By this point, content marketing is a well-known term floating around the digital landscape. Most content is created and distributed virtually to market individuals and businesses. It seems pretty straightforward, but there are some common challenges and misconceptions in content marketing that need to be dispelled. Learn the secrets of getting around these obstacles to enact an effective content marketing strategy.
Misconceptions Surrounding Content Marketing
Content marketing relies on creating and distributing information through traditional and digital means. The main mistake marketers make is not tailoring that content to a specific audience. It’s more than just creating content and sending it out on any channel. You have to be deliberate.
Other content marketing misconceptions include:
- Cost: It isn’t inherently expensive to run a content marketing campaign. It depends on your budget and resourcefulness.
- Quantity vs. quality: Many people think churning out lots of content will garner the best results, but the quality of your content matters just as much (if not more).
- Point of view: Marketers often create content from the POV of themselves or the company. However, it can be beneficial to think like a potential customer.
- Content type: Blog articles are valuable content, but they are far from the only kind you can produce.
There are many types of content you can create to appeal to various types of audiences. While the most commonly thought of content is blog posts, you can create a load of digital content, including:
- Videos, long- and short-form
- Whitepapers
- Infographics
- Podcast episodes
- Ebooks
- Courses
- Quizzes
- Ads
- User-generated content
User-generated content, in particular, is an example of creative content marketing. Another common misconception is that content marketing is solely about generating leads or sales. While lead generation is a crucial aspect, content marketing goes beyond that. It is about building relationships, providing value, and establishing thought leadership.
Repurpose content that you find on social media that has to do with your brand. Customer testimonials and reviews are a great place to start. Cross-platform marketing can be done with the same content, as long as you change it up to suit the specific platform.
The Value of Your Content
In the age of information overload, quality content stands out. While it is essential to produce a consistent stream of content, the focus should be on delivering value to the audience. Valuable content captures attention, educates, entertains, and solves problems for the target audience.
To determine the value of content, businesses should consider various factors such as relevance, uniqueness, credibility, and engagement. You can evaluate your current content by assessing key metrics such as social shares, comments, and conversions. This way, you can gauge what’s working and what’s not — and make data-driven decisions for improvement.
Upgrade Existing Content
Another all-too-common pitfall of content marketing is taking a one-and-done approach to content creation. Instead of putting content out, hoping for the best, and never looking at it again, it’s best to take stock of how your content is performing. Then, you can update accordingly. It’s a good way to repurpose older content, as well. You can use the same general content but update it to reflect current trends or viewpoints.
Blogs, in particular, are prime candidates for upgrading content. Not only is it good to periodically check your content for broken links or outdated info, but it is also helpful to have a more recent date on your blog articles. This way, search engines will be more likely to index your page higher in search results because it is fresh.
If you find that your entire site needs an overhaul, you can always migrate your content. Migrating content from one platform to another or restructuring existing content can be a complex and time-consuming process. The lack of a well-defined migration plan can result in data loss, broken links, and a negative impact on search engine rankings. Make sure to back up all of your content and keep tabs on data integrity.
SEO and Content Marketing
Many people confuse search engine optimization (SEO) with content marketing, as well. While they overlap, content marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses all types of distributable content and the efforts taken to undertake distribution. High-quality content that is optimized for search engines can improve organic rankings, increase visibility, and drive organic traffic to a website. It’s ideal to align your SEO and content marketing efforts instead of focusing on one or the other. By integrating keyword research, on-page optimization, and link building into your content strategy, you can enhance your brand’s online presence and attract a wider audience.
Moving Forward With Your Content
Content marketing holds tremendous potential for businesses in the digital landscape. By debunking common misconceptions and understanding the challenges you may face, it’s extremely attainable to unlock the secrets of content marketing and harness its power to drive success. It is crucial to approach content marketing strategically, leveraging data intelligence and delivering high-quality, valuable content to engage your ideal audience effectively. With the right mindset, tools, and insights, you are well on your way to creating a content marketing strategy that sets you apart from the competition and drives meaningful results.
By Indiana Lee, BOSS contributor
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