8 Content Marketing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

By Simon Kearney, CEO

Creating content has never been easier, but so has the trap of making content marketing mistakes. This is because Very few brands create content that actually resonates, builds trust, and drives meaningful action. This guide shows you how to avoid the most 8 common pitfalls of creating content and provides practical solutions you can use immediately.

Why these content marketing mistakes are more dangerous in 2026

Content failure isn’t new. What has changed is how quickly weak content is filtered out.

In 2026, audiences are:

• Overexposed to brand messaging
• Increasingly sceptical of polished marketing language
• Assisted by AI tools that summarise, rank, and deprioritise content automatically

This means average content doesn’t just underperform; it becomes invisible.

Search engines no longer reward volume alone. Social platforms no longer guarantee reach. AI assistants increasingly act as gatekeepers, deciding which content is worth surfacing and which is compressed into a one-line summary, or ignored entirely.

As a result, the cost of making basic content mistakes has increased.

A vague article isn’t just “less engaging.”

A generic visual isn’t just “boring.”

An over-polished piece isn’t just “late.”

Each mistake actively reduces discoverability, authority, and trust.

That’s why the eight mistakes in this guide matter more than ever. They aren’t stylistic preferences; they’re structural weaknesses that quietly undermine otherwise capable marketing teams.

Content Marketing Mistake 1: Creating Content Nobody Cares About

One of the biggest content marketing mistakes is producing pieces based on internal priorities rather than what audiences actually care about.

This leads to stories that are unrelatable, irrelevant, and often boring.

Clients sometimes ask for “more pop” or “more wow factor,” but the truth is simple:

If the underlying idea isn’t interesting, no amount of polish will fix it.

Why this kills your content

• Audiences scroll past immediately
• AI summarisation deprioritises it
• It doesn’t build topical authority
• It wastes production time

Fix: Validate every story before you write it

Ask:

• Why would someone outside our company care?
• What problem does this solve?
• What tension or insight does it offer?
• Would I read this if another brand published it?

If the answers aren’t compelling, reshape the story or find a better one.

Better approach:
Gather stories from customers, frontline staff, and real user scenarios.

Why “internal-first” thinking keeps sneaking back in

Even experienced teams fall into this trap, especially in B2B.

Internal-first content usually appears when:

• Stakeholders need visibility
• Product updates feel urgent internally
• Leadership wants messaging alignment

The result is content that explains what the company is doing, without addressing why anyone else should care.

This problem is amplified by AI tools.

When content is generated or assisted by AI without strong editorial direction, it tends to default to safe, internally framed language: polished, accurate, and completely forgettable.

Validation isn’t about killing ideas. It’s about pressure-testing them early, before production time, approvals, and budgets are committed.

The earlier relevance is challenged, the stronger the final story becomes.

Content Marketing Mistake 2: Choosing Topics With No Angle or Trend

A story needs an angle; a point of view that makes it relevant now.

Without it, even important topics feel flat.

Why this kills your content

• It gets lost in search
• Nobody feels compelled to share it
• It reads like corporate filler

Fix: Always frame the story with an angle

Ask:

• Which trend does this relate to?
• What shift is happening in the industry?
• What tension exists?
• What new perspective are we adding?

Even evergreen topics need a fresh lens.

Angles are not trends; they’re relevance mechanisms

A common misunderstanding is treating “angle” as a trend-jump or headline trick.

In reality, an angle is what connects your story to:

• A shift in behaviour
• A change in expectations
• A tension your audience is already feeling

Without this connection, content floats in isolation.

This is why many “thought leadership” pieces fail.

They’re informative, but untethered from what’s actually changing in the audience’s world.

Strong angles answer a silent reader question: Why this, and why now?

When that question is answered clearly, content becomes easier to read, easier to share, and easier for algorithms to contextualise.

Content Marketing Mistake 3: Telling A Good Story Badly

Sometimes the idea is solid, but the execution is not.

The source material describes people who ruin great stories by:

• including irrelevant details
• meandering without a point
• skipping past emotional stakes
• delivering without structure

Even the best stories fall flat when poorly told.

Why this kills your content

• Readers lose interest before the payoff
• Your core message gets diluted
• Emotional resonance disappears

Fix: Use a storytelling framework

Follow this structure:

1. Context: What’s the situation?
2. Tension: What challenge or change drives the story?
3. Human stakes: Who cares and why?
4. Insight: What happened or what was learned?
5. Impact: What does it mean going forward?

When content is structured, the idea shines.

Structure is what turns insight into momentum

Poor storytelling rarely looks broken at first glance.

The language may be fine.
The facts might be correct.
The idea is definitely present.

But what’s missing is momentum.

Without structure, readers don’t know:

• What to pay attention to
• Why a detail matters
• When the payoff is coming

This is especially damaging in long-form B2B content, where attention is already fragile.

A clear narrative framework doesn’t restrict creativity, it supports it.

It gives the story shape, allowing emotional stakes and insights to land with force instead of getting buried under information.

Good structure doesn’t make content formulaic. It makes it legible.

Content Marketing Mistake 4: Using Generic Visuals and Stock Photo Clichés

Visuals are often your first impression.

Predictable, cliché images, like a handshake for partnership, lightbulb for ideas, coins for finance make content feel lazy and generic.

Source material refers to these as visual clichés, a prominent content marketing mistake that weakens scredibility.

Why this kills your content

• It looks unoriginal
• Engagement drops
• Your brand feels generic
• AI search deprioritises repetitive imagery

Fix: Level up your visuals

1. Avoid first-page stock images.
2. Search deeper using emotional or contextual keywords.
3. Use original, lo-fi brand photos.
4. Twist clichés intentionally for humour or surprise.
5. Apply lateral thinking techniques to find fresh concepts.

A good visual is a hook. Don’t waste it.

Content Marketing Mistake 5: Picking The Wrong Medium For The Story

A common content marketing mistake is forcing a story into a format that doesn’t suit it:

• Shooting a video when a written case study would be stronger
• Publishing a text-only post when visuals are needed
• Filming a CEO when the real story lies with frontline staff

Choosing the wrong format dilutes impact.

Why this kills your content

• The medium distracts from the message
• Production becomes more expensive
• The story feels forced

Fix: Match the format to the story

Use this quick rule:

• Emotional → video
• Complex → long-form guide
• Highly visual → infographic
• Time-sensitive → social post
• Behind-the-scenes → photo essay or reel

Choose what adds the most clarity.

Mistake 5A: Treating every platform the same

Even when teams choose the right medium, they often flatten it across platforms.

Examples:

• A video designed for a website published unchanged on LinkedIn
• A long-form article pasted directly into a newsletter
• A visual-heavy story stripped of context on social

Each platform has its own consumption behaviour:

• How fast people scroll
• How much context they expect
• Whether sound, captions, or headlines carry the message

When content isn’t adapted, its strengths disappear.

This doesn’t mean creating everything from scratch.

It means respecting how stories are experienced differently in different environments.

The same idea can and should exist in multiple forms.

But each form needs to be intentional.

Distribution is part of storytelling, not an afterthought.

Content Marketing Mistake 6: Over-Polishing instead of Publishing Consistently

Some brands spend so long chasing perfection that they publish only a few pieces a year.

Meanwhile, competitors publish monthly or weekly, and dominate search.

One of the source examples describes teams “wading through legal and PR sludge” while audiences consume someone else’s content.

Why this kills your performance

• Inconsistent publishing hurts SEO
• You lose topical authority
• Content becomes outdated
• Competitors fill the vacuum

Fix: Ship smaller stories more often

• Release regular updates
• Break big ideas into multiple pieces
• Celebrate small wins
• Build momentum through frequency

The content marketing mistake made here is overlooking this: consistency beats perfection every time.

Consistency also builds internal confidence

Consistency isn’t just an SEO strategy. It’s an organisational one.

Teams that publish regularly:

• Get faster at decision-making
• Reduce overthinking
• Build shared confidence in their voice

In contrast, teams that publish infrequently often attach too much pressure to each piece.

Every article becomes a “big moment,” attracting more scrutiny, more opinions, and more delays.

Ironically, this makes quality worse, not better.

Regular publishing creates feedback loops.

You learn what resonates, what doesn’t, and where to improve in the real world, not just in theory.

Content Marketing Mistake 7: Ignoring Your Most Interesting Stories

Brands often assume the best stories come from executives or official communications.

In reality, the strongest stories typically come from:

• frontline staff
• operational teams
• customers
• everyday experiences

One source anecdote illustrates this: a dramatic rescue story could have been told by the people who lived it , not just narrated by a senior leader.

Why this matters

Human, ground-level stories are far more relatable than corporate messaging.

Fix: Go to the coal face

• Talk to staff from various levels
• Ask about real experiences
• Find emotion and stakes
• Spotlight small, human moments

These stories drive engagement and trust.

Content Marketing Mistake 8: Ignoring Creative Talent and Diluting Expertise

A quiet killer of content quality is overriding creatives.

Writers, designers, videographers, and editors understand how to tell stories effectively.

When their expertise is micromanaged or drowned in stakeholder feedback, the result becomes generic.

Why this kills your content

• Ideas become fragmented
• Assets lose personality
• Production slows
• Results feel watered down

Fix: Trust your creative partners

• Give a clear brief
• Provide direction
• Then step back
• Let talent surprise you (link to Strategy page)

A trusted creative team produces far better work, and is far less likely to commit these content marketing mistakes discussed here.

These mistakes compound: not individually, but systemically

The most damaging thing about these content marketing mistakes is that they rarely appear alone.

Content nobody cares about is often paired with:

• A weak angle
• Poor structure
• Generic visuals

Over-polished content often coexists with:

• Infrequent publishing
• Stakeholder overload
• Diluted creative ownership

When mistakes stack, performance collapses quietly.

That’s why fixing content marketing mistakes isn’t about chasing hacks or formats. It’s about strengthening the system behind your stories:

• How ideas are chosen
• How stories are shaped
• How decisions are made
• How trust is distributed

When the system improves, individual pieces improve automatically.

Summary: Great Content Wins Because it Avoids Basic Mistakes

Successful content marketing doesn’t require flawless execution, but it does require avoiding the pitfalls that weaken performance.

To recap:

1. Create content your audience cares about
2. Always find a meaningful angle
3. Tell stories well, not just loudly
4. Avoid visual clichés
5. Pick the right medium
6. Publish consistently
7. Find stories on the ground
8. Trust creative talent

Master these eight areas and your content immediately becomes clearer, stronger, and more effective.

FAQ

Q1. What are the most common content marketing mistakes?

Common mistakes include creating content no one cares about, choosing topics without a clear angle, poor storytelling, relying on generic visuals, using the wrong format, publishing inconsistently, ignoring ground-level stories, and diluting creative expertise.

Q2. How do I choose content topics my audience will actually care about?

Start with customer questions, frontline insights, search intent, and real problems people are trying to solve. If a topic doesn’t offer relevance, tension, or value, rethink it before creating anything.

Q3. What makes a strong angle in content marketing?

A strong angle ties your topic to a trend, tension, shift, or point of view that makes it relevant now. Even evergreen subjects need a fresh lens or insight to stand out.

Q4. How do I choose the right format for a story?

Match the medium to the message:

• Emotional → video
• Complex → long-form guide
• Highly visual → infographic
• Time-sensitive → social post
• Behind-the-scenes → reel or photo essay

Let clarity decide the format.

Q5. How often should brands publish content?

Consistency beats perfection. Publishing one clear, helpful piece every week or month is more effective than producing a few over-polished pieces a year.

Q6. What are the most overlooked sources of strong stories?

Frontline staff, operational teams, customers, and real on-the-ground moments. These stories have emotion, tension, and relatability—much more than corporate updates.

Q7. Why is trusting creative talent important?

Specialists like writers, designers, and videographers know how to shape ideas for maximum impact. Micromanaging or overcrowding the process dilutes quality and slows production.