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Whether just starting out or having an off day, we’ve all made an unfortunate mistake or two in content marketing. Righting that wrong and moving on is important, but what happens if you repeat those mistakes again and again? Your audience will suffer, and eventually, so will your brand.

If you find yourself guilty of any of the misdeeds below, don’t stress. Avoiding these 7 sins in the future will take your content marketing from sinful to zenful.

Overloaded SEO (Greed)

Keywords are vital, but using them excessively spreads your reach out over too large of an audience. Keyword stuffing is downright dangerous, too, and might get your blog or website penalized by search engines. Yikes.

Cut Back on Keywords

Find which keywords your audience is most likely to respond to and stick with a set amount. While there isn’t a magic number, use better judgment when selecting keywords that pertain to your business and are relevant to your industry.

Abusing Trending Topics (Lust)

Every year a handful of brands are caught abusing trending topics, misusing holidays and events, or trying out a meme for self-promotion. When you hop onto what’s most popular or scandalous simply to get those coveted shares, it doesn’t always end well.

Find Your Path

Know what works and what doesn’t work for your brand by creating a comprehensive marketing plan. Think of creative ways you can branch out to popular topics without straying too far from your identity, and when in doubt, ask a team member whether or not they think a certain topic will cause controversy.

Inconsistent Posts (Gluttony and Sloth)

This is a two-for-one deal that can be tricky to get just right. Either you’re posting way too much and overloading your audience, or you’re posting too little and not giving your audience enough to nibble on every day.

Stick to a Schedule

Resist the urge to go on share and re-tweet sprees, and instead, come up with a solid posting schedule in the form of an editorial calendar. While the amount you should post varies by industry, updating your pages at least two times a day is best.

According to Buffer, ideal daily averages for updates include 3 tweets, 2 Facebook posts, 5 Pinterest pins, and 3 Google+ posts. Tinker with the numbers to find what works for you and your audience, but make sure not to neglect any of your social channels in the process.

Copied and Stolen Content (Envy)

That self-proclaimed Marketing Guru in your network always garners a ton of shares and great feedback, so you casually copy their work. Not only is this ethically wrong, but also it does nothing to build up your own cache of unique content.

Get Creative

Coming up with fresh ideas is sometimes tough. Instead of focusing on one or two competitors, use a handy site like scoop.it to find inspiration, or comb through a certain hashtag on Twitter. If you’re still struggling, ask for a team meeting and bounce brainstorming ideas around the office.

Your Way or the Highway (Pride)

Too set in your ways? You might fail to notice errors like broken links, a lack of visual elements, and little to no content variety. If you never study best practices or switch up your tactics, you won’t grow as a content marketer.

Try Something New

Learn from your mistakes through trial and error, and read all that you can on how industry leaders are winning the content marketing game. Studying the analytics of your social media pages and website will give you a solid idea of what works well. The sooner you find the right path for your brand, the quicker your content will go from sinful to zenful. 

Angry or Opinionated Updates (Wrath)

Uh oh. You just replied to an upset customer on social media, and you weren’t nice about it. Annoyed updates, incensed blog posts, and irritated replies come across as confrontational and can follow your brand around the Internet.

Take a Breather

If you have an angry customer complaint or you’re generally upset about something, it’s always best to step away for a few minutes and then come back to revisit the problem with a clear mind. Respond to complaints positively and honestly, and apologize whenever possible to show your community members that you have patience. As for that irritated or opinionated blog post? Let it sit in your drafts for a day or two and then decide if it’s really worth the heat.