Content marketing is becoming increasingly popular in today’s rapidly changing business world and, with this exponential growth in popularity, a series of misconceptions and myths has emerged. In this blog we aim to debunk some of these and set the record straight.
Content Marketing Is Purely For Improving SEO
Potentially the biggest myth regarding content marketing is that ‘it is purely for SEO’. Naturally, content is inevitably going to improve your SEO if you are using relevant key words within blog posts. However, when writing content, it needs to be explicitly written for your target audience, devoid of keyword stuffing and designated to offer valuable insight. Although SEO rankings are improved for websites that host their own unique content – the value of content marketing lays primarily in its ability to influence the way your target audience perceives your brand. This is why so many companies invest in content marketing strategies as a way of establishing themselves as thought leaders.
Most Content Should Be Promotional
Content marketing should never be used to constantly promote your own products/services – this should form a minute part of your content strategy. Content creation is centred on showcasing expertise and producing content that is relevant and engaging to your audience, establishing you as credible in the process.
Whilst writing blogs and setting up social accounts can seem very daunting at first, it is necessary these opportunities are exploited to propel your company into the ‘digital age’.
One of the greatest challenges in content marketing is creating content that your audience will engage with. However, the good news is that naturally you will possess expertise in your field, and you can leverage this, using it as the basis for a content marketing campaign that will attract prospects. Quite simply, share information that will lead to your prospects finding you.
Anything from industry news, opinions and best practices can be shared to cement yourself as an expert within your industry. Get creative! The only rule of thumb is that the content you create must contribute to satisfying your audiences’ needs, wants or concerns.
Content Marketing Is “Cheap”
Whilst it can be considerably less expensive than alternative methods of marketing, content marketing is certainly not “cheap”, and it still requires significant investment. Another common misconception is that since it is copy-driven, you can hire any cheap copywriter and still expect great results: this is quite obviously false.
If you are going to derive some noticeable return on investment from content marketing, you will need to invest the same level of effort and resources as you would in other, more traditional methods of marketing. Failure to do so will see your ROI plummet – is this a risk you can afford to take?
Blogs Are All We Need
You may be thinking you have a blog and therefore you are already engaging in content marketing.
Wrong.
Whilst blogs are integral parts of many wider content marketing strategies – a blog in isolation does not constitute content marketing. Content marketing encompasses a whole host of tools including interlinked forms, buyer journeys, e-books and even blogs, with the very specific aim of customer acquisition and retention – it is focused, with every asset contributing toward this aim.
At Catalyst, we recommend you capitalise on the potential offered by social media, using this in tandem with your content and sharing it through various channels.
Segment your market and find out which social platforms will work for you best, grow your presence on social and attract more visitors to your site. Finally, use the blog to attract people to your website.