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<\/a><\/p>\nI\u2019m Devin Reed<\/a> \u2014 former head of content at Gong and Clari, now working with B2B marketing teams through my company, The Reeder<\/a>. I\u2019ve helped scale brands from $20M to $ 200M+ ARR, and I\u2019ve worked with companies like Notion, Wiz, and FloQast to build content engines that drive tangible pipeline.<\/p>\n When I run a content audit, I\u2019m not just skimming through performance dashboards. I\u2019m digging into what\u2019s broken, what\u2019s missing, and what it\u2019s going to take to turn content into a real growth lever.<\/p>\n In this piece, I\u2019ll walk you through how these projects usually start, the most common mistakes I see, and what teams can do to course-correct.<\/p>\n 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\u2019ve had a recent realization that it\u2019s no longer something they can take lightly. Put another way, they know they can\u2019t afford not<\/em> to invest in quality content marketing.<\/p>\n Usually, something went spectacularly wrong recently, or the CEO said something like, \u201cIt\u2019s time to get our act together.\u201d<\/p>\n Other times, they\u2019ve realized there\u2019s not one growth number they can look at confidently and say, \u201cSee, it\u2019s working!\u201d And even more often than ever, it\u2019s a bigger strategic play, like launching new products, especially now with AI.<\/p>\n 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?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes, it\u2019s just competitive pressure. The CEO of their biggest competitor is active on LinkedIn. Their whole team is posting. It feels like they\u2019re eating up all the attention. So, they start thinking, \u201cWe\u2019ve got to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s 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\u2019s exactly what I\u2019d do before publishing a single word. I\u2019d want (and need) <\/em>to know:<\/p>\n From there, we can build something off their strengths, avoid weaknesses, and, most importantly, create something that actually stands out.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n I think the biggest mistake I see is having too many<\/em> ideal customer personas.<\/p>\n There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n One day, it\u2019s the CRO. The next day, it\u2019s the CFO. Then, it\u2019s the sales enablement team. Before you know it, you\u2019ve got five or seven ICPs you\u2019re trying to speak to. But here\u2019s the thing: You can\u2019t have seven \u201cideal\u201d customers. If everything is a priority, nothing is.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got to pick one, maybe two, and prioritize accordingly.<\/p>\n The other version of this is: You only have one or two ICPs, but you don\u2019t really understand them. You\u2019re not clear on what their world looks like, what their real problems are, or how they\u2019re trying to solve them.<\/p>\n Those are the two biggest challenges: Either you\u2019re spread too thin, or you\u2019re not going deep enough.<\/p>\n When I\u2019m doing the audit, I always ask the client to send me recent content, usually the stuff they consider \u201ctop-performing.\u201d (But honestly, they probably wouldn\u2019t have hired me if it were truly performing.)<\/p>\n What I see most of the time is content that\u2019s informational, but not entertaining. It\u2019s not different. It doesn\u2019t share a perspective that hasn\u2019t already been said a hundred times.<\/p>\n And, I think that used to be<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n But now, information is everywhere. You can use ChatGPT and be an \u201cexpert\u201d in almost anything, really quickly. Just having information isn\u2019t enough anymore.<\/p>\n What is<\/em> enough? A unique spin. A point of view. What\u2019s your take on this trend? What\u2019s the connection you<\/em> see that others don\u2019t? What\u2019s a story from your experience that makes this relatable?<\/p>\n So now, information has less value. The relatability becomes really important. The stories become important. That\u2019s what people are going to remember more. That\u2019s what makes the content stand out.<\/p>\n This one\u2019s super common: Most folks don\u2019t have a documented content strategy.<\/p>\n Their topic selection gets reactive. One week, it\u2019s product-focused. That is, until the CEO pings them and says, \u201cHey, our competitor just did a podcast on this. How come we don\u2019t talk about it?\u201d<\/p>\n So, now you\u2019re chasing competitors instead of setting your own direction.<\/p>\n And when you play that out over time \u2014 like, a year\u2019s worth of content \u2014 you end up with a calendar that\u2019s all over the place. No one\u2019s going to remember what you stand for. No one\u2019s going to associate your brand with a single idea.<\/p>\n We all have busier lives and access to more content than ever. You\u2019re lucky if someone remembers one<\/em> thing about your company. If your content is scattered, that never happens.<\/p>\n Instead, you want guardrails. That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n I\u2019m working on this exact problem right now.<\/p>\n Someone hired an SEO agency. They\u2019re making great content. But, what happens next? They post the blog on their website. Maybe make a corporate LinkedIn post. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n So now, they\u2019ve got all this good content sitting in a place where people aren\u2019t actively spending time.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not a distribution strategy. You\u2019ve got to meet people where they are. Your audience may <\/em>go to your website. But, you need to appear on their LinkedIn feeds, inboxes, and webinar rotations.<\/p>\n Otherwise, your team is investing $10K+ per month on content that\u2019s not driving traffic, not driving conversions. You end up with great content for the sake<\/em> of having it.<\/p>\n So, make the time to repurpose your greatest hits. You spent all this time on a smart framework, solving an urgent problem. Why not<\/em> turn that into 10 LinkedIn posts? Why not make it a webinar, a keynote, or go on a podcast circuit?<\/p>\n We can\u2019t assume, \u201cIf we build it, they\u2019ll come.\u201d We\u2019ve got to be just as intentional about distributing and repurposing as we are about creating.<\/p>\n The biggest gap I see is people who don\u2019t understand how the work connects to business outcomes.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s just take webinars as an example. I\u2019ll ask, \u201cWhy are you doing them? Why does the number of registrations need to grow 20% quarter-over-quarter?\u201d<\/p>\n Do you know your attendance rate? Let\u2019s say it\u2019s 25%. Cool. What\u2019s your MQL rate? What\u2019s your conversion rate from MQL to opportunity? What\u2019s your ACV?<\/p>\n Most marketers don\u2019t know that cascade. So, they just keep doing more. That means more webinars, more content, more stuff \u2014 without knowing why<\/em> or what it\u2019s driving.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re doing content that doesn\u2019t have a direct ROI, fine. But, you need to tie it to what I call the \u201cCEO slide.\u201d<\/p>\n Every year, the CEO gets up and says, \u201cHere are the four or five strategic priorities this year.\u201d Perfect. Tie your content to one of those. Then share metrics that show some<\/em> form of impact. Growth over time. A directional shift. Something that says, \u201cThis matters.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re trying to fix these issues, here\u2019s where I\u2019d start.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the first thing. You need a content strategy that aligns all your decision-making in one place. You can\u2019t align your team if you don\u2019t have a single source of truth for what you\u2019re doing and why.<\/p>\n This handles a lot. It gives you focus, clarity, and a way to evaluate ideas beyond, \u201cDoes this sound cool?\u201d<\/p>\n You should have a step-by-step guide for how to create high-impact content every single time. That includes ideation, production, approval, distribution \u2014 start to finish. The whole process should be mapped out.<\/p>\n That way, once you have a good idea, you\u2019re not reinventing the wheel. You\u2019ve got a clear path to take it from idea to execution consistently and effectively.<\/p>\n This should live in your content strategy, too. What are the top three metrics you care about? And then, go deeper by channel.<\/p>\n Like I mentioned with webinars, ask, \u201cWhat does success look like? What\u2019s the full funnel of that channel?\u201d If your team doesn\u2019t know it, that gives you an opportunity for learning and development.<\/p>\n And as a head of marketing or content, that\u2019s something you can teach.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re creating consistently but still not seeing the impact you want, don\u2019t assume the answer is to do more. Step back. Audit what\u2019s working, fix what\u2019s broken, and rebuild with focus.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I see a lot of marketing teams stuck in the same cycle: They believe in content. They\u2019re creating constantly. But, they\u2019re just not seeing the results they want. Add that the CEO is asking why the competitor is \u201csuddenly everywhere.\u201d Oh, and internally, there\u2019s no real alignment on who you\u2019re talking to, what you\u2019re trying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261,"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions\/261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why Companies Reach Out for a Content Audit<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The 5 Most Common Content Marketing Mistakes I See<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n1. You<\/strong> have too many ICPs.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. All of your content sounds the same.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"what\u2019s](\"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/whatE28099s20your20take20on20this20trend3F20whatE28099s20the20connection20you20see20that20others20donE28099t3F20whatE28099s20a20story20from20your20experience20that20makes20this20relatable3F.png\")
<\/p>\n3. You don\u2019t have strong content pillars.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n4. Your team lacks a distribution and repurposing strategy.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. You\u2019re focusing on metrics, but not the right ones.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How Teams Can Get Back on Track<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"how](\"http:\/\/www.dietdebunker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/how20teams20can20get20back20on20track.jpg\")
<\/p>\n1. Create a cohesive content strategy.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. Build content program or channel playbooks.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Define your metrics (and own them!).<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Get Clear Before You Create<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"