Initiating a content marketing campaign is a lot like playing chess: the brands with the ability to stay two or three steps ahead of their opponents are the ones likely to reap the rewards of a successful content marketing strategy.

Businesses deciding to take their digital marketing efforts to the next level by piecing together creative content as they go, on the other hand, are likely to succumb to common pitfalls that may do more harm than good for their brands in the long run.

Like chess, content marketing is a game of strategy, anticipation, planning, and the type of forward thinking that enables enterprises to launch their next big campaign before the competition is even aware of the shifting digital tides. Below are three ways your company can get ahead of the content marketing curve right now.

Focus on niche expertise.

Most digital marketers are well-versed in content marketing by now. The method of peaking interest in one’s brand by creating engaging and informative content across myriad digital channels has become an integral tool in every online marketer’s arsenal over the last several years.

In other words, content marketers have some serious competition.

A recent quick search on LinkedIn found that 7.8 million LinkedIn users from around the world have the term “marketing” in their title, with over 2.8 million of those located in the United States. And that’s just LinkedIn users.

This is an important signal for any business considering the future of their content marketing approach, because the sheer number of marketers working online today, coupled with the fact that every major online brand executes some type of content marketing strategy or another, indicates that every major topic available for every major industry is likely already being talked about. Just typing in “healthcare provider” in Google search yields almost 43 million results.

This is where a primary focus on niche expertise comes into play. Carving out a unique niche in your industry can help differentiate your brand from the big players online that have been shouting their company’s praises from the rooftops for the better part of a decade. A recent Forbes article featuring case studies of successful niche dominance further reiterates the power of differentiating your brand from the ever-growing online crowds.

Working on niche content also helps to drive more relevant traffic your way, increasing the likelihood of conversions based on specific interests in what your business has to offer. If you’re developing a marketing campaign for a family practitioner located in metro Atlanta who focuses on pediatrics and family medicine, then making sure your content marketing strategy reflects this specific niche will help drive more relevant traffic your way.

Grow organic social media followings.

If you’re just now kicking off your business’s social media campaign, then you’re already a few moves behind – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still time to catch up. One point of importance for brands just now familiarizing themselves with social media platforms is to remain weary of the hype that tends to revolve around social.

Take your business’s Facebook page, for example. Nothing makes a heart sink like kicking off a business page on the most popular social network in the world only to discover no one likes your page yet. Sure, you may be able to draw in a few hundred leads through friends, family members and industry peers, but eventually you’re going to ask yourself if it’s worth it to try other avenues, such as paying for Facebook page likes.

In my humble opinion, this form of drawing a crowd doesn’t serve any real purpose for the majority of businesses. Paying for Facebook page likes can cost anywhere from 20 cents to more than a dollar per like, and you’re relying completely on Facebook to deliver relevant likes to your page. According to people like Derek Muller, host of the Veritasium science podcast on YouTube, this tactic can lead to money wasted on fake likes, inactive user likes, and generally uninterested leads.

Instead, focus on growing an organic social media following by working on your overall approach to customer care and service:

• Give your customers an inside look into your business. Letting current and potential customers know how your business operates and what you’re doing to build upon the business/client relationship demonstrates the type of transparency today’s consumers demand.

• Consider contacting past and current customers offline. In a world where many business interactions happen via email, webpages and/or social media, you may be surprised how far a quick 10-minute phone call or a lunch meeting with a client may get you. Positive engagements offline are likely to lead to positive engagements online in the future.

• Don’t be selling 24/7. No one likes the business that posts about new sales, offers and discounts all day, every day. Instead, act like a real human being on social media every now and then. That’s not to say you should fill your business page with videos of cats playing pianos and dancing pandas, but make sure to weigh in on a personal level from time to time.

Understand change is the only certainty.

In the world of digital marketing, change is the only certainty. Whatever specific content marketing strategies or trends you learn about today will likely be obsolete in the next year or two, which is why you should adapt the mindset of a brand that is always forward thinking and ready to tackle the next big challenge.

Consider some of the big changes that have taken place in digital marketing since the early 2000s. According to a 2003 U.S. Department of Commerce report on computer and Internet use in the United States, 62 percent of Americans had one or more computers, with little more than 54 percent having access to the Internet.

Fast forward to 2015, where a Pew Research Center study cited 84 percent of American adults use the Internet, and one can see just how much the digital landscape has changed in a little over 12 years.

Combine the ubiquity and easy access of the Internet today with the digital mediums used to get there, e.g. smartphones, laptops, tablets, and the vast array of the Internet of Things which is likely to disrupt the Internet in ways we couldn’t have imagined just a few short years ago, and you’ve got every reason to keep your content marketing strategy on its toes.

Staying up to date on the latest industry trends, consistently working toward understanding how users are engaging with brands like yours, and brainstorming about ways you can jump ahead of the competition (such as considering how your business might engage customers on the growing wearable device market) is crucial to keeping your brand out front and a few steps ahead of the competition.

In Closing

Staying ahead of the content marketing curve essentially means thinking outside of the box. As digital marketers, we’re always developing fresh ways we can engage customers based on the news of the day, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s always important to devote a little time out of each workday to sit down and focus on ways your brand can move your content marketing strategy forward in directions that are unique, engaging, and valuable to the customers you serve.

If you’re a chess player, then you already know about certain mistakes you can make that will cost you the game long before a checkmate ever comes to fruition. When you’re refining your content marketing strategy, staying one or two steps ahead will help shield your brand from such mistakes that may cost your business the royal back row in the near future.