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5 Content Marketing Myths That Make Us Lose Sleep

Updated on March 24, 2024
Posted on January 20, 2017 by Michael White

5 Content Marketing Myths That Make Us Lose Sleep

One of the best things about the rise of the internet is the incredible amount of new ways people can interact with one another—marketers included. The internet is kind of like the Wild West of innovative marketing, with new strategies and techniques popping up and getting tested every day.

However, this underscores one of the worst things about the rise of the internet, which is the incredible amount of misinformation that is spread on a daily basis. Myths abound on the internet.

Given we’re in the marketing industry, we know a thing or two about content marketing and industry-related myths: Myths that cause us to lay awake at night with our fists clenched and cause cold sweat to drip down our foreheads.

Too much? Maybe. Let’s dig in anyway.

Myth #1: Content marketing works fast

Too many businesses hear about the benefits of content marketing, throw together a content library, and expect to start raking in the views and clicks within a couple months. Amateur mistake.

Don’t think of content marketing as a quick fix to your struggling site. Sure, research by the Aberdeen Group shows that content marketing adopters have nearly six times as many website conversions as non-adopters, but the benefits are found only after giving it some time to work. It’s a long term investment that will pay dividends—but it won’t pay them overnight.

Myth #2: Content is cheap

Well, yes and no. Remember the old adage: You get what you pay for.

Cheap writers create cheap products. If you want power-packed copy that achieves your marketing goals, you’ll have to make the investment. Quality writing doesn’t come cheap, but then, that goes for every aspect of your marketing outreach.

So yes, content can be cheap, if you’re willing to sacrifice quality for the sake of a buck.

Myth #3: Content marketing is a passing fad

You’ll usually hear this one from diehard outbound marketers who don’t want to invest the time or money into a proper content marketing strategy. If it’s just a fad, there’s no point in going to the trouble, right?

While online trends are notorious for being fickle, you’d better believe content marketing is here to stay. Indeed, there’s been industry buzz in the past few years claiming that traditional outbound marketing strategies are on their deathbed, cast away in favor of inbound strategies like content marketing.

Myth 4: Content marketing is social media-based

Sure, most users these days are attached to their social media profiles at the hip (Facebook alone has over 1 billion active users each month), but don’t fall into the trap of thinking the entirety of your content marketing strategy involves posting on Facebook or Twitter.

A proper content marketing strategy involves a fully-fleshed campaign of content creation that provides education, readies prospective leads for purchasing, and increases brand visibility for your company. Social media is part of it, but it’s not the final word.

Myth 5: Content marketing involves getting as many likes and shares as possible

Not exactly. The goal of content marketing is to turn curious visitors into leads and turning those leads into customers. Yes, hoarding social metrics can increase the visibility of your material, but views alone mean nothing if the people seeing your material find no value in it. Remember, it’s better to offer specific value to a few customers instead of unfocused, mass-market appeal to everyone.

Smashing Marketing Myths

Content marketing is an integral part of your inbound marketing strategy, but don’t get swept up in the misinformation and lose sight of the bigger picture.

It’s not about aggregating metrics. It’s not about being a social butterfly. And it’s not a strategy that will pay off easily. However, with the right investments and a proper strategy to guide you, there are few things that will pay off as well as content marketing.

Feel free to share below some of the successes or myths you have learned when it comes to content marketing!

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