Content marketing has been more important than ever. As per the popular perception, content marketing is like a magic wand that can help you increase organic traffic to your website. Well, the truth is that it can surely get you thousands of new visitors but it needs time and effort.
With all the new information and figures popping out about content marketing, people are also consuming a lot of stuff which is not true. Sometimes, even digital marketing folks fall prey to these content marketing myths spreading all over like wildfire.
That’s why I am going to list some common content marketing myths you should be aware of and stop following right now.
Let’s take a look at them:
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Content marketing doesn’t work for every business
I have heard a lot of people talking about how they can’t incorporate content marketing into their not-so-cool business. Let me tell you that content marketing isn’t industry-specific at all.
Thus, it’s safe to assume that it can benefit all industries. Drop this myth that content marketing only works for certain types of businesses.
In fact, conversion rates are 6X higher for companies and brands using content marketing than those that aren’t regardless of the industry-type or nature of the business.
What to do: Remember that story-telling is the best form of content marketing. It doesn’t matter whether you’re launching a product or selling soft-toys, content marketing can do wonders if done the right way.
Don’t stick to the basic stuff. Be sure of the story you would like to tell the audience and revolve your content around your services in such a manner that engages the audience and leaves the right impression.
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Anyone can create content
There is a lot of difference in writing words and weaving a story with words with an actionable intent. Every good content marketer knows the importance of great content and what comes along with it.
Sadly, people underestimate quality writing; they think that anyone with good English can write quality content which isn’t true most of the times. It might seem easy in the beginning but when you actually dip your toes in the water, you would like to leave it to the professionals only.
You would be thinking that it’s just writing. Not that of a big deal. The truth is that even a two-sentence caption could take up to two hours or even more. The point is not just to provide fresh content but also to convert them.
What to do: Don’t shy away from hiring an experienced content writer. Believe me, he/she can do wonders and add a lot of value to your business. There is no dearth of web content writers, you have to find the one who understands your vision and help you dominate the market scene.
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Quantity more important than quality
Okay. You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. In fact, all of us have heard of it and even believed that more the content, more would be your chances of attracting new customers. However, the above statement is true but partly.
Many businesses focus on producing a lot of content, even at the cost of its quality. Remember that you write content for a specific reason. It could be anything from selling, providing information or even educating about something specific.
What to do: If your piece is poorly-written, contains irrelevant information, and fails to strike the right chord or evoke an emotion, no matter the number, it’s not going to add any value. Keeping quantity over quality might lose you some customers.
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It’s all about long blog posts
There was a time when the content was all about lengthy pieces of texts. But gone are those days as it’s no longer limited to long blog posts or niche articles. Times are changing and so are people consuming the online content.
Along with the web content, people are consuming images, infographics, videos, memes, gifs and what not. As a matter of fact, when people added an image or some visual to their Facebook posts, they got around 2.5 times more engagement than a post with no image. Almost 88 percent of marketers admitted using images and other visual content in more than 50% of the articles they published in 2018.
What to do: Along with detailed articles, experiment with the short form of content as well. For examples, while targetting millennials and younger workforce, prefer short pieces of content with images, memes, gifs, and infographics to hold their attention.
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Sales, sales, and more sales
The ultimate purpose of a business is to make profits and boost revenues. The biggest misconception people have is that they expect huge traffic and conversions within a fortnight of implementing the content marketing strategy. It pains me to prick the bubble but it’s doesn’t happen like that. You need to be patient with your content marketing efforts in order to reap the benefits.
What to do: Don’t be aggressive with your marketing efforts. Readers can easily sense when they are being sold to and that’s a big turn off for anyone. Focus on providing them useful content, engaging them, and developing a connection with them. It will automatically establish the value of your products and they would happily render to your services.
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Create content and forget everything else(distribution)
There is no denying that the content creation process is extremely important but there’s a lot that goes beforehand and afterward for successful content marketing. For instance, the planning stage helps you set realistic and attainable goals just before the campaign starts. It helps people involved in the campaign to gain better clarity.
What to do: There are tools like ProofHub helping you plan better and manage workload accordingly. Then comes the distribution part. When the content is created, it needs to be published and distributed at different social media platforms.
Conclusion
Content marketing takes time and effort to reach its full glory but it’s definitely worth the effort.
Are there any content marketing myths you’ve fallen for in the past? Tell us about them in the comments.
