Have you launched a content marketing strategy only to find it’s fallen flat? The world of online content marketing can be tricky to navigate because it doesn’t follow the rules of your usual marketing approach.

The most common content marketing strategy mistake that businesses make is thinking it is something that it’s not.

What is content marketing?

Generally speaking, marketing is about generating sales and converting browsers into buyers. But when we bring content into the marketing equation, everything changes. And that’s because the underlying intent is entirely different—it’s about building trust, authority and brand awareness. Your content marketing strategy should therefore be built around cultivating a relationship between your ideal customer and your business. And this doesn’t happen instantly.

Far too often companies are short sighted in how they approach content marketing. They throw up a blog or two—or send one email when someone’s joined their mailing list—and think this will be enough to generate interest. But it’s not. Not even if those blogs happens to go viral (the chances of which are incredibly slim anyway!).

What should your content marketing strategy look like?

When your content marketing strategy doesn’t involve politely shoving valuable content in people’s faces on a regular basis, they may see it, but they’re more likely to skip it and move on. And note the word ‘valuable’ as it’s also key to an effective approach. If you haven’t noticed already, the internet is drowning in content. People’s inboxes are overflowing with mailing list emails just screaming to be moved directly to the bin. You need to provide valuable content in order to cut through the noise. And you need to try different angles to see what works—and what falls flat. Because not everything will work. You’re going to have a number of fails in between the big wins—and you’re probably going to have to keep adjusting your approach along the way—because those wins may not work every time either.

So don’t be short sighted with your content marketing strategy. And don’t forget what it’s really there to achieve: the building and cultivation of a beautiful relationship between your business and its ideal customer.

For more on common content marketing mistakes, check out this blog.