I see a lot of marketing teams stuck in the same cycle: They believe in content. They’re creating constantly. But, they’re just not seeing the results they want. Add that the CEO is asking why the competitor is “suddenly everywhere.”
Oh, and internally, there’s no real alignment on who you’re talking to, what you’re trying to say, or how you’re measuring success.
That’s usually when I get the call.
I’m Devin Reed — former head of content at Gong and Clari, now working with B2B marketing teams through my company, The Reeder. I’ve helped scale brands from $20M to $ 200M+ ARR, and I’ve worked with companies like Notion, Wiz, and FloQast to build content engines that drive tangible pipeline.
When I run a content audit, I’m not just skimming through performance dashboards. I’m digging into what’s broken, what’s missing, and what it’s going to take to turn content into a real growth lever.
In this piece, I’ll walk you through how these projects usually start, the most common mistakes I see, and what teams can do to course-correct.
Why Companies Reach Out for a Content Audit
Before I begin working with clients, a CMO or VP of marketing already has had a long-time conviction that content is important. But, they’ve had a recent realization that it’s no longer something they can take lightly. Put another way, they know they can’t afford not to invest in quality content marketing.
Usually, something went spectacularly wrong recently, or the CEO said something like, “It’s time to get our act together.”
Other times, they’ve realized there’s not one growth number they can look at confidently and say, “See, it’s working!” And even more often than ever, it’s a bigger strategic play, like launching new products, especially now with AI.
So the question becomes: How do we get our name and our product story out there in a way that makes it radically clear that we are different than our competitors?
Sometimes, it’s just competitive pressure. The CEO of their biggest competitor is active on LinkedIn. Their whole team is posting. It feels like they’re eating up all the attention. So, they start thinking, “We’ve got to do something.”
That’s where my Content Design process comes in, which always begins with an audit. Because if I were stepping into the Head of Content role at a company, that’s exactly what I’d do before publishing a single word. I’d want (and need) to know:
- What have we been doing?
- What’s working?
- What’s not?
- What are our competitors doing, and what seems to be working for them?
From there, we can build something off their strengths, avoid weaknesses, and, most importantly, create something that actually stands out.
The 5 Most Common Content Marketing Mistakes I See
I’ve done a lot of these audits, and there are a few mistakes that come up over and over again, regardless of company size or industry. Here are the most common and damaging.
1. You have too many ICPs.
I think the biggest mistake I see is having too many ideal customer personas.
There’s been so much noise (or insight, depending on how you look at it) about how buying committees are getting bigger and sales processes are more complex. So, I see a lot of marketing teams that feel pressured to market to everyone as a result.
One day, it’s the CRO. The next day, it’s the CFO. Then, it’s the sales enablement team. Before you know it, you’ve got five or seven ICPs you’re trying to speak to. But here’s the thing: You can’t have seven “ideal” customers. If everything is a priority, nothing is.
You’ve got to pick one, maybe two, and prioritize accordingly.
The other version of this is: You only have one or two ICPs, but you don’t really understand them. You’re not clear on what their world looks like, what their real problems are, or how they’re trying to solve them.
Those are the two biggest challenges: Either you’re spread too thin, or you’re not going deep enough.
2. All of your content sounds the same.
When I’m doing the audit, I always ask the client to send me recent content, usually the stuff they consider “top-performing.” (But honestly, they probably wouldn’t have hired me if it were truly performing.)
What I see most of the time is content that’s informational, but not entertaining. It’s not different. It doesn’t share a perspective that hasn’t already been said a hundred times.
And, I think that used to be fine. Maybe pre-2022, before ChatGPT and AI, information had more value. You needed to have real experience, be a researcher, or deliver something in between to say something useful.
But now, information is everywhere. You can use ChatGPT and be an “expert” in almost anything, really quickly. Just having information isn’t enough anymore.
What is enough? A unique spin. A point of view. What’s your take on this trend? What’s the connection you see that others don’t? What’s a story from your experience that makes this relatable?
So now, information has less value. The relatability becomes really important. The stories become important. That’s what people are going to remember more. That’s what makes the content stand out.
3. You don’t have strong content pillars.
This one’s super common: Most folks don’t have a documented content strategy.
Their topic selection gets reactive. One week, it’s product-focused. That is, until the CEO pings them and says, “Hey, our competitor just did a podcast on this. How come we don’t talk about it?”
So, now you’re chasing competitors instead of setting your own direction.
And when you play that out over time — like, a year’s worth of content — you end up with a calendar that’s all over the place. No one’s going to remember what you stand for. No one’s going to associate your brand with a single idea.
We all have busier lives and access to more content than ever. You’re lucky if someone remembers one thing about your company. If your content is scattered, that never happens.
Instead, you want guardrails. That doesn’t mean you can’t newsjack or jump on trends. But you need to be playing one beat, all year long. One drum that points to one core idea. And, 90% of your content needs to ladder up to that.
4. Your team lacks a distribution and repurposing strategy.
I’m working on this exact problem right now.
Someone hired an SEO agency. They’re making great content. But, what happens next? They post the blog on their website. Maybe make a corporate LinkedIn post. That’s it.
So now, they’ve got all this good content sitting in a place where people aren’t actively spending time.
That’s not a distribution strategy. You’ve got to meet people where they are. Your audience may go to your website. But, you need to appear on their LinkedIn feeds, inboxes, and webinar rotations.
Otherwise, your team is investing $10K+ per month on content that’s not driving traffic, not driving conversions. You end up with great content for the sake of having it.
So, make the time to repurpose your greatest hits. You spent all this time on a smart framework, solving an urgent problem. Why not turn that into 10 LinkedIn posts? Why not make it a webinar, a keynote, or go on a podcast circuit?
We can’t assume, “If we build it, they’ll come.” We’ve got to be just as intentional about distributing and repurposing as we are about creating.
5. You’re focusing on metrics, but not the right ones.
The biggest gap I see is people who don’t understand how the work connects to business outcomes.
Let’s just take webinars as an example. I’ll ask, “Why are you doing them? Why does the number of registrations need to grow 20% quarter-over-quarter?”
Do you know your attendance rate? Let’s say it’s 25%. Cool. What’s your MQL rate? What’s your conversion rate from MQL to opportunity? What’s your ACV?
Most marketers don’t know that cascade. So, they just keep doing more. That means more webinars, more content, more stuff — without knowing why or what it’s driving.
If you’re doing content that doesn’t have a direct ROI, fine. But, you need to tie it to what I call the “CEO slide.”
Every year, the CEO gets up and says, “Here are the four or five strategic priorities this year.” Perfect. Tie your content to one of those. Then share metrics that show some form of impact. Growth over time. A directional shift. Something that says, “This matters.”
How Teams Can Get Back on Track
If you’re trying to fix these issues, here’s where I’d start.
1. Create a cohesive content strategy.
That’s the first thing. You need a content strategy that aligns all your decision-making in one place. You can’t align your team if you don’t have a single source of truth for what you’re doing and why.
This handles a lot. It gives you focus, clarity, and a way to evaluate ideas beyond, “Does this sound cool?”
2. Build content program or channel playbooks.
You should have a step-by-step guide for how to create high-impact content every single time. That includes ideation, production, approval, distribution — start to finish. The whole process should be mapped out.
That way, once you have a good idea, you’re not reinventing the wheel. You’ve got a clear path to take it from idea to execution consistently and effectively.
3. Define your metrics (and own them!).
This should live in your content strategy, too. What are the top three metrics you care about? And then, go deeper by channel.
Like I mentioned with webinars, ask, “What does success look like? What’s the full funnel of that channel?” If your team doesn’t know it, that gives you an opportunity for learning and development.
And as a head of marketing or content, that’s something you can teach.
Get Clear Before You Create
If you’re creating consistently but still not seeing the impact you want, don’t assume the answer is to do more. Step back. Audit what’s working, fix what’s broken, and rebuild with focus.
Once you understand where things are falling short, you can make smarter decisions, realign your team, and finally start seeing the results your content was supposed to drive in the first place. And if you need more support, you know where to find me.
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