Why Copying Your Competitions Content Marketing Doesnt Actually Work

What are my competitors writing about? Why did their new blog post get so many shares? What are they doing that we’re not? As a content marketer, it’s natural to be curious about your competition. However, copying their tactics in the hope of replicating their success is a common mistake among content marketers. Here, we’ll look at why imitation is a bad idea and explain what you should do instead. Free Actionable Bonus: Looking to elevate your content strategy? Get our our complete guide to creating a content strategy, plus a free content planning template and a list of 30+ places to distribute content Your Competitors Don’t Know What They’re Doing Okay, maybe not all the competition is totally clueless, but in terms of content marketing, many of them are as in the dark as you are. Some will also be copying their competitors, who are copying their competitors. So if you copy anyone, you could simply be copying an imitation of an imitation. According to research from the Content Marketing Institute, 63 percent of businesses don’t have a documented content marketing strategy. So if your competitors don’t have a real plan, how can their strategy have any relevance to your business? Tip: Don’t waste your limited resources on untested strategies. Instead, trust your own judgement. By developing your own ideas and analyzing the results of your own efforts, you’ll find out what actually works. And this approach is crucial to developing an authentic brand voice. Authenticity is the New Marketing Currency Modern consumers are tired of being lied to. To succeed as a business today, you need to be authentic. If you sound like every other brand, you’re unlikely to be remembered. In a Pardot report, 80 percent of people cite â€Å"authenticity of content† as the most influential factor in their decision to follow a brand. Tip: Whatever your niche, stay true to who you are; it’s the best way to stand out from the crowd. Think about what makes your brand unique. Tell personal stories and use testimonials to build trust. Be transparent and don’t be afraid to be different. Your Audience is Unique You may be in the same industry as a competitor, but your audience may prefer different types of content. Perhaps they respond more to short blog posts or love sharing visual content. Your competitors don’t know your audience like you do, so copying their style of content may not work. Tip: Deliver a variety of content formats and analyze the results. Get genuine feedback from your followers on social media. Ask your audience directly what content they prefer. Your Goals Are Unique Your competitors may be running a paid advertising campaign for a limited period. They may have gated content that’s only available to certain email subscribers. It’s virtually impossible to identify their content marketing successes, because you don’t have access to their analytics. Tip:Focus on what works for you.Start by defining your marketing goals. Do you want to build your email list, or drive website traffic? When you know your goals, you can measure the results and then form a content strategy that is built on past successes. You Don’t Have the Same Resources Even if a competitor’s content marketing tactics seem to be working for them, it’s probably because they have enough resources to make it work. Do you have the same amount of staff, the same access to software, and a vast marketing budget? According to Chris Von Wilpert, Sumo’s chief content strategist, they spend around $40,000 a month on writers, editing, and promotion. If you’re a small business, it’s unlikely you can replicate what they’re doing, even if you wanted to. Tip: You can only make the best use of the resources you have. However, building an effective content marketing team doesn’t have to break the bank. Hire quality writers that know your industry, and treat them well. When you offer competitive rates of pay, they’re more likely to produce high-quality content that can outshine the content of your biggest competitors. The Bottom Line: Don’t Imitate, Innovate It’s only natural to want to emulate the best, but copying your competition’s content marketing is ultimately a road to nowhere. Developing a content strategy to meet the needs of your own audience will be more effective in the long run and help to differentiate your business from the competition. In summary: Focus on what makes your brand unique. Find out what topics your audience cares about. Test different content formats. Hire the best writers and treat them well. Define your goals, define your target audience, and define what content success looks like. Track everything you do so you can discover what works and what doesn’t. Be consistent, and be patient. Successful content marketing is a long-term game. If you follow these suggestions, you can develop a content strategy that suits your unique business, doesn’t stretch your resources too far, and plays to the strengths of your team. This way, you’ll be more memorable and distinctive, and give your target audience a reason to believe in your brand. Do you need unique content for your business? Constant Content’s is a content creation service that connects you with thousands of talented freelance content writers.

7 You Know What I Meant Mistakes

7 You Know What I Meant Mistakes 7 â€Å"You Know What I Meant† Mistakes 7 â€Å"You Know What I Meant† Mistakes By Mark Nichol One can often stumble through a sentence that isn’t quite right and then backtrack to make sense of it and then, reasonably confident of its meaning, slog out again and continue on one’s way. Or one can waltz right through a sentence and keep right on dancing. Which technique do you prefer your readers to follow? (Hint: What would you, as a reader, rather do?) Don’t let â€Å"You know what I meant† be your byword for stringing trains of words together avoid these almost-right constructions. (Links to related posts follow each example.) 1. â€Å"The agency acquired the parcel in 1931, but at that time in the heart of the Great Depression public acquisition of the adjacent property was not feasible even though it grove was offered at a bargain price.† A sentence is allowed one em dash, which sets off one part of the sentence from another with a sudden break to indicate an abrupt change in direction or a surprising statement, or a pair of em dashes to serve as a more emphatic replacement for two commas or a brace of parentheses. If you find yourself with three em dashes, convert a singleton to a comma or use parenthetical alternatives for the pair; two’s company, but three’s a crowd: â€Å"The agency acquired the parcel in 1931, but at that time in the heart of the Great Depression public acquisition of the adjacent property was not feasible, even though the grove was offered at a bargain price.† (em dashes). 2. â€Å"Those who opt for military service would only serve as military police, truck drivers or in homeland-security posts.† In a list of items, use one preposition to serve the entire list, or pair each item up with its own preposition; opting for something in between violates the requirement of parallel structure. My revision makes â€Å"military police or truck drivers† a single compound list item. Note, too, the inversion of only and serve (and the resulting change of meaning): â€Å"Those who opt for military service would serve only as military police or truck drivers or in homeland-security posts.† (parallel list structure in a sentence) 3. â€Å"The film is less concerned with naval warfare than close-ups of the star’s face.† The lack of a parallel marker in the sentence makes the reader stumble, as if one has reached the top of a stairway before one expects to. (The statement appears to mean that the film is less concerned with naval warfare than close-ups of the star’s face are concerned about naval warfare, and the sentence should end with are no, wait, that’s not what it means.) The insertion of a second with to more clearly identify the juxtaposed parallel phrases â€Å"naval warfare† and â€Å"close-ups of the star’s face† guides the reader’s steps: â€Å"The film is less concerned with naval warfare than with close-ups of the star’s face.† (parallel phrase structure within a sentence) 4. â€Å"As an entrepreneur, name recognition is important and the new name is more recognizable.† The implication of this sentence is that name recognition is an entrepreneur. However, the intent is to communicate that the writer is an entrepreneur and that for that reason, it is important that the name of the person’s business stand out. To express this idea effectively, the introductory clause requires a personal pronoun; I have also inserted a comma before the beginning of the final clause to set it off more distinctly: â€Å"Because I am an entrepreneur, name recognition is important, and the new name is more recognizable.† (dangling modifier) 5. â€Å"The agency cites strong evidence linking a cold virus to the mysterious SARS that has killed seventeen people worldwide.† This sentence implies that more than one mysterious SARS exists, and the one in question is responsible for seventeen deaths. However, the writer is referring to the one and only SARS, which is mysterious and which has killed seventeen people. That reading is effected by the simple insertion of a comma and the change of the restrictive that to the nonrestrictive which: â€Å"The agency cites strong evidence linking a cold virus to the mysterious SARS, which has killed seventeen people worldwide.† (restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses) 6. â€Å"It would be something analogous to a YMCA (which stands for ‘Young Men’s Christian Association’).† This sentence indicates that a YMCA a building stands in for a spelled-out name. It is the initials, however, that substitute for the full name: â€Å"It would be something analogous to a YMCA (the initials of which stand for ‘Young Men’s Christian Association’).† (mistaking a name for an entity) 7. â€Å"Smith himself could not do the job because he had angered many supporters through his support of the reservoir project.† As (not) punctuated, this sentence implies that Smith could do the job, but not for the reason stated; another (unstated) reason explains his suitability. But what the writer means is that Smith could not do the job, and the dependent clause (the one beginning with because) explains why. A comma inserted before the clause clarifies that this latter interpretation is correct: â€Å"Smith himself could not do the job, because he had angered many supporters through his support of the reservoir project.† Better yet, invert the clauses, but trade the pronoun in the dependent clause for the person’s name: â€Å"Because Smith had angered many supporters through his support of the reservoir project, he himself could not do the job.† (punctuating before a dependent clause) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Opening Lines to Inspire the Start of Your Story5 Brainstorming Strategies for Writers90 Verbs Starting with â€Å"Ex-†