The digital media
ecosystem is changing every single day, there are ‘gurus’ handing out new
strategies by the hour. 92%
of marketers said that their company views content as a business
asset, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Like all things important,
content marketing has a lot of myths attached to it because of its low entry
barrier and the feverish pace at which its importance is being recognized.
Here are 5
content marketing myths that you should avoid.
Myth #1:
Content is for SEO. Only in-person meetings result in new deals.
With the proliferation of social media, you are much
closer to your customer than you think. The in-person engagement was a
yesteryear rule to land clients. Customers are more than happy to engage with
you over emails, live chats, chatbots, social media handles and so on as they
want to save on their time. In-person meetings can take up a lot of time.
By engaging your customers with content, you are
shortening the length of the sales cycle. When you have to close the deal
finally, it gets mighty easier because your customer knows about your business
thanks to your content.
Myth #2: I have an attractive website. That’s enough to drive traffic.
Having a website is good, it is also a necessity.
Without a website for your business, you lose credibility. Even if you are a
fully offline-based entity, a website can still bring in a remarkable level of
trust. But just because you are present on the web with a website doesn’t mean
anything. Why? Because how do people find you unless they know about you. They
get to know you through your content.
Let’s say you have a SaaS marketing tool. You need to
create content consistently around the benefits your product offers, general
things on marketing and so on. This will attract potential customers, you
create a sales funnel for your business. This is how content marketing works.
But if you only have a website, only the ones who know about you will reach out
to you.
Myth #3:
People tend to respond to advertising better than they respond to content.
There are so many flaws for advertising when compared
with creating content on a regular basis. Advertising cannot be personalized,
is expensive, is a one-time thing unless you are ready to spend often on ads
and much more. Content can be targeted towards your customer persona and can be
incredibly personalized, is not expensive and it is evergreen.
Advertising cannot help create a relationship with
your end customer but with regular content that is of value to the user, you
can gain the trust of your potential customers.
Myth #4: I need to create long-form content to make an impact.
While long-form content is helpful for SEO, lack of
resources to create them should not deter you from posting any content at all.
Your business can even get leads from regularly posting relevant content on
LinkedIn. As long as you provide value to your potential customers, no matter
the size of the content, you stand to gain.
Myth #5:
Content marketing means blogging.
While blogging
forms a huge part of content marketing, it is certainly much more than that.
Distributing the content properly through different channels is where all the
charm and results lie. If you write content but don’t distribute it, what do
you stand to gain? Nothing. It is as simple as just having a website. People
need to know that you exist, which is why you need to spread your content in
different platforms.
Conclusion:
There is a steep
learning curve for content marketing and it requires a lot of experimentation
to achieve success in the long run. While a detailed strategy is important if
you are looking for the long haul, we would suggest you not to worry about
making mistakes as long as you are in the right direction.
These are not the
only set of myths in the content marketing industry, there are many more. What
are some of the misconceptions about content marketing that you have
encountered? How did it affect your business and what strategies did you use to
get out of it?
