The struggle of content creation is real. Some brands are fortunate enough to have entire teams dedicated to the creation of content. Such diversity and full-time dedication leads to some pretty amazing results most of the time. For the rest of us, though, content creation can be a maddening experience in which the demands of a constantly competitive internet insist that quality, reliability and detail are paramount. In the pursuit of the ever-elusive content creation unicorn, we may end up listening to some pieces of advice that are anything but productive. We’ll review today four pieces of advice that can be absolutely detrimental to your brand’s long-term success and that should be avoided at all costs.

Using Generic Photography/Multimedia

When you’re pinging servers for new and relevant photos, images and other multimedia to use in your blog posts, articles or pages, it can be all too easy to stumble across some generic yet free-to-use solution. We’ve all been told that the use of multimedia – particularly images – alongside text is essential, but this advice has limits. Elements such as stock photography does not elicit emotion or interest from readers and can actually cause harm to the potency of your content. While you definitely want to use content, be sure to avoid using anything that is generic in nature.

Use Overseas Writing Talent

The constant need for new content can be demanding. If you’re not able to produce all the content you’d like organically, then you may consider outsourcing some of the work. While this can be a great idea in some cases, using content creation services offered by non-native speakers can be the death knell for your brand’s reputation. The costs associated with outsourcing content creation efforts can be pricey, but the temptation to use services provided by those who lack a native understanding of the target audience’s language may cost you more in the long-run.

Overexert Yourself

We hear it all the time – content creation is a constant effort. It truly doesn’t ever stop for successful brands, but the rate at which you should be producing content is more flexible than you may realize. Most brands are not in the position where they need to produce a new piece of content each day, but some are forcing themselves into doing so anyway. While a steady supply of content is ideal, it is better to provide a reliable stream of content that takes into account your abilities. Overexerting yourself can inevitably lead to burn-out and a failing of the brand’s content creation strategies.

Writing Too Generally

Every brand needs a target audience. In order to do well, a brand must deliver content that is relevant and targeted to this audience. Unfortunately, all too many brands make the mistake of pinging servers with content that is so broad in nature that it inspires no real emotion in or provides entertainment for those who read it. Content marketing revolves around increasing initial exposure within a particular audience, yes, but the real success comes from how willing people are to share and interact with it. Content that fails to be specific enough to resonate with a particular audience will go nowhere.

We all make mistakes in the process of creating new content and managing our brands. What are some content creation mistakes you’ve made in the past, and how did you learn from your mistakes? Share your experiences below with us and help others avoid going down the same path.