When you’re looking for an efficient way to improve your search engine positioning and bring qualified leads to your website, there’s nothing better than a targeted and consistent content marketing campaign. You’ve undoubtedly heard this before, and may have even attempted to beef up your own blog and sales funnel in order to take advantage of the increased traffic and opportunity to find new prospects.
Unfortunately, while everyone talks about the wonderful benefits associated with content marketing, few gurus or writers ever address the disadvantages. And so companies start blogging away without reading the “fine print” and knowing what they are signing up for.
To help you set the right expectations, and get the most from content marketing, here are three things you should know when you get started…
#1 It Takes a While to Get Going
A lot of marketers expect that their first new page or blog post is going to generate instant results. That can happen, but what’s far more likely is that search engines and customers alike are going to take a while to notice that you are a source of quality information and insights. Expect to work at your content marketing plan for a few weeks or months before you see a big difference in your web analytics.
#2 Your Content Has to be Great
Average (or worse) content isn’t going to help you stand out in a crowded market, and might even harm your credibility if you come off as being less knowledgeable than your competitors. In order for your content marketing to be successful, your ideas have to make others take notice and want to work with you. Spend the extra time or money to ensure they’re relevant, accurate, and presented in a way that makes you seem like a trusted professional.
#3 You Still Have to Promote Your Content
Until you have lots of subscribers, you have to get the word out about each piece of content you produce. That means promoting your website via PPC, social media, and email newsletters. You might be thinking that the whole reason for producing content is so you can be less reliant on those other tools, which is fair. Luckily, you can use content to tease and promote other content, so you’ll start to develop momentum over time and will have to spend a lot less—both in terms of effort and money—to get buyers to notice.
It might seem as if these three caveats are taking away from the effectiveness of content marketing, but that’s not the point we want to make it all. Instead, it’s that you have to work at creating new articles and videos, make sure they stand out in your customers’ minds, and then promote them so you’re sure buyers take notice. If you can take those steps, your content marketing campaigns won’t just work, they’ll pay for themselves time and time again. But without those realizations, you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.
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