{"id":11749,"date":"2022-02-10T11:34:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T11:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/10\/10-content-experience-mistakes-to-stop-making-and-ideas-for-fixing-them\/"},"modified":"2022-02-10T11:34:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T11:34:05","slug":"10-content-experience-mistakes-to-stop-making-and-ideas-for-fixing-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/10\/10-content-experience-mistakes-to-stop-making-and-ideas-for-fixing-them\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Content Experience Mistakes To Stop Making (and Ideas for Fixing Them)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"Can content be epic if the content experience isn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

Quality content is great, but it\u2019s only one part of your audience\u2019sexperience.<\/p>\n

We asked the experts presenting at ContentTECH Summit<\/a> this March what marketers are doing (or not doing) that prevents their audiences from having satisfying content experiences. Their answers encompass internal and external factors, from how content is created to how it\u2019s delivered. (A few also shared what marketers are doing right, too.)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the set of mistakes the speakers notice content marketers making.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Delivering haphazardly<\/h2>\n

The challenge for every marketing team is that the customer\u2019s content experience is often disjointed. Customers look at many different resources when they don\u2019t get the answers they want. To stand out in that field, be the brand that asks customers what\u2019s relevant to them and then serves up that content through a quiz, content filters, or even a chatbot<\/a>. \u2013 Zontee Hou<\/a>, director of strategy, Convince & Convert<\/p>\n

Be the brand that asks customers what’s relevant to them, then serves up that #content, says @ZonteeHou via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

2. Not considering the whole content journey<\/h2>\n

Most marketers underestimate the work involved in creating an epic customer content experience, especially if you consider the experience to extend beyond one piece of content. Then it becomes more of a journey where you have to consider your visitors\u2019 varying degrees of experience and knowledge. Their experiences will differ, and your content needs to account for that. \u2013 Jeff Coyle<\/a>, co-founder and chief strategy officer, MarketMuse<\/p>\n

Consider your visitors’ varying degrees of experience and knowledge. Make sure your #content accounts for that, says @Jeffrey_Coyle via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

3. Forgetting the real person<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s easy to get caught up in the excitement of an epic content experience and lose sight of how the real live customer will interact with it. Adding in some persona research or customer feedback<\/a> throughout the creation process can help you know if you\u2019re on the right track. \u2013 Ali Orlando Wert<\/a>, director, marketing strategy, SmartBug Media<\/p>\n

Use #persona research or customer feedback during the #ContentCreation process to stay on the right track, says @AliOrlandoWert via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

4. Not investing in content personalization technology<\/h2>\n

When customer service sucks<\/a>, nothing else matters. If customer service can\u2019t address customers\u2019 needs, it doesn\u2019t matter how amazing the customer experience was up until then. Among the reasons customer service fails: 1. limited training of personnel, 2. limiting, pre-defined scripts, and 3. shortage of workers.<\/p>\n

As a result, customer service<\/a> is not personalized. If a company doesn\u2019t have the technology for content personalization<\/a>, generating content tailored to the needs of a specific customer becomes very expensive. As a result, many companies prefer to use generic content. However, generic content doesn\u2019t address the needs of a specific customer in a specific situation, which translates to unhappy customers and potential losses in revenue. \u2013 Alex Masycheff<\/a>, CEO, Intuillion<\/p>\n

Generic #Content doesn’t address the needs of specific customers in specific situations, which translates to unhappy customers, says @DITAToo1 via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

5. Ignoring other internal content creators<\/h2>\n

Marketers fail to create epic customer content experiences by not including their organization\u2019s other content creators in conversations. Often, writers closer to the product, such as technical writers or content designers, can highlight business values and customer stories that are unknown to marketers. What marketers get right is their ability to innovate on content appearance, language, or delivery, which is often stale when coming from other content teams. \u2013 Gavin Austin<\/a>, principal tech writer, Salesforce<\/p>\n

Marketers fail to create epic customer #content experiences when they don’t converse with their organization\u2019s other content creators, says @GavinAustinSays via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

6. Treating visuals as an afterthought<\/h2>\n

While content marketers understand the power of visual content and are prioritizing visual content more than ever, those same marketers too often put quantity above quality. But 94% of first impressions are based entirely on how your content is designed<\/a>. If you deliver content that feels rushed, cheap, or too stock-image heavy<\/a>, you\u2019re likely not giving your audience an epic customer content experience. \u2013 Amy Balliett<\/a>, senior fellow of visual strategy, Material<\/p>\n

If you deliver #content that feels rushed, cheap, or too stock-image heavy, you\u2019re not giving your audience an epic customer experience, says @AmyBalliett via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

7. Discounting the content\u2019s environment<\/h2>\n

The big miss here is they fail to focus on the actual experience. Creating great content is tough, but it\u2019s not enough. We have to think about the environment in which it lives, the way it is structured<\/a> to sit alongside other relevant content, and the way we compel people to engage in it or a strong CTA. \u2013 Randy Frisch<\/a>, CEO and co-founder, Uberflip<\/p>\n

Creating great #content isn’t enough. We have to think about how it sits with other relevant content and the way we compel people to engage with it, says @RandyFrisch via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

8. Letting ego drive<\/h2>\n

Marketers fail at creating epic content experiences when they allow selfishness or ego to override helpfulness. Awesome may get shared, but helpful<\/a> gets bought. When content marketers put the buyer first, they create CRAP (concise, relevant, and persuasive) content that leads to conversations that convert to customers. \u2013 Tom Martin<\/a>, president, Converse Digital<\/p>\n

Marketers fail at creating epic #content experiences when they allow selfishness or ego to override helpfulness, says @TomMartin via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

9. Ignoring real customers in content planning<\/h2>\n

One of the biggest fails we see is that marketers don\u2019t fully understand their audience\u2019s content needs. For example, running persona workshops for their internal audiences with zero<\/em> customers involved. This is a missed opportunity and leads to misdirected and wasted content efforts and poor experiences.<\/p>\n

Once you really know your customers and what they want, the move from good to epic experiences involves detailed journey mapping and identifying the most useful, memorable, and evergreen content experiences<\/a> you can provide along the way aligned to what they want. It might be an FAQ answering all the questions they have, a how-to video, a fun interactive quiz, a blog, or any other selection of content solutions.<\/p>\n

On a positive note, more marketers are now working closely with their CIOs to develop the tech stack needed to support great customer content experiences. Smart marketers are also upskilling in the tools to improve experience delivery. Marketing automation, content attribution modeling, social listening<\/a>, and interactive content solutions are just some of the technologies that can help to get you from good to epic. \u2013 Karen Hesse<\/a>, founder and CEO, 256<\/p>\n

One of the biggest fails we see is that marketers don’t fully understand their audience’s #content needs, says @256media via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

10. Treating content as product promotion<\/h2>\n

A fail is not understanding that pitching your product is never considered content. On the positive side, marketers are using internal resources to communicate with customers. \u2013 Rob Walch<\/a>, vice president of Libsyn enterprise and platform partnerships, Libsyn<\/p>\n

Pitching your product is never considered #content, says @podcast411 via @CMIContent. #ContentTECH <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Create epic experiences<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s the TL;DR version of the advice from these ContentTECH Summit presenters: Never forget to put the customer at the forefront of what you do \u2013 planning, creating, distributing, and evolving your content marketing. That\u2019s the only way to create an epic content experience.<\/p>\n

Never forget to put the customer at the forefront of what you do, says @AnnGynn via @CMIContent #ContentTECH speakers. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Want to learn how to balance, manage, and scale great content experiences across all your essential platforms and channels? Join us at ContentTECH Summit this March in San Diego.\u00a0<\/em>Browse the schedule<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/em>register today<\/a>. Use the code BLOG100 to save $100.<\/em><\/em><\/div>\n

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski\/Content Marketing Institute<\/em><\/p>\n

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