Content Marketing Mistakes B2B Tech Firms Should Avoid

Blurb: Did you know that nearly nine out of ten B2B companies use content marketing as part of their marketing strategy? However, it was also found that most are doing it the wrong way.

You have your content but why are they not generating leads and converting them into actual sales like you hope they would? What are you getting wrong? Maybe, just maybe, it's one of these content marketing mistakes--which, to be fair, are also something that most B2B tech firms are also committing. Be familiar with these marketing slips so you can learn from them and avoid them in your future strategies.

Having fresh content on a regular basis can help increase your website traffic. Your visitors want to look forward to something new (especially when you're on the tech niche, which is ever-evolving), but if they find stale content, they will lose interest. It may seem like it's too much pressure to produce content regularly, but don't fret--it doesn't have to be a 5,000-word, mind-blowing write-up each time. Snackable articles (300 words on average) work well too, as long as they have catchy titles and are straight-to-the-point helpful for your readers. Most of all, they need to be published consistently. If you decide to post once or twice a week, and on a specific day, stick by it. Your audience will be waiting!

According to research from Altimeter, over half (53%) of marketers surveyed said they need to invest in distribution. However, only 25% say they actually do invest in it. But how important is content distribution, really? The reality is that if you just publish your content on your website blog, it will not get the amount of traffic you're hoping for, because your website doesn't rank as high as established tech online sites. You will need the help of platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and more, where most tech users usually spend their time. You can easily share a link to your blog through these platforms and get better traction traffic-wise.

How do you measure your content? Basically, there are five aspects you must consider. First is the traffic or the number of individuals landing on your website after clicking on a link to your content. Next is the conversions, which are the actions that your visitors are taking after reading your content. Are they clicking on "read more"? Are they subscribing to your newsletter? Are they reading your other blog entries? Are they inquiring about your tech products and services? The third is engagement--how long are your visitors spending time on the site, how many pages are they visiting, and which types of articles are they most interested in? Finally, check on the SEO performance, which shows your ranking in the search engines. Here's where you determine which keywords your audience is looking for the most. Determining your content performance allows you to improve on your future content, so make sure to evaluate your past posts using these factors.

Which of the content marketing mistakes listed above have you ever encountered in the past? How did they affect your content marketing strategies?