Two Creative Traps That Impede Content Marketing Success

One of the best traits of a creative professional is passion.  If you ask a creative about their inspiration or thought process about something, you'll often get an impassioned (and sometimes lengthy) response.  However, that passion can also lead creatives into situations where even the best ideas aren't generating the right amount of success.  Here are two creative traps you can avoid.

The Impatience Trap

One thing that is universal with creatives is that we are reaction addicts.  We love to produce something and get that positive response.  When that response doesn't happen as fast as we would like, it can demoralize our moods.  Granted, in some cases, it might mean we do have to go back to the drawing board.

Other times, it could be an issue of patience.

The truth is, some projects don't generate instant gratification.  You have to understand that in the beginning. Otherwise, demoralization will prevent gratification, and it was your fault.

For example, the impatience trap is very common when people are writing blogs or producing podcasts.  That's why you see a lot of individuals and companies who start a blog and podcast, and they quit after a few posts.

New podcasters or bloggers tend to think their first offerings are going to generate an unreasonable amount of downloads/reads because there are so many people on the internet.  It's true, there are MILLIONS of people online, but there are also hundreds and thousands of them writing blogs and producing podcasts.  You have competition.

Patience, dedication and consistency are the keys to gratification with this type of content.

The formula for success in blogging and podcasting are similar:
  

• People need to see that you're serious about providing value.
• You have to demonstrate that you'll provide value on an ongoing basis.
• With podcasts, you have to get episodes out on the same day to get people to add you to their listening habits
• Have realistic expectations about the time it will take to grow.  If growth happens faster than expected, celebrate that, and build on it.

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If it was a simple "build it and they will come" proposition, everyone would succeed.  Plus, I wouldn't have to write this blog.

The One-Hat Trap

A few years ago,  I sat in on a meeting of creatives who were showing off a new design for the company website. The new-look was supposedly designed to help inspire consumers to input their credit card information.

The challenge: The credit card form was at the end of a registration process in which users were told they were getting something FOR FREE.

However, they felt that a better-looking site featuring stock photos of business professionals would make consumers less angry about imputing their card information at the end of the process.

When they asked me what I thought, I responded with a question.  "If you all were told something was free, and at the end of the registration process, you were asked for your card information...would you care how nice the website looked?"

They fell into the one-hat trap.

In other words, they didn't take their marketing hats off and replace them with their consumer hats.  They were thinking like marketers and not consumers.  You can't do that and expect tremendous success.  

It can be easy to fall into this trap.  There are times where I caught myself before falling into it.  As creatives, we can fall too far in love with a concept and forget we're not producing it for ourselves.  As a content marketer, it's easy to forget you're also a consumer. 

Don't forget that. 

Ask yourself questions about your content as a member of your target audience.  When you think like a consumer, ask yourself:

• Would I click on this?
• Would I keep reading?
• Would I keep listening?
• Would I stop watching?
• Would I come back for more?

You'll give yourself another layer of invaluable insight, and you avoid the trap.  Evading traps like these will increase the chances of celebrating the gratification you seek.