ectionism is ruining your marketing content. 7 Tips to stop it //

No words were ever more true when it comes to the marketing content. It’s hard to tell how many times our clients and ourselves have been paralyzed by the pursuit of perfectionism. It’s not a bad thing to be perfectionist, but it could paralyze your marketing machine from the inside. It’s probably happened.

• 
  In the brainstorming meeting, you may shelve an idea that is perfectly good because it’s just not perfect enough.
  
• 
  You’re wasting your time by adjusting pixels in an image that is being used for a social media promotion of an event. The event will be over within a week.
  
• 
  The fear of not doing something right is the main reason why people hesitate to try new things.
  

We are familiar with all of these scenarios because we have been there ourselves. We know perfectionism is one of the biggest enemies of success, but we hadn’t really thought about how to combat it until we had a recent conversation with Devin Zimmerman on our Best Story Wins Podcast.

Zimmerman chatted with us about how she and her Greenlight team market financial literacy to teens and tweens. She said one of the most important lessons that her team learned was to let go perfectionism.

We’ve all moved out of our comfort zone to find balance…not everything has to be 100%.

Devin Zimmerman is the VP of Branding at Greenlight

Zimmerman believes it’s difficult to accept a less than perfect mentality when you are a marketer or designer who takes pride in their work. (And is often untangling the years of perfection required by bosses.) If marketers are to succeed, they must adapt quickly to the ever-changing market and stay on top of it. Zimmerman explains that you need to find a balance between where and how you spend your time, while also keeping your perfectionism in check.

7 Tips for Making Marketing Content without Perfectionism

Fear is the real reason for perfectionism. It’s particularly insidious, because you don’t always realize that it is making your decisions. This fear makes you keep your blinders on and keeps you from trying new things. It also keeps you stuck. How can you make sure that your ingrained perfectionist tendencies don’t take over? Follow these tips. Take a deep breath and take a seat.

1) Defining clear objectives and measuring them.

With a clear goal and a solid measurement framework, it is possible to measure your efforts confidently and make adjustments as necessary.

” Measure, measure, measure.”

Devin Zimmerman is the VP of Branding at Greenlight

Set clear, achievable, and realistic objectives for your campaigns. When you are brainstorming or making other decisions about your content strategy you can always compare them to your goals.

Focus on moving forward and maintaining momentum, not obsessing about minute details. You can break larger goals down into smaller tasks if you want to. Focus on the essential elements of your campaign that will contribute to its success. Set achievable goals to relieve pressure and concentrate on progress.

You need to have the right infrastructure in place to accurately measure your goals. Zimmerman said, “Testing provides insurance.” Make sure you measure the right things and your tools are set up correctly. Also, make sure you report your progress regularly.

You need to have a written content strategy in order to keep your team on the same page. Our free content strategy toolkit can help you document your goals. Also, check out our guide on choosing the right metrics.

Limit the time you spend on each task.

It is possible to spend endless hours, days and even weeks perfecting your marketing content. You can spend the same amount of time putting off tasks because your perfectionism paralyzes you. An idea can be improved. You can always improve your copy. There is a point at which you invest far more than what you get back. If this is true for your team then you should think about how and where you spend your time. Set up parameters to make sure you are not wasting your time.

This may involve limiting how much time you spend brainstorming, the number people you invite to the meeting or the revision rounds. It is more important to deliver your message in a timely fashion than obsessing about minor details.

You can save time by using templates, tools and other resources. Check out our 100+ content-marketing tools to work smarter and not harder.

3) Adopt the Minimum Viable Products (MVP) Approach.

The fear of mistakes can lead to marketing initiatives being delayed or abandoned. Adopt the concept of Minimum Viable Products instead of aiming for perfection. Start your marketing campaign with the most important elements for success. Then iterate, and improve on the basis of feedback and data.

You can adapt and learn more over time when you change your mindset to one of progress rather than perfection.

Tip: The most successful marketing campaigns combine a clear message with a simple idea. Use our free marketing template to ensure your ideas align with your goals.

Never forget: Growth and progress come from adapting and learning, not perfection.

4) Involve other minds in the discussion.

When you work in isolation, it’s easy to become paralyzed. It’s easy to become paralyzed when you work in a silo. Successful marketing is a team effort that requires fresh perspectives and collaboration. This is one of many benefits to hiring a agency for your marketing strategy. Their experience and expertise will help you identify any marketing opportunities and gaps you might have missed. )

It’s helpful to ask for help from others. You can get feedback or ideas by asking your colleagues, trusted team members or mentors.

You can learn a lot from your colleagues. They are also legitimate content creators. Showing off their ideas and expertise is a great way to increase the amount of content that you produce and make your employees more visible. For more information on how to do this, check out our tips for turning your team into content creators as well as how to maximize your content.

5) Try out new things.

Zimmerman believes in trying many different things with your marketing content, even if it’s not perfect. This is actually one of the most important tips we can give to all marketers. You can easily become stagnant. Your analytics will show you when this is happening.

Marketers have more tools to create content than ever before, even though markets are more crowded. The barrier to entry has been lowered, making it easier to create a variety of content. There are many ways to engage with your audience. From TikTok and social graphics, to live streams, to Q&As.

We’ve asked people about their biggest challenges in content marketing to mix up our sales outreach. We received an excellent response, and valuable feedback. This helps us to understand the challenges our audience faces and what kind of content we should experiment with.

Use the right format to convey the message. It’s the secret to creating a healthy mix. Check out our guide to learn which formats work best for certain stories.

Hold postmortems.

It can be scary to try something new, especially if you don’t like the results. There is always something new to learn. Even though life can be hectic for marketers today, holding a postmortem will help you gain valuable insights.

• 
  How was this experiment compared with previous experiments?
  
• 
  What can you change?
  
• 
  What can you learn and/or improve from this process?
  

There will be no perfect campaign. If you are able to critically analyze and iterate your efforts, you will be able to ensure that you’re making choices based on real data and experiences.

Tip: Conducting a content audit will also help you identify what’s working and not working for your brand. It can also show you where there are gaps in messaging (aka opportunities to create new content). Use our template and guide to perform your own content audit.

7) Make your successes and failures into content.

This is, in our opinion the best way to overcome any fear of failing. You can learn from your mistakes, whether you succeed or not. You can also share your knowledge with others.

It is one of your most generous acts to share your knowledge. You are viewed as a thought leader. It shows vulnerability and willingness to grow. It shows that you’re always striving to be and do better. By recognizing and appreciating your team’s efforts and progress, you create a positive working environment that inspires growth and motivation.

Celebrate your big wins (and those team members who made it happen). If you’ve had a disappointing fail, tell us what you could have done differently.

We’ve discussed the most important lessons learned from our first decade of business, including the mistakes we made in terms of content strategy.

Some marketing teams produce quarterly reports, but don’t share the findings. Look through past reports for opportunities to highlight successes or lessons learned.

Above All, Keep Learning

Keep up with the latest marketing trends and practices to help you improve your marketing.

Subscribe to the The Best Story Wins Podcast to hear from industry thought leaders. You can check out the full episode of Zimmerman to learn more about marketing. As you continue to work towards your goals, keep in mind: Progress–not perfection.

The post Perfectionism Ruins Your Marketing Content (7 Ways to Stop It) first appeared on Column Five.

Author: Katy French