If you’re new to the content marketing game, you may not realize how many moving pieces go into making a
#1. If I post a bunch of content, I can stop and take my marketing efforts elsewhere.
Even if you have dynamic content on your business’s blog right now, you must continue producing it. For instance, if you post consecutive stellar blogs and then stop posting for a month, this won’t look good to search engines, and your readers will lose interest. Producing consistent content for a period of time is great, but a content marketer’s job is never truly complete! Consistent content will help you continue to spark potential customers’ interest, and rank for keywords that relate to your business.
Not all content resonates with users on each specific platform. It may be tempting to schedule the same message for your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other profiles, but you won’t receive optimal engagement. Re-purposing content is one thing, but cross-posting the same content to save time won’t benefit your business.
Posting a visual piece of content, like an infographic or video, may be well received on Instagram. This same piece of content may not do well on LinkedIn, and instead a job posting for a new role at your business would be better. Links to press releases or blog posts may reach users on Twitter, especially if you use related hashtags. If you research and test which content forms will do best on your social platforms, you’ll make the most of the content you’re creating.
#3. All of your content should focus on selling to customers.
If your blogs, social posts, videos and other content are all centered around promoting your small business’s products or services, you may alienate customers. Although 73 percent of users utilize social platforms in order to make sales, you need to create a balance in your content. Before you can turn readers into customers, you’ll need to strengthen relationships. If your social media accounts, blog and other content platforms are constant sales plugs, you can expect many users to hit the ‘unfollow’ button. Then, they will look for engaging content elsewhere. Instead, craft content that educates readers, sets you apart as an industry leader and respond to customer questions when possible. Building relationships and producing content that will be a resource to readers is how you win customers; not by overwhelming them with promotional offers.
#4. Once I post a blog, that’s it. I can’t re-purpose it.
Let’s say that you write and post a great piece of content. You may think that once the edits are finalized, you can move onto another blog post. But this is not the case! Next, you should be sharing it to social media, shortening the content for advertisements, or using it for videos. This is especially true if you notice that a certain piece of content is resonating with readers. Repurposing content will save you time in the future. Plus, it will allow you to share content with your audience in new forms.
#5. Content marketing doesn’t require an organized effort.
If you don’t devise a content marketing plan, you’ll have a difficult time creating and optimizing content for your small business. That’s why you should start by choosing a content calendar template that will help you organize your content projects. This is especially necessary if your small business will have multiple content contributors. Avoid missing deadlines, forgetting to make edits or neglecting other components by updating your calendar on a weekly basis.
#6. People aren’t going to read my content, so why should I bother?
That’s where you’re wrong! As a small business owner, you may not see the value in producing content. But everyone starts somewhere. Start small; hold yourself to producing one blog post a week, or scheduling a few messages to social media. Once you can see how long it will take you to produce content, you can move towards bigger projects. If you don’t start your content marketing efforts, you won’t see how it can generate revenue for your business!
#7. If I start producing content, I’ll see results soon after
Content marketing is not an overnight success story. It takes consistent effort, and is often a trial and error process. You’ll need to take time to build your content library, and should see what content formats and subjects interest your audience. In order to determine the kind of content your audience is looking for, don’t be afraid to ask them! Send out an audience input survey, or ask them to leave comments on blog posts. If you take time to recognize the content that is useful to your readers, the sooner your content marketing will pay off.
#8. I can handle content marketing on my own, I don’t need contributors
If you want to expand your content marketing efforts, consider hiring experienced content marketers. Even if your small business’s team doesn’t have anyone with this set of skills, you can reach out to freelancers looking for work. Not only will this help you increase the amount of content you’re producing, these individuals will be able to provide fresh ideas.
Now that you’ve read these 8 content marketing myths, it’s time for you to get your small business’s content marketing efforts on the right track. Let us know in the comment section below if you can think of any other content marketing myths that business owners should avoid!
