Content marketing is a type of marketing technique that has lasted for countless years. With the increased improvement of technological resources, this form of marketing has experienced new waves of interest over time. Today, content marketing continues to rise in popularity in the business sector. While the process seems straightforward, there are actually certain misconceptions about this marketing technique that are holding your business back instead of benefiting it. If you are new to content marketing, here are some misconceptions you should take care to avoid or correct for better results:
Limitations
Contrary to popular belief, content marketing does not only extend to online means. This marketing technique refers to producing and promoting relevant content that is useful for the general public. While a large part of it does occur online, business owners should not only plan their content marketing strategy around digital or online marketing. Content marketing also extends to services like the conducting of workshops, industry reports, customer newsletters, guides, conferences, and other useful services. By limiting content marketing to only online means, business owners are basically limiting their action radius. This ends up restricting the company from effectively reaching out to its target audience. An ideal content marketing strategy should be planned with both online and offline services integrated.Only For SEO Purposes
Yet another common misconception about content marketing is that this practice is implemented for SEO purposes only. What is true, is that the presence of content does improve the organic search engine ranking result for the business owner’s website. However, apart from targeting search engines, your content needs to be valuable to your target audience too. Relevancy is yet another metric that is valued by search engines and potential customers alike.The more your content is shared, the easier it will be to gain prominence in search engines since it shows that the content you produce is useful and necessary. This is due to the fact that your potential clients are sharing it with their relevant social circles, who will then either share it further or make use of your business for themselves. Increasing the organic reach of your content can actually help gain you more effectiveness without you having to spend more money on your advertising efforts. It is definitely important to optimize content marketing for SEO, but do make sure that your primary focus is on targeting the audience you want to reach instead.
Focusing on Sales
Research has shown that people are more encouraged to go through with sales conversions when they are able to directly benefit from the transaction. Therefore when it comes to content marketing, if one were to place all their advertising focus on ‘selling’ their products or services, it can be difficult to capture the attention of customers and convince them to go through with the conversion. Rather than hard selling, content marketing is a form of advertising that focuses on prospective customers instead of the products. Merely highlighting the benefits and features of your products and services isn’t effective anymore, especially in content marketing since one is easily able to locate similar products and services at better price ranges.In order to fully stand out with content marketing, make sure that your content marketing strategy is able to provide target audiences with value in exchange for their time and transactions. Take a moment to consider the perspective of your customers. What would your customers care about? What questions would they commonly ask about your products and services? One effective example of using content marketing to promote and encourage conversions could be providing help in areas that are related to the material or services you provide.
For example, corporations that sell software usually include free tutorials on their website for users to try out or discounts that can be used. Corporations that deal with website development can also provide technical support for a specified length of time. This serves as a benefit that encourages their target audience to try out their services.
Focusing on Going Viral
It can be rather easy to see the immediate benefits of content like videos and other media forms that go viral. But what business owners do not understand is that you may lose the amount of attention you have garnered just as quickly if you do not have the substance to maintain it. While it can be tempting to focus on becoming viral sensations, content marketing is best suited to create a reputable foundation of trust and value, thereby strengthening customer relations with the corporation instead.All Content No Images
One of the most common misconceptions business owners have about content marketing is that images pose no value other than to make their content more engaging. In actual fact, images actually do contribute to SEO value as well and should not be neglected. Research has shown that Google Image Search is actually one of the larger contributors when it comes to overall search traffic so by taking steps to ensure that your images have SEO value, it would be easier for your images to come up as the top relevant search results. Do make sure, however, that the images used are all copyright-free.These are just some of the common misconceptions one can have about content marketing that is actually interfering with its effectiveness. Make changes accordingly and monitor your overall performance for content marketing today!
Author Bio: This article is written by Alana Berge. She is working as a blogger for Awebstar, a Singapore-based company offering SEO Services worldwide. Alana loves to travel, cooking and singing. She is always grinding away on something marketing-related. Reach out to her on Facebook.
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