Creating a solid marketing strategy is something most marketers do for their digital platforms. But fully understanding what works … and what doesn’t … can have a greater impact than you think. People still hold various misconceptions that hold back their online strategies. If you still believe one of these content marketing myths, your content might not be performing as you intended.
What Is Content Marketing?
Before we get into what may be holding you back, it’s important to fully understand what content marketing is. Content marketing is an effective strategy to release content online in a variety of ways, including:
- Blogs
- Videos
- White papers
- Articles
- Social media posts
This isn’t about selling. It’s about piquing your audiences’ interests and making them take another step toward working with you. One of the biggest myths marketers still believe is that content marketing equals selling. If you place every piece of content online with the hopes of converting it into a sale, you’re missing the main point of a content strategy. Instead, build content looking for brand awareness and engagement first.
Myth: Content Marketing and Content Strategy Are the Same
You’ll often see these concepts used interchangeably or even written as content marketing strategy. While these two share common goals, they have distinctions that separate them.
Think of content strategy as your plan. Your content marketing becomes a part of that plan.
Your content marketing would include the various content pieces you produce. Content strategy is all about the plan for production and distribution. You can build content marketing pieces without a content strategy, but they may be ineffective at best.
Myth: The More Content You Produce, the Better Your Content Marketing Plan Will Be Received
This myth continues to be touted by strategists as a great way to increase awareness. They believe that by dumping massive amounts of content into different channels, they’ll achieve maximum exposure.
Content only works if it’s highly focused and gives people what they’re searching for. What matters most is how people interact with it. Do they find it helpful? Is it something they learn from and share?
Take the time to think out what content you’ll be producing. High-quality content always wins. Give your audience what they want, and you’ll always have better results.
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Myth: Content Marketing Achieves Results Quickly
Content marketing isn’t a quick-fix solution to gaining customers. Instead, it’s a long-term solution for ensuring your pipeline is always filled with high-quality prospects. That’s because it takes time to become an online authority in whatever key terms you’re building for.
As you continue to add content online, it starts working together with other content you already have in place. It can:
- Increase brand awareness
- Build your authority
- Help funnel prospects along the sales journey
- Create a stronger bond with existing customers
Content is a long-term strategy. With the amount of content online today, chances are you won’t see results for a while. But by building now, you’ll be creating a solid online presence that will continually work for you for years to come.
Myth: Content Marketing Is for Blogs Only
This is a big misconception that many brands still fall for today. Many companies build a content calendar to support their SEO practices and to tag along with campaigns they are creating throughout the year.
Content marketing goes deeper. It’s not just about standalone blog posts designed to get quick information out online. Instead, it’s about digging into what works to pull prospects and customers in. It means working on bigger projects, such as lead magnets and pillar pages. It’s about creating content exclusively for different channels online. It’s about combining different types of content and making them work effectively together.
Myth: Social Media Is the Best Place for Content Marketing
Social media has changed how we look at getting our name out there. Whether you use YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram, social media can provide fast results while building a solid relationship with your followers.
But don’t let the “bling” of newness that comes with social media cloud your judgment of what really works. Many forget the impact an effective email strategy can have on the bottom line. And the numbers prove email is anything but dead.
A Litmus study showed that for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $36. Try that with other forms of marketing.
Yet email isn’t for the faint of heart. Where many businesses get it wrong is by not creating compelling content for their email campaigns. It takes work to entice people with a subject line enough to open it. And if the content doesn’t immediately attract attention, the email is dead even before it began.
Email marketing and content marketing have a perfect partnership, allowing you to be creative with what you say and share it in different ways. If you aren’t building a list, now’s the time to start.
Myth: I Don’t Need Content for My Business
We hear this frequently:
“I just need a simple site as a placeholder. Just a little bit of information for when people search online to find me.”
Nothing can be further from the truth.
Every single business can benefit from having a content marketing plan in place. No matter what you sell or what service you offer, content is an effective way to build a connection with your prospects and customers.
At its most basic level, content is just storytelling. And storytelling has been around since humankind originated. We thrive on connecting with people. We adore feeling good about the things we bring into our lives.
And content marketing allows you to build stories around who you are and what you do. It gives you an easy way to share your stories, create an experience people will remember, and build closer relationships with those around you.
When was the last time you thought about the content marketing pieces you create for your company?
