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?
