The 7 Deadly Sins of Content Marketing (And How to Fix Them)

By Marc Pickren, CEO, Springbot, Inc.

Look, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your content strategy might suck. And by "suck," I mean it’s doing a fantastic job of not engaging your audience, not generating leads, and not making your sales team’s job any easier.

If you’re still pumping out generic blog posts stuffed with buzzwords, vague whitepapers that no one reads, or social posts that get exactly three likes (one from your marketing intern, one from your CEO out of obligation, and one from a bot in Eastern Europe)—you’ve got a problem.

Bad Content: The Silent Killer of Your Pipeline

Here’s the deal: B2B buyers aren’t looking for generic fluff. They don’t have time for another “Top 5 Business Trends of 2025” article that could’ve been written by ChatGPT on autopilot. They want real, valuable, and specific insights that solve their problems.

When your content strategy fails, here’s what happens:

Buyers disengage. They land on your site, see irrelevant content, and bounce faster than a bad check.
Your sales team suffers. Without solid content, sales reps have nothing to educate or nurture leads with.
You become forgettable. If your competitors are producing high-value content that actually helps, guess where buyers are going? (Hint: Not to you.)

The Content Sins You’re Probably Committing

Vague, one-size-fits-all messaging. If your content tries to speak to everyone, it connects with no one.
Ignoring buyer personas. Not every customer cares about the same things. CFOs don’t want the same content as IT leaders.
Keyword stuffing & SEO nonsense. Writing for search engines instead of people makes your content sound like it was translated from English to Klingon and back.
Too much product talk. Nobody cares about your “innovative, industry-leading, cutting-edge SaaS solution” unless you first show them how it solves their problem.

How to Fix Your Dumpster Fire Content Strategy

Know Your Audience (Like, Actually Know Them). Talk to your customers. Find out their pain points. Create content that speaks directly to their problems.
Get Specific. Instead of “How to Improve Business Efficiency,” try “5 Proven Ways for Retail Brands to Cut Fulfillment Costs by 20%.”
Quality Over Quantity. One killer piece of content beats ten mediocre ones. Stop churning out filler.
Make It Easy to Consume. Long-form content is great, but break it up with videos, infographics, and punchy takeaways. No one wants to read a wall of text.
Connect Content to Sales. Your content should actually help sales reps move deals forward—think case studies, objection-handling guides, and personalized email sequences.

Final Thought: If It’s Boring, It’s Broken

B2B content doesn’t have to be soul-crushingly dull. If your audience isn’t engaging, it’s not because they hate content—it’s because they hate bad content. Fix it, and you’ll see better engagement, stronger pipeline momentum, and maybe—just maybe—your sales team will stop rolling their eyes at your marketing efforts.