6 Content Marketing myths you need to dump in 2019!

Content marketing is a hot topic. We all know how effective a well-executed content marketing strategy can be. But there are businesses that are still struggling to utilize it effectively.

There are many companies believing that content marketing is one of the most influential marketing strategies.

But surveys from Content Marketing Institutes have shown that only 42% feel their organization executes it effectively.

The sad truth about companies employing content marketing is:

• either they are not employing the right strategy,
• or they don’t have the right skill (or will) to produce a competent content marketing strategy.

More often than not, this situation arises from one common issue — ‘It’s easy to say something is important, but harder by far to put into practice.’

Don’t take my word for that, this is what the data from Hubspot confirms:

“While 92% of firms say producing high-quality content is valuable, just 54% of them rank their ability to execute this strategy as effective. We also see significant gaps around their ability to track and measure content effectiveness, while activities like the personalization of website content see personalization scores below 25% of companies, despite over 50% of companies saying it’s valuable to achieving their goals. The takeaway: content marketing at a high level isn’t easy.”

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways of promoting a brand. But one needs to differentiate himself from the rest to make it happen. Just following what everyone else is doing will take you nowhere.

At the end of the day, if you want to be successful at content marketing, you need to be aware of the common misconceptions that exist around content marketing.

It’s up to you to do everything in your power to avoid making these mistakes.

Let’s go through these common myths and misconceptions that surround our world of content marketing.

1. “Scaling Production is what we need to do”

One common myth that a far majority of the brands believe is that ‘scaling production is the best approach to content marketing.’

Well, they are not at fault.

There was a time when Google used to reward advertisers and publishers who produced content on a daily basis.

This led to brands thinking that producing more and more content is the way to do it!

And what happened next?

A significant percentage of the internet was filled with content that was thin and provided very little value to the readers.

Brands producing thin and unprofessional content struggled to build trust with their readers. Consequently, their conversion rates crashed head first.

When Google Panda hit the internet, sites like eHow and other high volume creating publishers lost nearly two-thirds of their web traffic.

But who won during this turmoil?

Publishers who focused on creating content that was heavy on quality than quantity!

It’s these guys who remained on top in the face of algorithm changes. They had an easy time converting their customers and their content marketing strategies were on point.

Quality always trumps quantity when it comes to content marketing. But that’s not the only reason why you should focus on creating great content.

• Quality content builds SEO Value: We should understand that Google still considers the volume of content on your website. But that does not undermine the importance of a quality rich content. When a content is long and deep, it is bound to be rich in quality and value. Therefore, you’ll be able to boost your search rankings organically.
• Quality content builds Readers Trust: Want to boost conversions? Work on building trust with your content consumers. The only way you can do that is by providing great value to the readers. But it’s not that easy as it sounds. According to one study from the Content Marketing Institute, 55% of the brands face trouble building trust. It’s easier to earn trust with your readers if you create content that provides value they can get nowhere else.

2. “Social? I don’t need to worry about that!”

The above quote has become ridiculously famous in the world of marketing, especially in the field of content marketing.

While knowing the platforms from where you can get the traffic, it is far more important to promote your content on all possible platforms!

One might go for paid advertising and organic search to promote their content. While on one hand, these promotional strategies will work, you will fail to engage your customers and build trust.

If you want to build trust and get the most out of your content, you have to go social and be active on it!

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vaynermedia and an online Digital Marketing sensation, believes that while content is the undisputed King, marketing and distribution is the Queen, and runs the household.

But why are brands neglecting to build their social media presence?

Most brands think that promoting content on social media is a waste of their effort. That if people need to consume a certain information, they will search it out and eventually find it on Google.

Let’s discuss the problem with this approach.

• Your content can take time to get indexed on a search engine. And hey, there’s no guarantee that it will outrank your competitor’s content.
• It’s much more difficult to build a relationship with your customer on a website. You are limited by functionalities and also that customers are coming to your website just to read the content. So, in order to build a relationship with your customer, you have to actively engage with them on social media sites. You have to nurture them and build relationships over time. This is the best-known way to ensure that your followers convert as loyal customers.

3. “Content Production must center around my Business”

“Traditional marketing talks at people. Content Marketing talks with them.”

This great statement by Doug Kessler revolutionized what many say, ‘The way everyone created Content.’

While it’s a powerful stuff, it’s also a lesson content marketers must burn in their brain!

One of the biggest complaints consumers have against brands that market on social media is that a huge percentage of their content is promotional!

So what should you do?

Well, to begin with, you should spend less time talking about your business.

I know.

Instead, you should provide more value to your followers. Recognize the problems they are facing and try to come up with great tips and solutions. Offer them value and they will stay.

As the old saying goes, ‘When creating content on the internet, be the best answer on the internet.’

4. “Oh! I can 100% Automate my content marketing.”

Let’s set it once and for all. Content marketing takes a lot of time and effort, and is boring at times!

Exactly.

But there are a number of ways to automate your content creation and distribution process using automation.

While these automation tools help you streamline everything in your content marketing strategy (if you have one) without requiring excessive amounts of time and efforts, there is a point where automation can become a roadblock for you.

Brands that try to automate every step of their content marketing process, end up producing and distributing content that is impersonal, unprofessional and lacks value. Result? Readers and followers lose trust in your brand.

One aspect of the content marketing process that brands should NEVER automate, is Content Creation.

Make sure the content produced is deep and rich in the value proposition.

5. “Content that is Super-Long is Super-Rewarding”

There are countless case studies on the internet where they show that longer pieces of content trump the short format.

Many brands have moved away from the traditional 500 words article to a super-lengthy content to boost their search rankings and overall engagement.

From one perspective, there are unmistakable markers that long-form content ranks better and is additionally captivating.

One study from Moz found that content that was somewhere in the range of 1,800 and 3,000 words got more backlinks and ranked better on Google. Research from Medium demonstrates that readers give great consideration to content that takes around seven minutes to read, which equals to content pieces that are around 1,600 words.

Neil Patel shared a very compelling anecdote on the length of content creation.

There, Neil shows that Upworthy has a page ranking on page 2 of Google for the extremely competitive keyword ‘tattoos’, despite the fact that Upworthy has short content on an average.

With regards to conversions, realize that long-form content created for sales doesn’t generally convert over a shorter copy.

Longer pages may work better when you’re attempting to offer high-value solutions or products, however, they can likewise overpower your readers and push them far from your site.

As opposed to accepting that more extended content dependably works better, you’ll need to widely test diverse styles to upgrade your content marketing strategy.

6. “Anybody can create my Content.”

Content stricken with low quality and no depth was never valuable. Most companies realize this fact but still struggle to allocate resources to produce content that can actually help them build their brand.

Their biggest mistake — assuming anyone can create their content which they will use to build relationships and earn conversions.

Creating content that is engaging and great in value is a special skill and not everyone possess that.

You are going to build relationships with your customers on the content that you produce. You’re going to get what you pay for. So make sure you invest in quality content creators.

Neil Patel, the Digital Marketing Rockstar, for example, has paid up to $30,000 for a single piece of content. He understands the wonders of a great content and realizes the conversion capacity of each content.

If you are low on budget and can’t really invest in an in-house content creation team, invest in one good piece of content than buying 10 low-quality pieces at the same cost.

Conclusion

Content marketing comes with a steep learning curve. But you will find that when done right, it becomes a great success in the long-run. Work on a clear vision and an informed detailed strategy before launching your campaigns.

If you aware yourself of the content marketing myths presented here and you take action to correct them — you will stand a great chance of developing a content marketing strategy that is not just lucrative but also leads you to higher conversions.

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