Content Marketing Mistakes (And Their Solutions)
Jessica is an integrated marketing leader specializing in strategic B2B and B2C enterprise solutions.
There’s a reason America’s Funniest Home Videos has been on air for almost 30 years; seeing someone else fail in various ridiculous ways is just funny. But a video of someone spectacularly slipping off a skateboard is only funny if you weren’t the person on the skateboard. The same theory applies to digital marketing mistakes and blunders; it’s never fun when it’s you. For a digital marketer, a content marketing “blooper” usually results in instantly measurable consequences. Whether it’s a dip in traffic or a dip in revenue, there is no worse feeling than being on that skateboard. Below, we break down the top three content marketing mistakes we’ve seen across the web, and how digital marketers can actively work to avoid them.
Commerce Dead Ends
The worst thing an eCommerce site can do – in this blogger's humble opinion – is get in their own way. There is nothing more frustrating to a shopper than being ready and excited to buy, but finding no way to do so, and then being forced to jump through hoops to do so. If a shopper falls in love with a blouse featured in a lookbook, they should be able to instantly add it to their cart without being forced to search through a product grid. Commerce dead ends are instant mood killer for customers, and can cause them to abandon your site entirely and cause either missed conversion (lost revenue) or need for retargeting (additional cost). Any rich content experience – be it a lookbook, a buying guide, or a quiz – must be instantly shoppable to make them revenue drivers as well as inspiration sources. For marketers, the easiest way to do this is through integrated quickviews. With one click, shoppers can activate an eCommerce-enabled lightbox to add a product to their cart. By eliminating commerce dead ends and ensuring every shopping experience is effortless, brands create a customer journey that is truly optimized.Slow loading time
Speed matters – every digital marketer knows this. But it’s worth reiterating from the perspective of lost revenue. 40% of people abandon a website if the loading time is longer than 3 seconds. That’s 40% of potential customers, 40% of potential conversions. And 79% of shoppers say they won’t return to a website that experiences slow load times. Not only are immediate conversions being affected, but future conversions as well. Delivering a seamless and streamlined shopping experience can be the difference between procuring a customer for life or losing them completely. If speed performance is a problem for your eCommerce site, now is the time to reevaluate your optimization strategies.