Introduction:
Content Marketing is all the buzz around in every marketing channel. But it’s not surprising to see that many people don’t understand what content marketing is.
What is content marketing?
Content marketing focuses on creating and sharing relevant content with your target audience. The content can take many forms, including blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, and more. Content marketing aims to build relationships with potential and current customers by providing them with valuable content.
By offering helpful information, content marketers can earn the trust of their audience and ultimately drive more sales. In addition to producing original content, content marketing services can also help to promote your content across social media and other channels.
In its simplest terms, content marketing is creating and sharing online material (such as blog posts, videos, infographics, etc.) that does not explicitly promote your brand or product but is intended to stimulate interest in your company or products.
Why should businesses use content marketing?
According to Demand Metric, content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing while generating 3X the leads.
There are three reasons why businesses must use content marketing to stay ahead of their competition:
- Building relationships: Content marketing can effectively connect with potential and current customers, build brand awareness, and drive sales.
- Increasing Brand awareness: One of the goals of content marketing is to make your prospect remember you whenever they’re ready to buy.
- Boost in sales: Your content marketing must create enough credibility and authority, leading to a boost in sales and revenue.
As the content marketing landscape continues to change, so do the myths and facts about what works and what doesn’t. It can be tough to keep up with all the changes, but don’t worry—we’re here to help! In this blog post, we’ll clear up some of the most common misconceptions about content marketing so that you can focus on creating quality content that will help your business succeed.
1. Myth: Content marketing is a new phenomenon.
Fact: Content marketing has been around for centuries! Although the term itself is relatively new. John F Oppedahl first used it during a roundtable journalism conference.
One of the earliest examples of content marketing comes from John Deere, who started producing “The Furrow” in 1895. This annual magazine gave farmers information about new technologies and their best practices. Deere used this magazine to build trust and credibility with potential customers, and it’s still being published today.
So, clearly, content marketing isn’t a new phenomenon. And the reason it will remain popular in the future through several years is that it works.
2. Myth: Content Strategy can be figured out on the go
Fact: Your well-devised result-driven content strategy must be at the heart of all content creation that you do for your business. Without a plan and roadmap, you’re throwing stones in the bush.
CMI states that 60% of most successful content marketers use a documented content strategy. Clearly, to derive results, you need to create a strategy that considers your content marketing goals, buyer personas, brand values, and content marketing mix.
Are you not sure how to create a successful content strategy? Then, read this blog here to learn more.
One of the earliest examples of content marketing comes from John Deere, who started producing “The Furrow” in 1895. This annual magazine gave farmers information about new technologies and their best practices. Deere used this magazine to build trust and credibility with potential customers, and it’s still being published today.
So, clearly, content marketing isn’t a new phenomenon. And the reason it will remain popular in the future through several years is that it works.
3. Myth: Anybody can create content
Fact: Yes, anybody can create content. Just the way anybody can write.
But not all writing is worth reading or remembering, for that matter. The same can be said for content marketing.
Not everybody can produce quality content that engages an audience, informs them, and does all of this interestingly and differentiates your company from others. Quality content takes skill, knowledge, and practice. So, to produce quality content, it’s best to leave it to the professionals.
CMI states that 60% of most successful content marketers use a documented content strategy. Clearly, to derive results, you need to create a strategy that considers your content marketing goals, buyer personas, brand values, and content marketing mix.
Are you not sure how to create a successful content strategy? Then, read this blog here to learn more.
One of the earliest examples of content marketing comes from John Deere, who started producing “The Furrow” in 1895. This annual magazine gave farmers information about new technologies and their best practices. Deere used this magazine to build trust and credibility with potential customers, and it’s still being published today.
So, clearly, content marketing isn’t a new phenomenon. And the reason it will remain popular in the future through several years is that it works.
4. Myth: In-house Content creation is profitable
Fact: Outsourcing content creation can actually save you money in the long run.
While outsourcing content marketing services may cost more upfront, it will save you money in the long run. This is because professional content creators are more likely to produce high-quality content that will perform well and generate results. They understand the nitty-gritty of content marketing and can translate your expertise into revenue-generating content.
Suppose you rely only on in-house staff to take over digital content marketing strategy. But, then, this will lead to spending money, time, and resources on poor-quality content that’s more likely to get lost in all the noise. Plus, add up the hiring cost, benefits, medical insurance, etc., and you already know outsourcing content marketing is better for your growth and your bank account.
5. Myth: Content marketing is all about creating new content.
Fact: Creating new content is certainly a part of content marketing. It’s not the only thing you should be doing. To be successful, you also need to promote your existing content, interact with your audience, and measure your results.
And after measuring results, analyze what content format and channel bring you desired results. Then, finally, tweak your content strategy to get the best results possible for your brand.
By focusing on all aspects of content marketing, you’ll be able to create a comprehensive strategy to help your business achieve its goals.
6. Myth: Once you've created your content, you can just set it and forget it.
Fact: To keep your content marketing strategy effective, you can’t stop after you hit Publish.
You need to update and improve your content regularly. This can mean anything from publishing new blog posts to updating old ones with further information or creating new visuals or videos. By continuously working to improve your content, you’ll ensure that it remains relevant and useful for your audience.
Did we mention – Repurpose your content? Take your evergreen and high-performing content and repurpose it for other channels. This way, you derive the highest ROI on a single piece of content and save time.
And after measuring results, analyze what content format and channel bring you desired results. Then, finally, tweak your content strategy to get the best results possible for your brand.
By focusing on all aspects of content marketing, you’ll be able to create a comprehensive strategy to help your business achieve its goals.
7. Myth: Content marketing is only for B2C companies.
Fact: While content marketing is often considered a strategy for B2C companies, it can be just as effective for B2B businesses.
According to Marketing charts, 67% of B2B buyers prefer buying from a company if they have previously read its content. So, content marketing is crucial for B2B and B2C companies too.
But, of course, B2B content will have a distinct flavor and style from B2C content. The key is creating relevant and valuable content for your target audience. But, the underlying problem here is – An average blog post takes around 4 hours to write, as per Orbit Media.
Our wild guess – you don’t have that much time.
But you can always outsource content creation to a professional digital marketing agency. At ODL, we specialize in handling B2B content marketing bringing excellent results. Check our services here.
8. Myth: Once you start producing content, the results will come immediately.
Fact: Like any marketing strategy, Content marketing is a long-term game. Content marketing takes time to produce results. In order to see results from your content marketing efforts, you need to be patient and consistent to see an increase in website traffic, leads, and sales.
And that won’t happen automatically. Instead, you need to proactively create content that’s easy to discover by your target audience. For this to happen, you need to SEO optimize your content and cater to user search intent.
According to Ahrefs, around 90% of web pages don’t get organic traffic from Google. So naturally, you don’t want the same to happen to your website and blogs.
How to ensure that? Talk to us, and we’ll help you figure it out.
9. Myth: Content marketing results can't be measured
Fact: You can certainly measure it, but knowing which KPIs to measure is vital. For example, if your goal is to increase web traffic, you would measure page views, unique visitors, and time on site. If your goal is to increase leads, you would measure things like form submissions and email list signups. No matter your goals, you can measure relevant metrics to track and measure your content marketing success.
For example, for one of our clients, the goal was specifically to get backlinks and boost brand awareness. We created a comprehensive content strategy for them, getting them authoritative backlinks and building brand awareness. The crucial metrics here were a boost in DA score and increase in page views.
It takes time to produce quality content, promote it effectively, and build an audience. But if you are patient and consistent, you will eventually start to see results.
10. Myth: You need to focus on all social media channels
Fact: You don’t need to be on all social media channels.
Although social media marketing is seen as a different ball game by general folks, savvy marketers understand that social media marketing is a type of content marketing with a twist.
Companies must determine which marketing channels work for their audiences and then pick the ones that bring the most significant ROI. Suppose, for example, you’re a B2B SaaS brand, you won’t see much traction on Instagram. Instead, your audiences and leads are more likely to come from Linkedin. According to CMI, 96% of B2B brands use Linkedin.
So, don’t pick the extreme of either only one platform or all platforms. But, choose a mix that resonates with your brand values and consumers. And repurpose the content to suit different platforms.
Sounds like too much work? We can do it for you! Ask us how.
Conclusion:
Don’t let common misconceptions about content marketing stop you from investing in content marketing. Unfortunately, content marketing can be tricky for most business owners for the lack of trained talent and time.
Don’t lose out on the benefits of content marketing. Hire us today for content marketing services.