Debunking the 4 Myths of Content Marketing

Singaporeans living in Housing Development Board (HDB) would have heard of the urban legend of young spirits playing with marbles and creating that infamous ‘tok tok tok’ sound that sent chills down your spine. Just as how myths are a unique feature to every culture, similarly, myths are also an inherent element in any industry.

Here at Script Consultants, we’ll uncover the myths of content marketing.

1. “Content is King”

Photo credit: Contender Content

We’ve all heard about this mantra that “Content is King” parroted a thousand times over. But content marketing is not just about quantity over quality. In fact, quality content is also not sufficient. Although quality content forms a good foundation to success, but ultimately content is only just part of the equation. In the words of Jonathan Perelman, who once was the VP of Buzzfeed’s video division, “Content is king, but distribution is queen and she wears the pants.” Feed the content beast but do not neglect the distribution master.

140 characters communicated beyond your own network of followers, the microblogging functionality of Twitter is an excellent platform for breaking news. On the other hand, Facebook is more about connections and engaging stories. And of course Pinterest feeds the visual beast and inspires creativity. With an understanding of how each distribution channel works, you could then effectively fit your content to the respective platforms and let your message spread.

2.“There’s nothing to write”

There’s a story behind every business, a purpose worth writing about. A purpose that grabs the attention of your target audience and gets them interested. Write about what your company believes in to inspire a network of followers by making use of the Golden Circle.

Photo credit: Simon Sinek

It begins with the “Why”. Why did you decide to start a business and why should your audience care? Followed by “How” do you communicate the company’s mission? And lastly “What” do you actually do?

Let’s take a look at the successful mega-brand PANDORA:

• The Why: PANDORA, a brand that encompasses a library of special moments. Consumers aren’t just buying PANDORA, they are documenting unforgettable memories with the purchase of each charm.
• The How: For example, the “Guardian Angel Wings Charm” is a symbol of remembrance worn to give you comfort as you keep your loved ones close at heart.
• The What: Pandora offers high quality contemporary jewellery made at affordable prices.

Jewellery trends may change with the seasons, but special moments are priceless. Go beyond features and benefits and you could write content worth talking about. Ultimately, “People don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it”.

3.“It’s all for free”

Photo credit: UnityEcommerce

Great content marketing is a lot like dating. You have to “attract” your audience with eye-catchy headlines, “seduce” them with compelling content and lastly let them “commit” to your brand message.

So rather than just giving out free content, content marketing aims to achieve these 3 main objectives:

• Reach: Boost your content marketing reach by catering to your target audience. Millennials may enjoy scrolling through their Instagram feed or devouring byte-size Twitter titbits but CEOs may prefer long form writing that contains greater details.
• Engagement: Create and distribute insightful content and in response readers are engaged, commenting, sharing and liking your posts.
• Conversion: Content marketing should demonstrate profitable consumer actions. Allow readers who enjoyed your content to have the option of subscribing to the online newsletter or maybe even download premium content with a little loving from their credit card.

4. “All hail the search engine overlords”

Content marketing writers have been obsessive with the all-encompassing “Search Engine Overlords”, chasing after keywords optimization and other manipulative tactics in the hopes of getting a better Google site ranking.

Photo credit: Varvy

Tactics such as “keyword stuffing” results in poor user experience. After all, nobody wants to read a chunk of text littered with repetitive keywords.

Rather than exploiting potential SEO loopholes, it’s time to go back to the basics and think about how your content could stand out from others in your field. Stop writing content for search engines and start writing content for people. Inspire awe or simply tickle the funny bone and your content would stand a better chance of going viral.

Urban legends may enrich our daily lives. But in order to stand out amidst the digital clutter, it’s time to distinguish between facts and fallacies as you execute your content marketing strategies.

Written by: (www.script.com.sg) Edited & Illustrated by: Script Consultants Pte Ltd