribution is your next step. After all, you have
to make sure that your voice reaches as many
people as possible. But there are many who skip
this step, and here’s why:
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1) After publishing the content, they leave the
distribution to Google
2) Most writers and designers are more focused on
creating cool content than marketing it
Distribution deserves just as much attention and
here’s how you can do it right:
* Search engines: Google might distribute your
content for you, but if you don’t market it right,
your content will end up on page 26. With the right
SEO measures, you can bring it to page 1
* Social media: If Google considers social media to
be important, so should you. Sharing your content
on social media platforms will increase audience
engagement
* PPC and ads: Targeted can help
boost your SEO and drive traffic to your website
* E-mail: A smart and simple way to drive traffic
and improve conversions, email marketing is a
great way to publicize and distribute your content
Regardless of the scenario, it is not enough to just
publish the content – this is only one part of your
job. Now that you’ve shared it, it’s time to reap
the benefits!
Step #7: Analyze, Analyze, Analyze -
Your strategies for remain
unfulfilled if you don’t take the time to measure
your progress. With these simple metrics, you can
keep track of your content marketing and ensure
that you’re reaching your goals.
Content Marketing
Digital Marketing

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* Site traffic: This metric gives you the number of
hits your website received over a fixed time frame
* Leads: This metric directly influences revenue
and can be used to maximize your conversion rate
* Social media: This asset is measured by the
number of followers on each platform
* Blogs: This major website asset contributes to
site traffic as it matures and grows at a steady
rate
* Premium assets: This asset is measured by the
number of leads it generates per offer
Success in content marketing isn’t quantifiable. But
a surefire way to see results is to create scalable
and flexible strategies that can be improved and
scaled. Content marketing may not be an exact
science but hey, experimentation is the best way
to make new discoveries!

11. Avoid These 11
Mistakes
09
In the near-limitless universe of the Internet, the
art of marketing content can be a tricky one.
You’ve got to know your target audience and what
they want, and always be one step ahead of the
competition. Add to that the constantly emerging
new channels for your content, and you have quite
a challenging task ahead of you.
However, before you jump into this war of words,
here are 11 pitfalls to watch out for:
1. Not doing your ground-work
You can’t construct a skyscraper without laying
the foundation. What is the purpose of your
content? Who are you targeting it to? Is it in line
with your brand personality? If you don’t
brainstorm on these questions and build a concrete
plan, you might fail before you even start. It also
helps to double-check your content and see what
you can do differently from the competition.
2. Not having a clear take-away
Humorous fluff pieces are fun to read on the
Internet, but don’t let their popularity sway you.
Good content needs a solid take-away – a message
previously unavailable to your readers. Give them
something new through your content, and they’ll
be hooked on to your every word.
3. Not having a Call-To-Action
An ending paragraph is strong, but a Call-To-
Action (CTA) is stronger.

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Every piece of content needs to arouse something
in the reader by the end – be it curiosity,
happiness, or even fear. Give your reader an
action to perform after they have read your
content – it could be liking, sharing, commenting,
or accessing your hotline or website to know more
about your product. Whatever you do, just don’t
leave the reader hanging at the end of your piece.
4. Choosing quantity over quality (or vice
versa)
Content marketers today still grapple with this
question – produce more content faster, or deliver
comprehensive content less frequently? In our
experience, a healthy mix of the two is the best
long-term strategy for . Don’t be
pressured by the speed and frequency of new
posts on the Internet; just produce the best and
most timely content that your marketing plan
allows.
5. Not optimizing your content (SEO)
Do you want your content to be the first thing
netizens see in a quick Google search? Then don’t
let search engine optimization (SEO) be an
afterthought in your content marketing plan. Come
up with some strong keywords, and strategically
sprinkle them throughout your content. Do this
right, and watch your content shoot straight up
the search results list.
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External links to related topics also add ranking
power to your content since Google’s search
spiders read them as ‘third-party votes’ for your
piece.
8. Not using relevant images
Your post’s featured image is the first thing a
viewer will see on social media. Relevant images
and infographics make people want to read your
blogs. After all, no one likes to read a continuous
stream of text. Content is getting more and more
visual by the day to keep readers hooked, and you
should follow suit
9. Overly promotional content
The online audience wants entertaining and engaging content,
and also doesn’t want to be marketed to all the time. You
aren’t going to achieve the latter by producing overtly
promotional content, with words such as ‘buy’, ‘sell’,
‘exchange’ at the forefront. Creative, engaging content with
out-of-the-box visuals are today’s gold standard in marketing.
6. Writing long paragraphs
Let’s face it – the online reader’s attention span
has taken a nose-dive in recent years. Long
paragraphs are a chore to read through. On the
other hand, breaking up your content into shorter
paragraphs or bullet points boosts the readability
of your piece. Each paragraph and point also acts
like a place-holder in the readers’ minds, which
they can refer to at any time.
7. No internal or external links
Don’t you want a visitor to your website to stay
and know more about your product? Internal links
to older content are a good way to ensure
audience retention, greater interest in your brand,
and better optimization for search engines.

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11. Ignoring content metrics
is not an open-and-shut case;
there’s always more to learn from your existing
work. To simplify, there are four metrics by which
you can analyze the success or failure of your
content so far – consumption, sharing, leads
generated, and sales and revenue. You can then
tweak your future content or strategy depending
on these results.
FOOT NOTE
Marketing your brand through online content
needn’t be rocket science – if you do your
homework right. Work with a communications
agency that can get your brand the attention it
deserves!
10. Distributing content haphazardly
Simply sharing your content on every social media platform out
there might sound like a good idea at first. However, unless
you share it on the right platforms frequented by your target
audience, all your efforts might go in vain. Base the online
distribution of your content on the social media habits of your
audience, as well as the nature of your product.
Content Marketing

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About Pinklemonade
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