7 Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Content marketing has plenty of benefits: It increases website traffic, qualifies leads, and brings in more customers. However, with millions of blogs, checklists, and videos competing for attention, standing out requires more than just publishing content. To maximize your efforts, here are six common content marketing mistakes to avoid, AND what you should do instead.

1. Starting Without Strategy & Research

Behind every great content marketing plan is a sound strategy. Writing a blog just for the sake of it won’t yield results. Instead, focus on understanding your target audience: their challenges, preferences, and the type of content they engage with.

What to do instead:

• Identify your audience’s pain points and create content that solves their problems.
• Conduct keyword research to optimize for SEO and increase visibility.
• Develop a content calendar to ensure consistency and relevance.

2. Ignoring Your Customers’ Emotions

Customers make decisions based on emotions first, then justify with logic. If your content focuses only on your business’s achievements rather than addressing customer pain points, it will fail to connect.

What to do instead:

• Use storytelling to create an emotional connection.
• Show empathy by acknowledging customer struggles before offering solutions.
• 70% of emotionally engaged customers spend twice as much on brands they trust. So, build a trustful relationship with your customers.

3. Producing Low-Quality Content

Prioritizing quantity over quality can lead to content that fails to provide value, diminishing audience trust and engagement.

What to do instead:

• Focus on creating high-quality, informative, and engaging content that addresses your audience’s needs and questions.
• Invest time in research, writing, and editing to ensure your content stands out and offers genuine value

4. Not Creating Evergreen Content

Trendy topics can generate temporary traffic, but evergreen content continues to drive engagement and leads over time. What is evergreen content? Evergreen content is content that stays relevant and interesting over time. It’s not based on current events or trends, and it can continue to grow traffic over time.

What to do instead:

• Create content that remains relevant, such as “How-To” guides, FAQs, and industry best practices.
• Repurpose evergreen content into different formats like videos, infographics, or webinars.
• 75% of blog traffic comes from old posts, proving the value of evergreen content.

5. Making the Piece a Sales Pitch

Customers seek content that educates and informs—not an overt sales pitch. If your content feels too promotional, it will lose credibility and engagement.

What to do instead:

• Provide actionable insights that solve customer problems.
• Use a soft-sell approach by including a call-to-action (CTA) at the end.
• Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional marketing while costing 62% less.

6. Publishing Without Promoting

Creating high-quality content is only part of the equation—if you don’t distribute it effectively, it won’t reach your audience.

What to do instead:

• Share content across multiple platforms, including social media, email newsletters, and industry forums.
• Use the 80-20 rule: Spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% promoting it.
• Studies show that brands that distribute content strategically achieve a 13x higher ROI.

7. Not Analyzing Content Performance

Without tracking performance, you won’t know if your content strategy is effective. If you’re not measuring key metrics, you risk repeating ineffective tactics.

What to do instead:

• Use tools like Google Analytics, SEMrush, or HubSpot to track engagement metrics (page views, bounce rates, social shares, and conversions).
• Identify top-performing content and repurpose it into new formats.
• Adjust your strategy based on data insights to optimize future content efforts.

Final Thoughts

By avoiding these common content marketing mistakes, you can create high-value, customer-focused content that builds trust, enhances engagement, and drives long-term growth. Investing in strategic, emotion-driven, evergreen content—while also analyzing and promoting it effectively—will set your business apart in today’s crowded digital landscape.

Looking for More Small Business Support?

At the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, we are committed to helping small businesses and organizations strengthen their marketing strategies and build impactful brands. As part of our 2025 objectives, we’re offering resources, workshops, and expert guidance to support your growth.

Keep an eye out for upcoming webinars and help guides designed to help business owners like you enhance their marketing efforts and reach their full potential. If you’re looking for personalized support in developing your brand, reach out to us today!

Contact Lauren Akabori at lakabori@calasiancc.org to learn more.