6 Content Marketing Myths for Entrepreneurs
Lots of content marketing myths float around the internet, gaining traction as they spread. If you listen to these myths, your return-on-investment, or ROI, will quickly decline. Separating fact from fiction helps you create great content as you build your company from the startup phase to the first expansion.
You Need a Strict Content Marketing Budget
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It sounds like good advice. Finance experts often tout the benefits of “sticking to a budget,” but sometimes a static budget keeps you from making money.
As an entrepreneur, you need ways to expand your monetization strategy. When opportunities arise, you can’t let your budget get in the way.
For instance, let’s say you’ve reserved $2,000 for your content marketing budget each month. After two months, you realize that a certain piece or type of content has exceeded your expected ROI 10 times over.
At this point, you have a choice. Do you stick with your budget, or do you increase your budget to multiply your ROI? The savvy entrepreneur will choose door number two. By leveraging earlier successes, you create more content in that vertical and boost your sales even further.
You Need Long, Keyword-Dense Copy
It’s true that Search Engine columnist John Lincoln, among many other SEO experts, have touted the benefits of long-form content. It provides more comprehensive information, it’s more attractive to search engines, and it’s more useful to the reader. However, long-form content only offers those benefits if it’s actually useful.
You can write 2,000 words without ever saying anything of consequence. When that happens, your search rankings tank and your readers lose confidence in your ability to deliver what you promise.
Instead of focusing on length and keyword density, concentrate on value. Does this content help the reader solve a real problem? Does this article offer more information than the top-ranking articles for its primary keyword? Have you eliminated any fluff and filler that might dilute your message? If you can answer “yes” to those three questions, you’ve likely created valuable content.
Mobile Doesn’t Matter For Content
Entrepreneurs often dismiss mobile technology because, at first, nobody thought that a consumer would read a 5,000-word e-book on a smartphone. Now we know better.
More than 90 percent of consumers report wanting access to content on their mobile devices. Today’s entrepreneurs must focus on creating responsive websites and mobile-friendly content.
Additionally, Google penalizes websites that contain annoying mobile pop-ups. Focus on leading people to your content instead of disrupting them.
When designing your website, view it on as many devices as possible. In addition to desktop and laptop computers and smartphones, make sure the design renders properly on tablets. Neglecting mobile users can quickly tank your content marketing efforts.
Whitepapers Are Boring
They sound boring, but they’re actually highly useful. A white paper offers in-depth information on a specific topic, but it doesn’t have to read like your last college paper.
In fact, many whitepapers follow the same blueprint as an article or blog post. You can create several different types of whitepapers:
- Explanation: You can describe how a product works, how you developed your latest invention, or how you built your company. Weave anecdotes and other interesting factoids throughout the piece to make it more interesting and relatable.
- Problem solver: This type of whitepaper provides the solution to a specific problem. You first outline the problem itself to connect with your audience, then detail one or more ways to resolve the issue. As long as you keep the tone light and conversational, you won’t lose your audience.
- Steps and tips: Just like a listicle, a whitepaper can include a numbered list of steps or tips that deal with a particular situation or circumstance. Consider relating the whitepaper to a newsworthy piece of information to garner even more attention.
After you create a whitepaper, you can offer it as a gateway product. Your target audience can download it for free, but only if they fork over their contact information. Using whitepapers this way allows you to grow your email list, establish your budding company as an authority in the industry, and directly help your audience.
Content Exclusively Involves Text
Don’t get us wrong. Text still matters. Search engines can’t understand the words spoken in a YouTube video or the images on a photograph, infographic, or other graphical element. However, you can augment your text with visual imagery. Since consumers are more likely to share visual content than text-only articles, you can vastly improve your rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Additionally, you’ll find that your content keeps people on the page for longer periods of time.
Start with adding one or more images to every blog post you publish. Next, add a video to engage visual learners. You can then design an infographic and share it via social channels. All of these activities help catapult entrepreneurs to the top of their fields.
Local Content Restricts Your Audience
If your business sells products or services to people in a specific area, don’t forget to include local SEO in your content. It won’t, contrary to popular opinion, restrict your audience.
Take a common service, such as carpet cleaning. If you type those two words into a search engine, you get results from all over the map. Your chances of seeing one in your area within the first 10 SERPs is slim to none.
However, what if you search for “carpet cleaners in Las Vegas, Nevada.” Now you’re more likely to find a service company in your area.
Local content doesn’t restrict your audience — it expands your potential readers by improving your rankings in the search engines. More people could find your content if you left off the local SEO, but you’d reach people whom you don’t serve.
Content marketing isn’t always black and white, but you don’t want to follow content marketing myths as you start and run your business. The best entrepreneur content marketing incorporates the latest information in this industry to boost its impact.
CopyPress writer
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