If you’re familiar with Neil Walker Digital Group and the blogs that we’ve been writing recently, you’ll be aware that content marketing is a force that’s quickly taking over. It’s an important part of digital marketing, allowing you to reach both your audience and others that may not have been aware of your brand.
Although you should understand what content marketing is and how it can be utilised (and if you don’t simply check our blogs), it’s easy to fall for the lies that often get associated with this type of content. To be honest it’s understandable, content marketing is just being embraced as the superpower it is so there will misinformation spread around.
This blog will focus on the most common lies that are often associated with content marketing. It’s important to understand about the content your produce, so these lies may be the thing restricting you from carrying out content marketing.
Content marketing is only a buzzword
Although content marketing has only recently had a large surge in popularity, but it isn’t a new concept. Since the very first magazines back in the 1800s, content has been created to attract an audience. Think of posters and radio shows, these are all content marketing examples that have been around for many years.
Some people have started to believe that content marketing receiving a rise in popularity means it’s simply going to be another fad. It’s human nature to seek out where the most entertainment is, but content should not only be entertaining, it should evoke a range of emotions.
If a company or business can create content that people repeatedly visit, they are going to be the people that dominate the market.
Content marketing only involves writing
When people think of content, they normally think of weekly or monthly blogs that are solely text based. Content marketing is so much more versatile than that. Think of one of the biggest content distributors in the world, YouTube. There isn’t a whole lot of text other than the titles, description and comment sections. Instead the focus is on video content, and with over 1 billion different users visiting the website on a monthly basis, it’s clearly doing well.
Content marketing simply covers so many aspects, such as:
- Blogs
- Magazines
- Podcasts
- Websites
- Social Media
- Newsletters
- Events
- Videos
- Mobile Apps
And that’s only a small handful. There’s just so many content marketing platforms I would be here all day listing the options you have, actually that’s a good idea for a blog (let me write that down).
Content marketing is simply a way to fit in the most links
Of course, it’s a good idea to put links into an article, but it’s incredibly easy to fall into the trap of simply loading up your content with link after link. It’s just so easy to end up ignoring the message of your content because you’re too focused on including every link possible.
Link building is a discipline in itself, but when you start to include links that aren’t relevant to the subject then your audience is likely to dismiss your content as being poor. That’s without mentioning that a number of links in a single sentence is really distracting.
Everybody can and should write content
Don’t get mixed up between everybody should write content and everybody should produce content. It may seem like an ugly truth, but everyone can write, as everyone is able to draw. Some people may be able to create a perfect recreation of the Mona Lisa, whereas someone else might only draw stick men. It’s the same when it comes to writing content.
Poor writing is something that you should look out for. It can completely ruin your reputation, and in some cases will make you seem incompetent. There’s no point in producing content that doesn’t have a purpose or isn’t of a high standard of quality, as it is simply a waste of time.
As we’ve already stated, there’s so many different ways you can create content there isn’t anything stopping you pursuing a different form of creation. You find that more innovation can occur with these alternative types of content creation, so they are well worth pursuing.
Content is able to promote itself
One of the biggest problems that plagues companies and businesses all over the world is the belief content is able to simply promote itself. A lot of marketers use BuzzFeed as an example, how they don’t have to promote their content at all and it simply sits on their website.
Businesses need to understand that they aren’t BuzzFeed, and copying that style of content isn’t always the best choice. More often than not when a business creates this type of content and it doesn’t do well, they instantly believe it’s the fault of the content and they then move onto their next idea.
There’s a reason that social networks exist, but don’t fall under the impression you can simply post a link to your content and that’s it. You need to target who the article is by checking over Twitter and Facebook profiles to see who works in that sector. LinkedIn is a popular choice as well, with it being like an online CV which will give you an idea on what a person does for a living.
When you sell a product to a customer, time is spent making sure you are catering to a target audience, their age demographic and other relevant information. It’s the exact same when sharing content, with some subjects having more interest than others do.
You won’t only be getting your content out there, but it’s a good way to network. If they are truly impressed by the content you create, you can expect someone to stay in contact and in some cases you may end up working together.
Content marketing, don’t fall for the lies
Without even a second thought, content marketing is an important thing to embrace so that your brand can expand. It’s a great way to attract a new audience and ensure that your existing audience keeps tuned onto your website. If you want to learn more check out the rest of our blogs about content marketing and you’ll find you’re an expert in no time.
What do you think of this blog? Are there any other facts about content marketing you think may be lies? Please join the conversation on Twitter: @theukseo.