As the general contention, 'Content is the King' is still relevant, yet, what we need is just the right approach, strategy, and talent. There are some common myths about content strategy, and when marketers, SEOs, employees, prospects, and even content strategists have been taken in by these myths. Here we try to debunk some of those myths.
Content Strategy is Innovative Ideas
There is a misconception among a society that content strategy means brimming up with innovative ideas for content, while some think it is a one-time task! But there is a world of difference between creating content just for the heck of creating it and coming up with a content strategy that will eventually help you achieve your short and long-term business goals.
Content Strategy is Content Marketing
Does content strategy mean content marketing? Many think that content marketing and content strategy are two sides of the same coin. The term content strategy is often used interchangeably with content marketing. Content strategy is creating a plan for how you will create and share content across your website and other channels.
Although both content strategy and marketing share some common goals and strategies, there are key distinctions between them. Content marketing, though essential, is only one part of a successful content strategy. In contrast, content strategy can be termed a plan, while content marketing is just part of the same plan.
Content Strategy is All About Keywords
Another misconception is that content strategy is all about topics and keywords, and hence there is no need for any service provider. But collating a list of topics and keywords is a small part of creating a successful content strategy. A content strategy includes SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goals. It includes segregated marketing goals to achieve business goals, a picture of the overall marketing strategy, who would be your target patrons, the types of content, and the requisite quantity of content for the respective marketing channel. It also includes keyword research for content targeting search engine optimization, customer journey stages, and content performance KPIs. So, the next time around, if you meet someone saying the content strategy is all about topics and keywords, make them see this list and help them to debunk their myth around content strategy.
Content Strategy is for Blogs
There are some, especially those who are with SEOs, who say that they need content strategy only for their blogs! It seems convenient to think and believe that content strategy is nothing but a blog calendar! Based on their misconception, some of them create a content calendar to support SEO, and in many cases, that works well with their employers as well! But when they start working on the lead magnets to drive marketing qualified leads and sales qualified leads, they realize that they had to plan everything from the different types of content to the amount of content they needed to plan, create, promote and track. The content strategy should include carefully planning every type of content - be it a blog, a video, an infographic, or any other content type or format.
Content Strategy and Social Media Strategy
Content strategy is a plan that includes researching, planning, developing, auditing, executing, managing, distributing content, and measuring its performance to achieve specific business and marketing goals. However, a social media content strategy is a part of the content strategy. Once you decide what to promote on social media, you can prepare a content strategy to achieve your social media goals.
