If you run a Google search for the term "Content Marketing", you’ll be delivered 4.35 billion results in just 0.45 seconds. But even with a topic that is this popular, misconceptions fly around. And what’s more, content marketing is still growing. Last year, two-thirds of marketers intended to increase their content marketing budget and this year, over 70% of content marketers expect it to become more important.
So, if you’re thinking about introducing or growing your content marketing output, which misconceptions do you need to be aware of? We’re going to provide an insight into some of the most common ones we hear when speaking to other marketers.
Content marketing misconceptions
Content marketing is just blogs
When you’re working your way through the 4.35 billion Google results, you’ll see a lot of the content focuses on blog writing. Despite the fact blogs are one of the most popular forms of content marketing, it could also be podcasts, newsletters, guides, infographics, webinars and so much more.
Content marketing is only for SEO
Because much of the information relating to content marketing is linked to blogs and website content, there is also a strong association with SEO. Although good content that’s hosted on a website might help with SEO, the focus should be on providing value to the audience wherever that may be hosted.
Content marketing is a quick fix
Some marketing approaches are focused on generating results quicker than others. Generally, though, this means the impacts of those results last a shorter period. Content marketing is a long-term approach to building interest and trust in a brand.
Content marketing is about quantity over quality
Across all marketing approaches, this is a difficult balance to get right. But with content marketing, the scales should tip slightly more in the favour of quality. As mentioned before, the focus is on the audience and ensuring the content is valuable is worth taking time on.
Content marketing is not for B2B brands
This could not be further from the truth. Content marketing can be used for B2B just as effectively as it can be for B2C. At the risk of repeating ourselves, content marketing is about the audience. And, ultimately, in many B2B transactions, there is still a human being on the other side of the transaction.
Wrapping up
Content marketing is a popular, growing approach to marketing and there are many misconceptions related to it. If you’re looking to up your content marketing, make sure you’re not distracted or put off by some of these. Focus on the audience, quality and bringing value.
Until next time, thanks for reading.