# Anti-Patterns: Content Strategy

These approaches look like smart content strategies but consistently fail to deliver results.

---

## 1. The Content Factory

**The Mistake:**
```
"Let's scale content production!"

Content team:
- 10 freelance writers
- 20 articles per week
- 1000 words minimum
- Keywords assigned
- Minimal editing

Result:
- 1000 articles published
- Generic, thin content
- Same as everyone else
- No brand voice
- Low rankings, low engagement
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Volume doesn't beat quality
- Freelancers don't know your audience
- No unique perspective
- Commodity content in commodity sea
- Resources wasted on invisible content

**Better Approach:**
```
QUALITY-FIRST CONTENT:

Fewer, better pieces:
- 4 excellent pieces per month
- Original research, unique insights
- Expert-level depth
- Distinctive voice

Content investment model:
1 pillar piece (20 hours) > 10 thin pieces (2 hours each)

QUALITY MARKERS:
- Would I share this?
- Is this the best on the internet?
- Does it have original insight?
- Is it genuinely helpful?
- Does it represent our brand well?
```

---

## 2. The Keyword Chasing

**The Mistake:**
```
Content strategy = keyword list

Process:
1. Export top 1000 keywords
2. Assign to writers
3. Publish content for each
4. Wait for traffic

Topics covered:
- Competitors' keywords (their audience)
- High volume, high competition (can't rank)
- Unrelated topics (just because volume)
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Keywords without intent understanding
- Chasing volume, not relevance
- No brand differentiation
- Scattered topical authority
- Low conversion from traffic

**Better Approach:**
```
STRATEGIC KEYWORD SELECTION:

1. Start with audience, not keywords
   What problems do they have?
   What questions do they ask?

2. Map to buyer journey
   Awareness: Problem-focused
   Consideration: Solution-focused
   Decision: Comparison, proof

3. Evaluate opportunity
   Can we rank? (competition)
   Is it relevant? (to our product)
   Will it convert? (intent)

4. Build topical clusters
   Not scattered keywords
   Related topics that build authority

KEYWORD CRITERIA:
□ Relevant to our audience
□ Achievable ranking (realistic competition)
□ Commercial intent (leads to product)
□ Cluster potential (builds topic authority)
□ Content gap (we can do better)
```

---

## 3. The Publish and Pray

**The Mistake:**
```
Content workflow:
Write → Edit → Publish → Done!

"We published it, now it will rank"
"Great content finds its audience"
"If we build it, they will come"

Result:
Content sits with 10 views
Never reaches target audience
No backlinks, no shares
Sunk cost, invisible
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Distribution IS the strategy
- SEO takes months/years
- Competition is fierce
- Discovery requires effort
- Creation is half the work

**Better Approach:**
```
DISTRIBUTION-FIRST MINDSET:

Before creating:
- How will this be distributed?
- Who will share this?
- Where will traffic come from?

After publishing:
- Email to list
- Social posts (multiple, over time)
- Outreach for links
- Community sharing
- Repurposing for other platforms
- Paid amplification (if warranted)

DISTRIBUTION CHECKLIST:
□ Email list notification
□ Social posts (all platforms)
□ Internal team amplification
□ Community posting
□ Influencer outreach
□ Link building outreach
□ Content syndication
□ Repurposing plan

RULE: 50/50
50% effort on creation
50% effort on distribution
```

---

## 4. The Vanity Publishing

**The Mistake:**
```
"Let's write about what WE want to write about"

Topics:
- Our company values
- Our founder's philosophy
- Industry thoughts no one asked for
- Hot takes that don't help anyone
- Pet topics of the CEO

Audience: Internal team and mom
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Not audience-focused
- No search demand
- Self-indulgent
- No commercial value
- Wasted resources

**Better Approach:**
```
AUDIENCE-FIRST CONTENT:

Research what they need:
- Customer interviews
- Support tickets
- Sales call questions
- Search data
- Social listening
- Community discussions

CONTENT VALIDATION:
Before creating, answer:
1. Who specifically is this for?
2. What problem does it solve?
3. How will they find it?
4. What action will they take?
5. How does this connect to our business?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP RULES:
✓ Thought leadership that helps audience
✗ Thought leadership that impresses peers
✓ Opinions backed by experience
✗ Opinions for opinion's sake
✓ Controversial when it helps
✗ Controversial for attention
```

---

## 5. The Trend Chasing

**The Mistake:**
```
Marketing Slack:
"AI is hot, let's write about AI!"
"Web3 is trending, we need Web3 content!"
"Everyone's talking about [topic], we should too!"

Result:
- Off-brand content
- Expertise we don't have
- Temporary traffic spike
- No lasting value
- Confused audience
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Trends fade, evergreen endures
- You're not an expert (it shows)
- Dilutes brand authority
- Attracts wrong audience
- Reactive, not strategic

**Better Approach:**
```
TREND EVALUATION:

Before chasing:
1. Is this relevant to our audience? (not just popular)
2. Do we have genuine expertise? (or credible angle)
3. Is there long-term value? (or just moment)
4. Does it fit our content pillars? (or distraction)

IF YES TO ALL:
Create content with your unique angle
Connect to your core expertise
Make it evergreen where possible

IF NO:
Skip it
Others will cover it
Stay focused on your lane

TREND CONTENT RULES:
✓ Trends connected to your expertise
✗ Trends for traffic sake
✓ Your unique perspective on trend
✗ Generic trend coverage
✓ Evergreen angle on trend
✗ Pure news reporting
```

---

## 6. The SEO-Only Tunnel Vision

**The Mistake:**
```
Content strategy = SEO strategy

Every piece:
- Keyword in title
- Keyword density optimized
- Headings for crawlers
- Internal links by formula
- Written for bots first

Result:
- Robotic content
- Poor engagement
- Ranks but doesn't convert
- No brand personality
- Forgettable
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- SEO is ONE channel
- User experience matters to Google too
- Brand building ignored
- Engagement metrics suffer
- Conversion suffers

**Better Approach:**
```
BALANCED CONTENT STRATEGY:

SEO content (organic search):
- Keyword-targeted
- Answers search intent
- Optimized but readable

Brand content (relationship building):
- Newsletter content
- Social media native
- Brand storytelling
- Not optimized for search

Thought leadership (authority):
- Expert perspectives
- Industry commentary
- Not keyword-focused

Product content (conversion):
- Use cases
- Customer stories
- Feature content

PORTFOLIO APPROACH:
60% SEO content (traffic)
20% Brand content (relationship)
10% Thought leadership (authority)
10% Product content (conversion)
```

---

## 7. The Outsourced Voice

**The Mistake:**
```
"Let's hire writers to create content"

Freelancer writes article
Sounds like: Generic content mill
Doesn't sound like: Your brand
Reader thinks: This could be anyone
Retention: None

Every article is different writer
No consistent voice
No accumulated knowledge
No brand recognition
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Voice is a differentiator
- Generic content commoditized
- No relationship built with reader
- Knowledge doesn't compound
- Editing nightmare

**Better Approach:**
```
VOICE-FIRST CONTENT:

Option 1: In-house writers
- Deep brand knowledge
- Consistent voice
- Accumulated expertise
- Relationship with audience

Option 2: Trained freelancers
- Brand voice guidelines
- Style guide
- Example library
- Consistent relationships
- Heavy editing

Option 3: Expert + editor
- Subject experts draft
- Editor shapes voice
- Best of both worlds

VOICE DOCUMENTATION:
- Brand voice attributes
- Writing style guide
- Example sentences
- Do's and don'ts
- Vocabulary list
```

---

## 8. The Content Silo

**The Mistake:**
```
Marketing creates content
Product creates content
Support creates content
Sales creates content

None of them talk to each other
Duplicate content everywhere
Inconsistent messaging
Gaps in coverage
Wasted effort
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Inefficient resource use
- Inconsistent customer experience
- Missed opportunities for integration
- No unified strategy
- Duplicated effort

**Better Approach:**
```
UNIFIED CONTENT STRATEGY:

Content council:
- Marketing lead
- Product rep
- Support rep
- Sales rep
- Regular meetings

Shared content calendar:
- All teams visible
- Coordinated timing
- Shared themes

Content types by owner:
Marketing: Top-funnel, brand
Product: Feature, education
Support: Help, troubleshooting
Sales: Enablement, case studies

INTEGRATION POINTS:
- Consistent messaging
- Cross-linking content
- Shared customer insights
- Coordinated launches
```

---

## 9. The Perfectionist Block

**The Mistake:**
```
Content creation process:
- Draft 1
- Review meeting
- Revisions
- Second review
- More revisions
- Legal review
- Design review
- Final approval
- Two months later: publish

Meanwhile:
- Competitor published 10 pieces
- Topic is no longer timely
- SEO opportunity gone
- Team frustrated
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Speed matters for relevance
- Diminishing returns on revision
- Bottlenecks slow everything
- Perfect is enemy of good
- Opportunities lost

**Better Approach:**
```
EFFICIENT CONTENT PROCESS:

Content tiers:
Tier 1 (high stakes): Full review process
- Major campaigns
- Controversial topics
- Legal implications

Tier 2 (standard): Light review
- Regular blog content
- Editor review only
- Quick turnaround

Tier 3 (agile): Minimal review
- Social content
- Timely content
- Creator publishes

SPEED RULES:
- Set SLAs for reviews
- Limit reviewers per tier
- Trust content team
- "Good enough" is often enough
- Iterate after publishing

PROCESS TIMELINE:
Brief to publish: 2 weeks (tier 1)
Brief to publish: 1 week (tier 2)
Brief to publish: 1-2 days (tier 3)
```

---

## 10. The Metrics Myopia

**The Mistake:**
```
Content metrics tracked:
- Traffic
- Traffic
- More traffic

"This post got 50,000 views!"
"But did it generate any leads?"
"...we don't track that"
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Traffic without conversion = vanity
- Can't optimize what you don't measure
- Wrong content gets prioritized
- Business impact unknown
- Can't justify investment

**Better Approach:**
```
FULL-FUNNEL METRICS:

Awareness metrics:
- Traffic
- Impressions
- Reach
- Brand mentions

Engagement metrics:
- Time on page
- Scroll depth
- Comments/shares
- Return visitors

Conversion metrics:
- Email signups
- Content downloads
- Demo requests
- Trial starts

Revenue metrics:
- Attributed pipeline
- Attributed revenue
- CAC by content

CONTENT ATTRIBUTION:
Track: First touch, last touch, multi-touch
Connect: Content → Lead → Customer → Revenue
Report: Content ROI, not just traffic

DASHBOARD ESSENTIALS:
1. Traffic trend
2. Top converting content
3. Content-attributed signups
4. Content-attributed revenue
```

---

## 11. The Content Island

**The Mistake:**
```
Content published on blog
Not connected to:
- Product
- Sales process
- Customer success
- Support documentation
- Email sequences

Just... exists... alone...
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Content doesn't drive product adoption
- Sales can't use for enablement
- Support duplicates effort
- Customer experience fragmented
- Missed conversion opportunities

**Better Approach:**
```
INTEGRATED CONTENT:

Content → Product:
- In-app education links
- Onboarding content
- Feature documentation
- Tooltips and guides

Content → Sales:
- Case studies for outreach
- Objection handling content
- Comparison pages
- ROI calculators

Content → Success:
- Best practices
- Advanced tutorials
- Community resources
- Upgrade education

Content → Support:
- Self-serve knowledge base
- FAQ articles
- Troubleshooting guides
- Integration documentation

INTEGRATION CHECKLIST:
□ Relevant CTAs in all content
□ Content accessible in-product
□ Sales knows what exists
□ Support references content
□ Customer journey mapped
```

---

## 12. The Calendar Tyranny

**The Mistake:**
```
"The content calendar is law"

Monday: Blog post
Tuesday: Social content
Wednesday: Newsletter
Thursday: Video
Friday: Podcast

No matter what:
- Quality suffers for schedule
- Topics forced to fit slots
- Creativity sacrificed
- Burnout from constant deadlines
- Mediocre everything
```

**Why It's Wrong:**
- Schedule serves content, not vice versa
- Quality inconsistent
- Creativity stifled
- Team burned out
- Quantity over quality

**Better Approach:**
```
FLEXIBLE CONTENT SYSTEM:

Minimum cadence:
- Newsletter: Weekly (non-negotiable)
- Blog: When ready (quality bar)
- Social: Daily minimum (light lift)

Batch production:
- Create in batches when energy high
- Backlog for slow periods
- Buffer for surprises

Quality gates:
- Content ships when ready
- Never ship mediocre to hit date
- Adjust cadence to capacity

REALISTIC CADENCE:
Early stage: 1-2 quality pieces/month
Growing: 1-2 quality pieces/week
Scaled: Daily with quality bar

FLEXIBILITY > RIGIDITY:
Great content when ready >
Mediocre content on schedule
```
