More is being written about quality content marketing with every passing day, but this hasn’t stopped content marketing myths from blossoming.

In the grand scheme of marketing, content-specific marketing is a new discipline. It may seem time-consuming, costly, ineffective or simply too tricky to throw precious resources into. Perhaps you would like to implement a content marketing strategy, but your business’ leadership has shot your plans down?

Here, we outline six common content marketing myths that are holding businesses back.

Myth #1 Our Audience and Industry Just Won’t ‘Get’ Content Marketing

Content marketing is all about cultivating relationships and starting meaningful conversations with your audience. It doesn’t matter what industry you work in, this kind of authenticity goes a long way. The traditional sales pitch is out… the art of conversation is in.

If the content you produce is useful, engaging and suited to your target audience, there is no reason why it won’t be consumed.

Myth #2 Content Marketing Costs a Fortune

Just like all forms of marketing, there are costs associated with content marketing. However, compared to print advertising and TV commercials, for example, these costs are much smaller. Plus, expert content marketers know how to recycle and repurpose content so it is used to its full potential across multiple channels.

It is also important to ignore the myth that content marketing is free. A lacklustre content strategy that’s poorly written, poorly edited and poorly promoted may cost nothing, but it is not going to be effective or worthy of your time.

Myth #3 We Just Don’t Have the Resources for Content Marketing

Issues of staffing, time and resources are often the roadblocks to a content marketing strategy. All audiences are looking for quality content delivered on a regular basis, but this doesn’t mean you have to post every single day.

Planning ahead with tools like Hootsuite and Canva can ensure comfortable lead times, while repurposing and recycling content effectively will reduce time pressures. If you begin to feel like you’re running out of ideas, explore our Content Pillars and Content Types for inspiration.

Myth #4 Content Is Only Successful When Traffic and Reach Is High

Content with lots of social shares should not be considered automatically successful by this metric alone. Of course, this reach shouldn’t be sniffed at, but content should be measured first against your KPIs. Is your aim to increase website traffic? Encourage enquiries? Secure business leads?

A piece of content may only reach 1,000 people, but if 500 of them represent businesses you want to be engaging with, this is arguably more successful.

Myth #5 We Can’t Prove Content Marketing Will Have Good ROI

The success of your content marketing strategy depends on your goals and objectives. If your aim is to increase the number of business leads you receive, you can see how many individuals downloaded a specific white paper.

If you need to increase website traffic, you can see how many individuals clicked on a piece of content on social media. Without pre-content, base level figures and goals in place, it will be very difficult to measure ROI.

Equally, it is difficult to follow through on a ‘more content = more revenue’ approach. Can you really put a price on brand awareness? On social media reach? On authenticity and trust?

Myth #6 Results from Content Should Start Pouring in Right Away

Content marketing is a journey. From developing clear buyer personas, to planning content and setting goals, there is a lot to consider. You may start off in one direction, only to discover your audience prefers a different one.

This trial-and-error approach can take months, if not years, to perfect. Even fantastic content can’t change the landscape overnight.

Instead of seeing this as a negative, businesses should be excited to start the content marketing journey. The results will more than make up for the time, dedication and hard work.

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