Content marketing still manages to be one of the toughest aspects of marketing your business. Incorrect/ poorly made content marketing strategies are holding companies back and they don’t even realize it. Those who excel at content marketing, usually do something different from their peers and are able to provide value. As you may have guessed, doing this isn’t an easy task. To do something different or unique, you need to understand the basics first and the industry is rife with so called “rules” that many business owners are blindly believing. Here are 7 such myths that are stopping your growth as a company:
- Myth 1: Content Marketing is only for large businesses
A lot of small business owners believe that content marketing is meant for large businesses with a lot of money. This is not true. Although content marketing does require constant investment, it doesn’t have to be a big one. All it requires is a little time looking at what suits your company best and then using existing resources to the best of your ability. Many companies also team up with external sources to help them figure this out.
- Myth 2: Starting a blog = Success
This is a very common myth among business owners. They tend to set up blogs and hope that they will get unimaginable leads immediately. In fact, some businesses don’t even start blogs due to the fear that they will be unable to handle the “growth” that comes with starting a blog. Others set up a blog and think their content marketing is completely taken care of. What they don’t realize is that a blog doesn’t guarantee anything – it is one of many steps in the content marketing system. Most blogs need at least 6 months (sometimes more) of consistent posting to gain any kind of traction. Creating blogs and maintaining consistency isn’t easy and you might need some help along the way.
- Myth 3: SEO and Content Marketing are the same thing
This myth is the devil. SEO is a part of content marketing – a significant part at that – but they aren’t the same thing. Content marketing involves so much more, from social media and eBooks to videos. Many companies, unfortunately, tend to neglect these other aspects and end up ruing their mistake. Interacting with your audience and growing your customer base is just as important as content. SEO is a must have but so is social interaction. Even when creating content, SEO needs to be combined with other factors like quality of content, how valuable it is to the reader etc.
- Myth 4: Your content must revolve around your business
Businesses often believe that their blog must contain information, only about themselves. Content marketing isn’t a sales pitch – you can’t pitch the same product over and over and expect results. You have to create content that helps the user solve a problem. This is the only way they’ll share your content and take action. In regards to this, many companies also believe the myth that they will “give all their secrets away” if they talk about certain topics a little too much. If you’re one of the people worried about this, please remember reading skydiving instructions on Google doesn’t make one a successful skydiver. This applies to your niche as well.
- Myth 5: Going viral
A lot of companies are stuck up on “going viral” or drastically increasing traffic to their website. They create huge content marketing strategies with catchy videos, songs and lots more to make people visit their site. There is a chance that this might work but that shouldn’t be your goal. Your goal must be to turn visitors into loyal customers, not to simple gain traffic. If a million people visit your site and only 100 of them take the desired action (sign up, subscribe, buy etc), then your strategy has failed. Customer action is your main goal and your content marketing strategy must revolve around it.
- Myth 6: 100% marketing automation
Content marketing can be automated to a certain extent. You can use tools like DrumUp to curate content, RiteTag and ManageFlitter for social media management, automated email responses, etc but using them excessively will sabotage your relationship with your customers. When it comes to content, you must balance out the curated content with original ones in order to engage with your audience. The same applies to social media – the less personal you become, the less your consumers react with you.
- Myth 7: Anyone Can Create Great Content
All of us would love for this to be true, but we all know that between an overworked freelancer and a company specialized in content creation – there is only 1 winner. Many businesses live under the illusion that any content they publish is good enough. They make the hiring decision looking at the prices instead of the quality. Always remember that 10 pieces of cheap content is worth nothing compared to 1 quality piece. It is important to constantly check the content that you post, regardless of whether they’re from in-house writers or outsourced. Sometimes, businesses put a little too much faith in their writers and end up losing leads.
Content marketing is no easy task regardless of the size of your company, but if you’ve partnered up with the right people, then you can be rest assured that you aren’t falling behind your competitors. If you’re looking to outsource your content marketing or content creation then you could always give us a try.
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