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Are You Haunted by These 8 Content Marketing Myths?

31 Oct

Have you been spooked by these content marketing urban legends?

 It’s Halloween today, so we thought it would be appropriate to take on a haunted theme with these myths!

💀 Myth #1: SEO is dead

Who keeps bringing up this rumour?! It needs to be put to rest (pun-tastic!)

Anyway, SEO isn’t dead. It’s just different. Remember when sites could get away with black-hat seo techniques that sent them shooting to position one on Google? SEO isn’t dead. It’s just evolved. And improved.

 

💀 Myth #2: I should be on every social network

Hmm, so does that mean you’re on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn? Yes?

How about Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr?

Are you quick to jump on board the new ones, like Ello?

What about Periscope? Vine? Snapchat? Meerkat? Blab?

Are you kicking it old school with MySpace and LiveJournal?

So, when do you have time to actually conduct business?

More often than not, it’s about quality, not quantity. Just because a social network exists, it doesn’t mean you need to be on it.

But which ones are the ‘right’ ones? Well, of course, that depends on your business, and starts with understanding your audience. Where do they hang out? Are they interested in industry news, like the folks over at LinkedIn? Perhaps they’re visual learners who love to be entertained on Pinterest?

If you’re not hanging out where your customers are, what’s the point? Ever heard the expression “it’s like talking to an empty room”?

Update: we’ve written a comprehensive blog post series that will help you determine the right social media platforms for business. Check out the three posts that ask the questions that will help you out!

 

💀 Myth #3: Blogging is a waste of time

OK, no worries. Have fun in the darkest depths of the ghost towns of Google, where no one will find you!

But seriously, if you do it right, and do it often, every blog you publish is another chance to be indexed by the search engines, therefore increasing visibility.

In turn, that means your content is matched with relevant searches, resulting in more awareness of your business and brand, as well as more leads and sales of your product or service!

Do people want your product or service? “Yes”? Then they want information, too.

While we’re on it, Google LOVES fresh content.

 

💀 Myth #4: Content marketing is just a fancy word for SEO

Aha! Got you there. We’ll let this one pass though as it’s a little more ambiguous. You see, SEO and content marketing, while different, overlap and work together.

Content marketing has evolved from SEO. In the past, SEO was focused on attracting users solely at the point-of-purchase.

What Google has learnt, though, is that people are interested in brands, companies, products and services at various stages of the buying cycle.

Maybe they’re not quite ready for a purchase.

The typical purchase cycle has customers at these stages:

  • Awareness
  • Research
  • Comparison
  • Purchase
  • Retention

Not every prospect googles your product, visits your website, or reads a blog post with the intent of purchase!

(PS. If you want to learn more, check out this blog post about SEO and content marketing.)

 

💀 Myth #5: After I post one blog customers will come a-knocking!

seo is dead

Maybe that’s why blogging sometimes get a bad rap? People expect a blog post to send hordes of new customers to a business’ door immediately, but it doesn’t, and people feel let down.

Poor blogging.

Regular blogging (the keyword here is regular!) improves your SEO and puts you ahead of the competition.

It also builds trust, showcases knowledge and builds a following. But it’s not an overnight, short-lived solution; it’s a long-term, fruitful one!

Evergreen content – content that is perpetually relevant – means you can repurpose blog posts over again, and the SEO benefits work long after you’ve hit “publish”.

So why else should you blog?

Well, 61 per cent of consumers feel better about a brand that delivers content, while 90 per cent find custom content – like blog posts – useful!

 

💀 Myth #6: # # # # # # Go hashtag-craaaazy on social media!

Noooo, don’t be these guys:

 

Using a hashtag on every other word just for the sake of using a hashtag is annoying. #Too #Many #Hashtags #Disjoint #A #Sentence and make it hard to read.

(Also, who is ever going to look up the hashtag #A? What’s the relevance of that?!)

*Edit* I just did a search of #A on Twitter and it produced the most random array of posts. I want my 10 seconds back!!

Ever noticed a timely and related hashtag crop up in the corner of your TV screen when you’re watching a show?

Choose one or two meaningful hashtags that actually help define, spread and collate your message.

 

💀 Myth #7: Social media has no soul: it’s easy

You’ll sympathise with me when i say its frustrating when you tell people you work in social media, and all they assume is that you sit on Facebook all day scrolling through the news feeds (…that’s only part of it!)

Social media is not easy.

Along with all the “behind the scenes” stuff including ongoing algorithm changes, new rules, policies and practises to adapt to, constant monitoring and tweaking, and monthly reports, you’ve still got to regularly create content worth sharing to your fans!

It can be tough – and time consuming! (Need a little help? You know what to do.)

💀 Myth #8: Social media can replace a blog

Nice try!

Your blogs are your own. They’re hosted on your own website, the content is all yours, and you can do whatever you want with them.

On the other hand, social networks are not yours – they are not (entirely) in your control.

Think of it this way, instead: Facebook and Twitter (and all the others) are catalysts for your website, your brand, your company and your product.

The content is on your own site, but you should be using your social networks to spread the message, open up the conversation, promote your posts, and send consumers to your website.

Blogging and social media are two tactics that work together to achieve your overall business goal: more awareness, leads and sales!

Happy Halloween from the team at iformat!