23 Reasons Why Content Marketing Fails

I've seen some strange things happen to content. In an effort to help you get the most out of your B2B content marketing efforts, I thought I'd shed some light on the kind of stuff that can derail your attempts to gain the attention of your prospects.

In no particular order of importance, here's the top 23 that come to mind: (plus additions submitted by others)

1. Hiring an expert to develop content and then revising it to insert all those "me, me, me" terms and phrases that are noticeably absent.
2. Only use a content resource once and then archive it somewhere offline.
3. Sending out whatever content is at hand to your entire list every month.
4. Not creating a content strategy BEFORE you develop content.
5. Following up a great early-stage content offer with a pushy sales offer.
6. Creating great content but lousy email messaging that fails to get prospects to click.
7. Sending a great email message linked to lousy content.
8. Deluging your database with too many emails, too often.
9. Not measuring response beyond opens and clicks so you have no clue which content is working, or why.
10. When your website content is NOT in alignment with your nurturing content - hence confusing your prospects when they do click through.
11. Landing pages that bear no resemblance to the message in your email.
12. Promising a deep topic dive and delivering a surface skim.
13. Customer success stories that are all about your company, not your customers.
14. Changing focus with every nurturing touch so your prospects are totally confused about what's in it for them.
15. Covering too much because you aren't sure what's relevant to your audience and want to make sure something sticks.
16. Stopping prospects who want your content with lengthy forms that keep them from getting it - do you really need to know all that stuff right now?
17. Launching a blog to talk about your products.
18. Tweeting only about your content and company.
19. Using pre-sales marketing content for your customer base.
20. Giving salespeople early-stage content for use with sales-ready leads - even worse when it's stuff the leads have seen during nurturing.
21. Sending the same email with alarming frequency and repetition to train your prospects to ignore you because you obviously have nothing new to add to the conversation.
22. Disappointing your prospects with a great white paper offer because it's outdated. Just because it was good 3 years ago doesn't mean it shouldn't be updated before it's reused.
23. Only using 3rd party content so your prospects have no clue whether or not YOU know what you're talking about.
    
    Updates and additions to the list:
24. Burying your content in a complex web navigation scheme where visitors have to WORK to find it. (via Jonathan Kranz)
25. Favoring impressive-sounding, abstract jargon over precise, detail-rich stories. (via Jonathan Kranz)
26. Taking a "goody two-shoes" Pollyanna approach that never acknowledges the problems/challenges customers/prospects really face. (via Jonathan Kranz)
27. Failing to provide an easy way for readers to share your online content. (via Caroline)
28. Forgoing new media content--video, podcasts, webinars, etc. (via Caroline)
29. Thinking compelling content must be long and complex and forgetting that simple, interactive content can provide high value when executed well. (via Susan Fantle)
30. Only publishing content in one format. (via Sarah Mitchell)
31. Employing great content without well-planned follow-up. (via Sima Dahl)
32. Lack of unique content written with a conversational tone. (via Dennis)
33. Assuming you know what buyers want to know better than they do (via Melissa)
34. Following great content with company focused pablum (via Melissa)
35. Calling even when I've checked the box that said, just curious (via Melissa)
36. Thinking your content job is done with 4 or 5 pieces! (via Melissa)
    

Thanks to Jonathan, Caroline and Susan, Sarah, Sima, Dennis and Melissa for your contributions! Love it!

The list is growing...come on, what else?

What have I forgotten? Leave a comment and I'll add yours to the list.