Getting content marketing right is both more complex than its most fervent promoters claim... and easier than doubters fear. Carrying beliefs on either end of the spectrum into a content program will hamper its effectiveness.
The first step toward success? Getting real.
With that in mind, this article busts six content marketing myths that just keep hanging on, and it counters them with reality-based strategies that work.
When we imagine that we will simply sit down (or, more typically, someone else will sit down) with the intent to create, and then meaningful and readable content will come pouring out, we are kidding ourselves.
The truth is that you need a road map.
The following assets and practices will set you up to regularly produce great content:
If you had nothing of value to contribute to the marketplace, you wouldn't be in business, right? And rare is the potential customer who prefers to be blissfully ignorant about what they're buying, why it will make their life easier, or how to use it.
Everyone has information to share that other people want—insights into common problems, tips and how-tos, perspectives on industry trends or news, technical knowledge expressed in plain language, and so on. Common customer questions are great fodder for content marketing, as are best-practices you've developed or tested, observations from the field, and topics people often misunderstand.
Start thinking about your content along these lines, and you'll find you have more than enough to feed a program that spreads your knowledge, nurtures prospects, and increases understanding of your brand and mission.
Technically, you could just copy report chapters into your blog, cut out sentences to form tweets, or customize content for disparate audiences by changing the title and doing a bit of search-and-replace work.
But effective repurposing requires some heavy lifting: shaping the content for the medium, the distribution channel, and the audience.
You should absolutely do it: Repurposing gives you maximum value for the time, money, and thought invested in creating the content. And it ensures that the content is accessible to the people you want to reach wherever they are and in whichever format they prefer. You'll just be better prepared—and more successful—if you approach repurposing with the knowledge that doing it well takes some effort.
The key to getting content marketing to work in any field is answering these questions:
Once you have that down, it's just a matter of communicating effectively and getting in front of your audience. (OK, the word just should probably be in quotes, but still... you can do it!)
Pretty much anyone who signs a check is doing research (or reviewing research), and that means they're looking at content. You just have to meet them where they are. If your target audience won't read long articles (or even short ones), use videos. If they don't have regular access to computers (that's still true in some niches), get your knowledge into trade publications. If you know you'll lose them after three bullet points, go for relatively frequent and super-snappy content.
Professional services firms often worry that if they share their knowledge in any substantive way, potential customers will just do it themselves. But consider this: Typical do-it-yourselfers have no budget for the work, don't see quality as a top priority, or aren't ready to hire someone—or all three. They're not real prospects (at least right now), so you lose nothing by helping them out, and you gain a few karma points. Plus, once they're past the DIY stage, you'll be on their radar.
Real prospects do their research before making a decision, and they want to know how you think. After all, they'll be paying for your expertise and insight. Which brings up a larger point: How-tos probably are not the only type of content you should produce.
Plenty of other types of content provide value and showcase your expertise, including...
Even your mother doesn't want to hear that from you. Great content informs, intrigues, and leads people to your products and services. Great content is not about your products and services—at least not solely or directly.
You can talk about why your target market needs the type of thing you sell and how they can assess potential benefits. You can do all that without mentioning your product or service at all; and, in most cases, you should keep product mentions to a minimum.
The goal of content marketing is to attract attention, demonstrate expertise, build relationships, and develop a leadership position. Do that, and people will come to you when they need what you have to offer—and then they'll be ready to hear your pitch.