Busted! 7 Content Marketing myths that hold you back Content Marketing is one of the best ways for small as well as large businesses to build brand identity, bring new customers, improve SEO and much more. Businesses are adopting content marketing more than ever today. However, not all of them get to that level of success that they expect from it. It's not that they are not giving in the enough effort and time to it. It's just that some of them do it with wrong beliefs and misconceptions that hold them back. The fact is there are enough myths and wrong beliefs about content marketing on the internet. And despite what you have read about it, just know that content marketing is still alive and so is the organic SEO that comes with it. Here in this article, I am going to debunk 7 such content marketing myths. Probably, this small contribution will help to clear out what you have been thinking wrong about content marketing till now. So keep reading.
Myth #1: Anyone can create a content That's near to the truth in general sense but not in Content Marketing. Yes, anyone literate enough can write a content but there is hardly any chance that it would fit the Content Marketing requirements. The Internet, where thousands of website like yours are fighting to get their content among the top visible ones, it is not possible to gain that visibility by simply writing any random content. There are needs and requirements of an effective content marketing, and if your content isn't meeting those requirements, it won't meet the people who would like to read it. For example, people don't like to read long blocks, so you need to break your content into smaller paragraphs or perhaps a point-wise content would do better. A professional writer knows all this and has the skills to include many other SEO considerations as well. Which definitely means, content creation cannot be done by simply any writer but a professional.
There are people who have the understanding of the niche they write for, and they can write a more informative and valuable content. Neil Patel is popular because he has an awesome hold on his niche and can write equally awesome contents for his readers.
Myth #2: Content Marketing can be done without a strategy Nope, not at all. You would be shocked to see the content marketing strategies of those successful creators. There is so much in that. What do you think, are they just wasting their time preparing the content strategies and editorial calendars? Nope again. There are a large number of businesses which either don't believe in a planned content marketing or just push it for some other time. If you are among those, just remember that, whatever contents you are creating, they are still counted in your content marketing and it requires a planning to hit the success. I don't matter if your strategy turns out to be less effective, at least you will know where did you miss the chance and what needs to be improved for the next plan. Without a content marketing plan, you loose a control on what’s going on the internet from your side. You cannot track your previous contents that well. Moreover, you won’t know the areas where you need to do more work to get the success. If you still, don't agree, I can give 4 more reasons to have a Content Marketing Strategy for your business.
Myth #3: Content creating and Content Marketing is same Most of the content creators think that content marketing and content creation refer to the same thing. Messed with this myth they create a content publish it, wait for the organic traffic to come on their websites. They miss the “Marketing” aspect in this whole process. Content marketing is simply not this. Once a content is published, it needs to to be promoted so that it can reach to as many readers as possible. In addition to the SEO aspects, the content acceleration is another crucial aspect that makes a complete content marketing process. Just imagine a scenario where there are two websites creating the contents. The
first one creates a content, publishes it and waits to the website traffic to come. While the second one after publishing the content, promotes it on it’s Facebook page, Twitter profile, Quora comments, etc. What do you think? Which website is going to have a better success in terms of SEO as well as marketing? Of course the later one. This is what content marketing means, and is different from simply creating a content.
Myth #4: Content Marketing is all about business and promotion “If your readers detect even a hint of a sleaze in your blog posts, they will make a dive for the exit button. The only way to escape that unfortunate fate is to stop selling and start persuading. A persuasive blog post not only gets the conversation started, but it creates an appetite for your ideas and products, without you coming across like a sleazy salesman.� - Neil Patel Readers today have become smart enough to detect even a small hint of promotion or advertisement in a content. If you are writing just for the sake of promoting your products and services, you are doing it wrong. Content marketing nowadays is all about being informative, valuable, and applicable to the real context scenario. This can be effectively done by creating contents that address the pain points of your readers and provides a solution for the same. Trust me, a happy reader will love to read more and more contents from you, and would not hesitate to consider your product or service if it solves his issue. Content Marketing Ideas For Success in the Online World So, content marketing is not about the promotion at all, it's about persuasion. Try some content without promoting yourself and address the pain points of your readers, you will be shocked to see the response.
Myth #5: Google SEO for Content marketing is dead This is hardly a common myth but a general misconception is rookie content creators. Ever since Google stopped considering keywords as a ranking factor, content creators and SEOs developed a myth that keywords are no more important in Google SEO. Thus SEO for content marketing is no more as effective as it was. This is not true. Google does still consider keywords while indexing and crawling
your content. It is just that it no more considers keyword density as a ranking factor. They have done this to discourage the black hat SEO techniques like Keyword stuffing. Now, instead of considering the keyword density of your content, Google uses the Semantic Search. Here, it neglects the mere keywords in the search strings and considers the meaning of the whole phrase to decide which content would fit it. It reads the search strings and derives the real context meaning rather than keyword matching. For example, If a search is made for “Laptop repair shop�, the search results will have those links which are relevant to laptop repairing; not laptop selling, laptop purchase, or laptop recycling.
If it was for keyword matching, it would have returned the results from all the pages which simply include the strings "Laptop" "Repair" and "Shop" Separately or together. That is laptop selling, laptop purchase, or laptop recycling is no different here.
Myth #6: We don’t have capabilities to write enough content 64% of marketers complain that their biggest hurdle is creating enough content, but still, 90% of them keep writing and publishing. It’s because, they cannot afford to stay untouched with this precious marketing technique, and they want to take out whatever they can from it.
However, there is still a minor population who simply do not publish because they don't have capabilities to write enough for the regular publishing. I don't find any harm in publishing once in a week or even a month. If you cannot create content daily, it doesn't matter as long as you are creating once in a while either. At least, it would be better than not having content marketing at all. Moreover, the world is full of awesome writers. In-house some of them who have a strong hold in your niche. Also, you can get in touch with the freelance writers. Lack of resources should never be an excuse for not publishing. You have a lot of options always open.
Myth #7: Content marketing doesn’t work in My niche It is said that the internet is full of valuable information for whatever you would like search. Just make a search and see the options you have. From making a needle to diffusing a bomb, whatever you want to learn about, there are contents for all. It is a pointless argument to say content marketing doesn't work in my niche. There are people who search for information even in your niche, just turn the pages of the internet to see. Over 329 million people read blogs every month and companies that blog get 5 times more traffic than their peers. Want content marketing to give a return for your niche of business? Set your goals and then build your content strategy around them. Use your content to move your customers and prospects down the funnel and you will see, content marketing work even in your niche.