Overview
- A lot of content strategy myths stem from not understanding your ideal clients and what they want.
- Approach strategy with a customer-centric mindset to save yourself time.
When it’s time to create a content strategy, I’ve heard it all:
“A marketing plan that involves every platform is too daunting.”
“I don’t have time with my schedule right now to be creating content and launching tons of it on a blitz.”
“It seems impossible to post as often as I should to gain more clients and sales.”
Truth is, an effective strategy shouldn’t be hard or time-consuming, but it does have to be strategic.
Let’s debunk some common myths surrounding content strategy so you can get on track to create content that connects and converts on YOUR time.
Table of Contents
4 content strategy myths floating around…
Do you buy into any of the following myths?
1. Your content strategy should include all social platforms
Meet Elise 👩🏻
She’s your ideal customer persona. (Psst – Here’s a non-jargon guide to creating buyer personas.)
Elise is a 40-year-old mother of 2, wife and certified public accountant at her family-owned firm.
Before COVID, Elise had trouble keeping everything running smoothly at home while still building the business.
Post-COVID, she finds herself overwhelmed at home with her husband. I’m talking cooking, cleaning, babysitting, stomping out fires on a daily basis… The usual.
On top of everything, her firm is moving online after having worked 50 years in brick & mortar. (Sound familiar? 😂)
In short, she’s got a lot on her plate, not leaving her with much free time.
Now, imagine you own a small business that helps accountants move their firms online, and your services are exactly what Elise needs.
So naturally, you develop a marketing plan to reach her and others like her.
Should you create Tumblr, Reddit, Pinterest and SnapChat accounts because they’re trending?
NO!
❌ MYTH: Your content strategy should include all the social media platforms.
✅ FACT: Your content strategy only needs to include social platforms where your ideal clients are hanging out.
You can branch into other platforms STRATEGICALLY later.
2. You need to post on social media every day
Let’s take a peek into Elise’s WFH life these days:
Client calls
Hungry pooch
Dirty dishes (Did she already clean them?)
Exercise timer going off
Notifications blowing up her phone
Let’s not forget she’s also trying to figure out how to move her family-owned firm online.
On top of all of that, she heard she has to find time to post on social media daily if she wants to get ahead of the game.
❌ MYTH: You have to post on social every day.
✅ FACT: Your content strategy needs to fit YOUR schedule.
If that means posting original content twice a week and thoughtfully commenting on others’ twice a week, great.
If that means posting once a week with commenting four days a week, that’s also wonderful.
Choose what works best for you and be consistent.
Remember: There will come a day when people expect you to show up in their news feeds. (Yes! They’ll actually look forward to what you have to post.)
So again, consistency and strategy are key.
3. Your business’ story should be about you
Let’s take the spotlight off of Elise and take a quick poll here…
Which message would you resonate with?
“We’ve been in business for 10 years, proudly helping small accounting firms around the nation move their software and data online.”
OR
“Losing time, money and clients from sticking to traditional accounting practices in your brick & mortar? We know what it’s like. Our story started in the exact same place (without the pandemic, that is).”
I have a good idea of which one Elise would choose, and it’s NOT the first.
❌ MYTH: Your business’ story should be about you.
✅ FACT: Your business’ story should respond to your audience’s wants and needs.
Your clients will be more likely to use your product or service if they can see themselves as characters in your story.
If they land on your page and think “Wow, you really get me,” you’re doing it right.
4. Content should be strictly business
I’m seeing countless companies debunk this myth like crazy these days and receiving mind-boggling results…
❌ MYTH: Content should be strictly biz.
✅ FACT: Content can (and should) include a sneak peek into your real life.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a B2C or B2B company.
Because in the end, everything anyone ever does is H2H (that’s human-to-human).
So go ahead and debut your pup Fred, or share your love for green tea. Heck, maybe Friends reruns are more your thing.
Whatever it may be, don’t be afraid to show up as the real you.
En fin, when you create content from a customer-centric standpoint, you’ll connect with people and convert them into paying customers much quicker.
Again, all for that connection on a human level…